Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices.
An optical communication system uses a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal. When electronic equipment is not employed the 'receiver' is a person visually observing and interpreting a signal, which may be either simple (such as the presence of a beacon fire) or complex (such as lights using color codes or flashed in a Morse code sequence).
Free-space optical communication has been deployed in space, while terrestrial forms are naturally limited by geography, weather and the availability of light. This article provides a basic introduction to different forms of optical communication.
History[]
The earliest basic forms of optical communication date back several millennia.
While working at at Tohoku University, Japanese engineer Jun-ichi Nishizawa proposed fiber-optic communication, the use of optical fibers for optical communication, in 1963.[1] Nishizawa invented other technologies that contributed to the development of optical fiber communications, such as the graded-index optical fiber as a channel for transmitting light from semiconductor lasers.[2][3] He patented the graded-index optical fiber in 1964.[4] The solid-state optical fiber was invented by Nishizawa in 1964.[5]
The three essential elements of optical communication were invented by Jun-ichi Nishizawa: the semiconductor laser (1957) being the light source, the graded-index optical fiber (1964) as the transmission line, and the PIN photodiode (1950) as the optical receiver.[4] Izuo Hayashi's invention of the continuous wave semiconductor laser in 1970 led directly to the light sources in fiber-optic communication, laser printers, barcode readers, and optical disc drives, commercialized by Japanese entrepreneurs,[6] and opened up the field of optical communication, playing an important role in the communication networks of the future.[7] Optical communication provided the hardware basis for internet technology, laying the foundations for the Digital Revolution and Information Age.[4]
See also[]
- Fiber tapping
- Interconnect bottleneck
- Jun-Ichi Nishizawa, an inventor of optical communication
- Modulating retro-reflector
- OECC (OptoElectronics and Communications Conference)
- Optical interconnect
- Opto-isolator
- Parallel optical interface
References[]
Citations[]
- ↑ Nishizawa, Jun-ichi; Suto, Ken (2004). "Terahertz wave generation and light amplification using Raman effect". In Bhat, K. N.; DasGupta, Amitava (eds.). Physics of semiconductor devices. New Delhi, India: Narosa Publishing House. p. 27. ISBN 81-7319-567-6.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|lastauthoramp=ignored (|name-list-style=suggested) (help) - ↑ "Optical Fiber". Sendai New. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ "New Medal Honors Japanese Microelectrics Industry Leader". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Third Industrial Revolution Occurred in Sendai, Soh-VEHE International Patent Office, Japan Patent Attorneys Association
- ↑ Semiconductor Technologies, page 338, Ohmsha, 1982
- ↑ Johnstone, Bob (2000). We were burning : Japanese entrepreneurs and the forging of the electronic age. New York: BasicBooks. p. 252. ISBN 9780465091188.
- ↑ S. Millman (1983), A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System, page 10, AT&T Bell Laboratories
Bibliography[]
- Alwayn, Vivek. Fiber-Optic Technologies, Cisco Press, Apr 23, 2004.
- Bruce, Robert V Bell: Alexander Bell and the Conquest of Solitude, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8014-9691-8.
- Carson, Mary Kay (2007). Alexander Graham Bell: Giving Voice To The World. Sterling Biographies. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 76–78. ISBN 978-1-4027-3230-0. OCLC 182527281.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - Mims III, Forest M. The First Century of Lightwave Communications, Fiber Optics Weekly Update, Information Gatekeepers, February 10–26, 1982, pp. 6–23.
- Paschotta, Rüdiger. Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology, RP-Photonics.com website, 2012.
Further reading[]
- Bayvel, Polina Future High-Capacity Optical Telecommunication Networks, Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 358, No. 1765, January 2000, Science into the Next Millennium: Young Scientists Give Their Visions of the Future: II. Mathematics, Physics and Engineering, pp. 303–329, stable article URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2666790, published by The Royal Society.
- Dilhac, J-M. The Telegraph of Claude Chappe -An Optical Telecommunication Network For The XVIII Century, Toulouse: Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse. Retrieved from IEEE Global History Network.