Question

what are the characteristics that distinguish optical fiber from twisted pair or coaxial cable?

Answer 1

Solution:

Thefollowing characteristics distinguish optical fiber from twisted pair or
coaxial cable:

1. Greater capacity: thepotential bandwidth, and hence data rate, of optical fiber is immense; data
rates of 2 Gbps over tens of kilometers have been demonstrated.

2. Smaller size and lighterweight: optical fibers are considerably thinner than coaxial cable or bundled
twisted-pair cable-at least an order of magnitude thinner for comparable
information-transmission capacity.

3. Lower attenuation: attenuationis significantly lower for optical fiber than for coaxial cable or twisted pair
and is constant over a wide range.

4. Electromagnetic isolation: opticalfiber systems are not affected by external electromagnetic fields. Thus, the
system is not vulnerable to interference, impulse noise, or crosstalk.

5. Greater repeater spacing: Fewerrepeaters means lower cost and fewer sources of error. The performance of
optical fiber systems from this point of view has been steadily improving.