Optical techniques take over telecommunications

William A. Gambling

doi:10.1117/12.441280

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25 September 2001 Optical techniques take over telecommunications

William A. Gambling

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Proceedings Volume 4417, Photonics 2000: International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.441280
Event: Photonics 2000: International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics, 2001, Calcutta, India

Abstract

Some 50 years ago it was clear that existing electrical communication systems were leading to a severe bottleneck in bandwidth due to the limited carrier frequencies available. Various optical techniques were examined with little success until the most unlikely one, glass fiber transmission lines, were taken up almost as a last resort. These have turned out to be remarkably successful by increasing transmission distance by a factor X10 and bandwidth by X10⁶. The paper reviews progress in passive and active fiber techniques, concluding that fiber technology will produce many further major advances.

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William A. Gambling "Optical techniques take over telecommunications", Proc. SPIE 4417, Photonics 2000: International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics, (25 September 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.441280

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