ible. They can also run along the same routes as electric cables without picking up excessive noise. One way to simplify installation in existing buildings is to run cables through ventilation ducts. However, fire codes require that such plenum cables be made of costly fire retardant materials that emit little smoke. The advantage of fiber types is that they aresmaller and hence require less of the costly fire retardant materials. The small size, lightweight and flexibility of fiber optic cables also make them easier to be used in temporary or portable installations. 6) High Bandwidth Over Long Distances Fiber optics have a large capacity to carry high speed signals over longer distances without repeaters than other types of cables. The information carrying capacity increases with frequency. This however, doesn't mean that optical fiber has infinit bandwidth, butit's certainly greater than coaxial cables. Generally, coaxial cables have a bandwidth parameter of a few MHz/km, where else the fiber optic cable has a bandwidth of 400MHz/km. (These figures are just approximations and do vary from cable to cable!) This is an important factor that leads to the choice of fiber for data communications. Fiber can be added to a wire network so it can reach terminals outside its normal range.Some fo the problems associated with the use of fiber optic cables:1) System Reconfiguration Although fiber optics are renowned for their efficiencies and loads of advantages, there are a few drawbacks in them and one of them is system reconfiguration. Converting existing hardware and software for the use of fiber optics does take a lot of time andmoney which also reduces the turnover for any profit making firm in the market. Sometimes it may be more convenient to transmit high speed computer data serially ( one bit after another ) than sending several bits at a time in parallel over separate wires. Thischangeover requires modification in both hard...
