The conclusion
9. Conclusion
Fiber optic transmission has found a vast array of applications in computer systems. Some design
considerations depend largely on the application. For certain terminal to terminal application, crucial factors including
maximising transmission speed and distance and minimising fiber and splice loss. By contrast, connector loss becomes important
in local area networks that operate within buildings. In other systems, it is important to minimise the cost of cable, with
the intention of reducing the cost of terminal equipment. These system considerations make design and construction of practical
fiber optic systems a difficult task. Guidelines appropriate for one system is usually not suitable for another system.
There are a number of essential points about fiber optics that have been mentioned throughout this report. As we move towards a
more sophisticated and modern future, the uses of fiber optics are going to grow in all computer systems as well as telecommunication
networks. Modern information systems handle ever-increasing data loads which strain the data throughput
ability of information systems. Designers have made significant progress in increasing processor
speeds, however progress in the design of high-speed interconnection networks has lagged so
much so that the most significant bottleneck in today's information systems is the low speed of
communications between integrated chips. These low speed communications networks consume
increasing amounts of power in an effort to keep up with the faster processors. The slow
communications speed is brought on by the small bandwidth available to existing communications
networks based on the propagation of electrical signals through metallic lines.
Optical interconnections offer several advantages over metallic interconnections, they include:
higher bandwidth; higher interconnection densities; lower crosstalk; crosstalk which is independent
of data rate; inherent parallelism; immunity from electromagnetic interference and ground loops;
the ability to exploit the third dimension; lower clock and signal skew; and a higher fan-in/fan-out
capability. These advantages mean that optical interconnections have the potential to exhibit higher
data rate communication, higher densities of interconnections with lower crosstalk, and lower
power consumption. The shortest interconnections however, will remain electrical ones, due in
part to the inverse relationship between electrical interconnection length and power consumption,
and to a length independent minimum latency time inherent to optical interconnections caused by
the time delays required for electrical to optical to electrical conversion.
