Discussion topic:
After reviewing the lectures on computer and network components, explore your personal or professional environment for computer or network components encountered daily. Provide a brief summary of all the components you have found, then select one in particular that is new or unfamiliar to you and describe its purpose in more detail.
Discussion post:
The current generations of adults are possibly the last generation that will be able to remember what life was like before the existence on the internet and its widespread use. Today we wake up to alarm clocks on our internet connected phones, we use computers networked worldwide at work, and we watch television programs through internet connections from home. Although, the internet has been around for many years its worldwide use has blossomed in the past 25 years. Improvements in connection speed and quality are what have made the expansion of the internet possible. Much of these connection quality improvements are due to fiber optic technology. Fiber optics are an often overlooked technology that has shaped our modern lifestyle. A closer look at fiber optics is important to fully appreciate our modern lifestyle and quality of life afforded by fast efficient internet connection.
C Davis outlines the principals that make fiber optics so great in his paper titled “Fiber Optic Technology and Its Role in the Information Revolution.”1 In his paper he credits the prevalence of fiber optics because they are cheap to produce compared to other methods such as copper wire or coaxial cable. Additionally, fiber optics have a higher information carrying capacity. This is due to the fact that fiber optics use a laser light signal to transmit information compared to an electrical signal. Another benefit of a light signal compared to an electrical signal is that fiber optics aren’t vulnerable to magnetic and electrical interference such as that caused by thunderstorms. Older methods used an analog electrical signal to transmit information which is subject to distortion over long distances. This necessitates the need of periodic amplifiers to keep the signal strength which further contribute to distortion.
References
1)Davis C. Fiber optic technology and its role in the information revolution. Umd.edu. http://www.ece.umd.edu/~davis/optfib.html. Accessed on October 24, 2016.
After reviewing the lectures on computer and network components, explore your personal or professional environment for computer or network components encountered daily. Provide a brief summary of all the components you have found, then select one in particular that is new or unfamiliar to you and describe its purpose in more detail.
Discussion post:
The current generations of adults are possibly the last generation that will be able to remember what life was like before the existence on the internet and its widespread use. Today we wake up to alarm clocks on our internet connected phones, we use computers networked worldwide at work, and we watch television programs through internet connections from home. Although, the internet has been around for many years its worldwide use has blossomed in the past 25 years. Improvements in connection speed and quality are what have made the expansion of the internet possible. Much of these connection quality improvements are due to fiber optic technology. Fiber optics are an often overlooked technology that has shaped our modern lifestyle. A closer look at fiber optics is important to fully appreciate our modern lifestyle and quality of life afforded by fast efficient internet connection.
C Davis outlines the principals that make fiber optics so great in his paper titled “Fiber Optic Technology and Its Role in the Information Revolution.”1 In his paper he credits the prevalence of fiber optics because they are cheap to produce compared to other methods such as copper wire or coaxial cable. Additionally, fiber optics have a higher information carrying capacity. This is due to the fact that fiber optics use a laser light signal to transmit information compared to an electrical signal. Another benefit of a light signal compared to an electrical signal is that fiber optics aren’t vulnerable to magnetic and electrical interference such as that caused by thunderstorms. Older methods used an analog electrical signal to transmit information which is subject to distortion over long distances. This necessitates the need of periodic amplifiers to keep the signal strength which further contribute to distortion.
References
1)Davis C. Fiber optic technology and its role in the information revolution. Umd.edu. http://www.ece.umd.edu/~davis/optfib.html. Accessed on October 24, 2016.