Optical Fiber: When the Heat and Pressure Are On
Leave a CommentMany land and oceanic oil operations use temperature sensing to help improve safety and functionality in harsh environments. Optical fibers used in these conditions are routinely exposed to high temperatures and pressures, along with ionizing radiation and aggressive chemicals in the surroundings. Given these extremes, companies are increasingly using silica-based optical fibers for both acoustic […]
Tags: fiber research, oil production, optical fiber, temperature sensing
Breaking the Transatlantic Record
Leave a CommentMaking an overseas phone call? Using cloud computing? If so, there’s a 99 percent chance your call or message is being carried by an undersea fiber optic cable. Now, new research with lasers may let service providers “push” even more data through these cables to help meet the booming demand for transmission between North […]
Tags: fiber optic cables, MAREA, submarine cable, subsea cable
Learning the ABCs of Fiber Optics
Leave a CommentAlready known as the state’s first gigabit city, Wilson, North Carolina, is now also that state’s first city to offer a “Fiber Optics Basics” training course at its local community college. Last month, Wilson Greenlight, the city’s community-owned, fiber-to-the-home provider, partnered with Wilson Community College to launch the pilot 10-week program. A Long-Held […]
Tags: fiber optic networks, fiber optic training;, OFS, Peter Charles Schultz, Wilson Greenlight
Using Dark Fiber Optic Cables to Detect Earthquakes
Leave a CommentResearchers hope to use networks of unused, dark fiber optic cables to help detect underground sound waves that can warn of an impending earthquake. Millions of miles of unused, dark fiber optic cables are installed underground. A research team of scientists from the University of California (Berkeley) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have been experimenting […]
Tags: dark fiber, Fiber Optic Cable Articles | OFS Optics, seismic activity
Celebrating Women and Girls in Science
Leave a CommentToday the United Nations, its partners and women and girls around the world are marking the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Recent studies suggest that 65 per cent of children entering primary school today will have jobs that do not yet exist. While more girls are attending school than ever before, […]
New Ways to Twist and Shift Light
Leave a CommentThe National Physical Laboratory (NPL) recently conducted photonics research that may lead to new quantum technologies and telecom systems. The researchers discovered unexpected qualities in light that could, in the long term, lead to completely new electronic devices and applications. Light is frequently used in electronics involved in telecommunications and computing. One good example of […]
Tags: fiber optic cables, light, optical fiber, photonics
Lighting Up Dark Fiber
Leave a CommentLast month, internet speeds in Jackson, Mississippi, jumped from 1 Gb to 100 Gb. This leap forward is part of the city’s work to light up “dark fiber” in the robust fiber optic network that it owns. The Origin of Dark Fiber The term “dark fiber” refers to unused or underused fiber optic infrastructure (optical fibers, […]
Fiber to the Home Growth Keeps Exploding
Leave a CommentThe growth in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) just keeps exploding. In fact, for the first time ever, optical fiber passed DSL in home usage during 2018. Fiber is now the second most-frequent connection for North American home Internet. And FTTH is also the second most-often-used, fixed broadband connection medium in North America. A newly-issued […]
Tags: FTTH, Smart Home
The “Wet Net” World of Underwater Fiber Optic Cables
Leave a CommentYou panic when even a few drops of water fall on your laptop. Everyone knows that water and electronics don’t “mix.” That’s why it seems so ironic that most of the Internet’s “hard” infrastructure lies underwater on the ocean floor. Virtually all global data travels through millions of miles of submarine fiber optic cables beneath the […]
Tags: fiber, Fiber Optic Cable Articles | OFS Optics, submarine cables
5G: What’s All the Hoopla About?
Leave a CommentThere’s been lots of excitement and even some “hype” around the idea of 5G. But what is it really? Does it mean just faster internet? Will it really be that much better than 4G? Many people are asking these questions as the FCC begins to auction the first licenses for the airwaves that will carry […]
Tags: 5G, broadband, drones, faster internet, Fiber Optic Cable Articles | OFS Optics, latency, network, optical connectivity, optical fiber, self-driving cars, technology trends, telemedicine, telesurgery, Virtual Reality, wireless, wireless networks