IEEE Educational Events

Optical Fiber Fundamentals

Optical Fiber Fundamentals 150 150 ieeeeduweek

Many of us have finally become comfortable connecting up computer networks using Ethernet cables. By now, we’ve learned that a CAT3 cable may only be suitable for connecting your phone system and a CAT6 cable would be more suited towards Gigabit Ethernet.

But what about fiber optic cables? For many of us, we know relatively little about them. This seminar hopes to change that. We’ll discuss optical fiber requirements including attenuation, frequency response, dispersion and latency.

We’ll discuss implementation issues such as cores, cladding, total internal reflection, single mode and multimode fibers, step & graded indexing, tensile strength, bending radius and wavelength division multiplexing.
We will then learn about fiber optic transmitters, fiber manufacturing, cleanliness, and personal safety issues.