Optical Communications

Optical fiber communications, also known as lightwave technology, is now the preferred technology for the transmission of information over long distance. This technology is based on semiconductor lasers and optical fibers. It is the technology of the information superhighways used for the transmission of voice, data, and video information in the networks of local telephone exchange loops, for terrestrial long-distance trunking, for undersea transmission between continents, for computer interconnections, for local-area networks, and for cable television. Proposed lightwave applications range from distances of 1 cm to intercontinetnal distances of 10,000 km.