Even if you're not a technical person, you have probably noticed Internet service providers talking about fiber-optic connections. You know that fiber-optic connections are faster and provide higher quality, more reliable service. In other words, fiber-optic equals good. Cable companies, particularly, are very eager to make sure you know fiber-optic is good. What they don't tell you is that they don't offer fiber-optic connections all the way to your computer. While providers don't like to admit this, their fiber-optic connection stops at the curb. Verizon Fios is the only Internet provider who actually brings fiber-optic all the way into your home, right to your computer.
Fiber-optic connections are, indeed, very good. Data signals are transmitted as pulses of light over extremely fine strands of glass fiber. The signal that reaches your computer with Verizon FiOS is extremely clear, and arrives incredibly fast. At this point, consumer Internet access does not get better than fiber-optic. Verizon FiOS takes advantage of new technology to bring that fiber-optic quality all the way to your computer.
Until recently, fiber-optic to the curb was the best you could get, and it was certainly better than analog lines. Cable Internet is faster than some alternatives. But with Verizon FiOS, you get the absolute fastest home Internet access available. FiOS offers speeds of up to 50Mbs downstream and 5 Mbps upstream. If you want fast Internet, Verizon FiOS is your best choice.
Of course, speed is not the only thing you look for in Internet access. You also want a reliable connection. Verizon FiOS brings you the most stable Internet connection because the signal travels over fiber-optic connections exclusively. You'll be amazed how stable your connection is, and you will definitely not miss the occasional stutter in service, brownout or complete downtime.
You might expect a faster, better Internet connection to cost a lot more than cable, but Verizon FiOS actually costs less than you currently pay for your cable Internet connection. Plans start at $42.99, which includes your Internet connection and access to great online entertainment including games, movie trailers and reviews, and music videos, reviews and mixes.
Installation of your Verizon FiOS comes free with your one-year contract, so you won't have to spend your free time installing a new Internet connection. A professional Verizon installation technician will set up the hardware and software on your computer, connect your computer to the Internet and make sure it's working correctly, and provide a welcome packet with everything you need to know about your Verizon connection.
Cable companies had a monopoly in many areas for far too long, and their high-speed Internet has been popular because it is faster than other options. However, cable companies also have a reputation of being difficult to deal with, and most people keep cable Internet connections only because they have few alternatives. Now you have the choice of faster, more reliable, more affordable Verzion FiOS with available free installation and lower monthly rates than cable. Choice is good. Choosing Verizon FiOS will free you from the cable company.
Light waves consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. These two fields are perpendicular to each other and to the direction of light traveling. We call the electric field plane as the light's polarization.
Sunlight and many other ordinary light is made of many light waves, each with their electric and magnetic fields oriented randomly. If all waves' electric fields were aligned parallel to each other, we call this light linearly polarized.
:: Polarization's effect on optical fibers
Polarization does not really matter in multimode fibers but it can be crucial in single mode fibers especially for long distance and high speed rate fiber communications. Why? Let me explain it below.
Technically speaking, single mode fibers actually have two modes traveling in it. These two modes have orthogonal polarization and perfect single mode fibers cannot differentiate between them. These two modes are functionally identical and light energy can shift easily between these two polarization modes.
However, fiber's geometry is not perfect. As a result, these two modes actually travel along the fiber at slightly different speeds. The effect is called PMD (polarization mode dispersion). The slight speed difference can cause problems in high speed fiber optic links such as 10Gbit/s and 40Gbit/s.
:: Polarization maintaining fibers come to the rescue!
Polarization maintaining fibers are special kinds of single mode fibers, they are also commonly called PM fibers or Panda PM fibers.
PM fibers have built-in asymmetry which is also called birefringence. The refractive index of PM fiber differs for the two polarizations and this effect prevent light energy from coupling between two polarizations.
PM fibers can transmit light in a single polarization if the input light polarization is aligned to one of its two birefringence axes. And that is why they are called polarization maintaining fibers.
:: The applications of polarization maintaining fibers
PM fibers are rarely used for long distance transmission because of their expensive price and higher attenuation than single mode fiber. They are commonly used for telecommunication applications, fiber optic sensing and interferometry.
:: Polarization Measurements
Polarization is measured by passing light through a polarizer, which transmits light only if its electric field is aligned in a particular direction. The fraction of light transmitted by the polarizer indicates the degree of polarization in the direction of the polarizer.
Polarization has taken on increasing importance in high-performance fiber optic systems and in certain fiber optic sensors. Some fibers are sensitive to polarization. In addition, a number of components are sensitive to polarization, including some optical isolators, couplers, waveguides, and some multiplexers.
:: Polarization Dependent Loss
Polarization dependent loss measures the maximum difference in attenuation for light with various degrees of polarization. For example, if loss is 3dB when transferring horizontally polarized light from a fiber to a waveguide but 6dB for vertically polarized light at the same junction, the polarization-dependent loss is 3dB (assuming that those are the minimum and maximum losses). This is measured by adding polarization analyzers to conventional loss measurement instruments.
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