Fiber optic technology is currently in the process of changing how digital communication work. In the future, experts believe the fiber optic technology pave the way to significant technological advancements that were previously thought to be unattainable.
Even today, businesses, industries, and end users rely heavily on digital communication specifically for internet. Fiber optic technology’s unique capabilities make it one of the front-running technologies that are revolutionizing digital communications.
In this article, we will take a closer look at how fiber is expected to change communication in the future:
Multi – Terabit Optical Networks
Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) will make multi-terabit transmission possible in the near future, fueled by the growing need for increased bandwidth. To cater to the needs of modern industries, businesses, and home users that rely heavily on online communications have encouraged the development of multi-terabit optical networks.
To cater to the growing needs, the ways to provide higher bandwidth with 100Gbps are being researched, along with research into the cost reduction of fiber optic cables and other components.
Intelligent Optical Transmission Network
Unsurprisingly, the increasing need for data services has outpaced the capabilities of traditional optical networks. The dynamic allocation data bandwidth seems to be the biggest limitation for traditional optical networks because they depend on manual configuration of network connectivity. Configuring data bandwidth manually takes a lot of time and is unable to meet the demands of the modern network. The intelligent optical network seems to be the future of fiber optic network installation, which will solve the problem of unpredictable bandwidth allocation.
Polymer Optic Fibers
The fibers in fiber optic cables in use today are mainly made out of glass. However, in the future, polymer optical fibers are expected to replace glass because of the numerous benefits when compared to metal-based cables for data communication, wireless communication systems, and glass fiber.
When compared to glass fibers, polymer fibers are easier to manufacture and use; they are less expensive and are more flexible.
Optical Amplification Technology
As the need for higher bandwidth and speeds continues to grow in the future, high power lasers with exceptional optical amplification characteristics and lower noise figures will be necessary to increase output power.
Another significant aspect expected to change in the future is the Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA), which is a critical technology necessary for optical fiber communication systems. With time increasing the bandwidth of EDFA will become necessary, which will require an improved equalization technology that will provide high accuracy optical amplification.
High-Altitude Platforms
Airships above the clouds at heights of 16 to 25 km are known as high altitude platforms. Such high altitudes usually have an unfavorable atmospheric impact of laser beams. On-going research is looking into the ways optical communication will be possible for high altitude platforms. Although optical inter-satellite links and orbit-to-ground links are being used, but external factors such as unfavorable weather conditions pose a significant challenge.
In the future, optical fiber links between high altitude platforms, satellites, and ground stations will act as broadband back-haul communication networks.
