Shipboard Fiber Optic Transmission Media

Until recently, optical fiber was primarily used for its bandwidth capabilities and low loss characteristics. Long distance carriers, telephone companies, and private network corporations raced to take advantage of these optical fiber attributes and installed tens of thousands of fiber kilometers in their respective networks. Of secondary consideration during this period were the other intrinsic values of optical fibers such as electro-magnetic interference (EMI) and electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) immunity, the comparatively small physical size, the difficulty of unauthorized intrusion, and probably most important for some applications, the light weight of fiver optic cable.