The major driving force behind the widespread use of fiber optics communication is the high and rapidly increasing
consumer and commercial demand for more
telecommunication capacity and internet services, with fiber optic technology capable of providing the required
information capacity (larger than both wireless connections
and copper cable). Advances in technology have enabled more
data to be conveyed through a single optical fiber over long
distances. The transmission capacity in optical communication
networks are significantly improved using wavelength
division multiplexing ----------
A desirable feature for future optical networks is the ability to
process information entirely in the optical domain for the
purpose of amplification, multiplexing, de-multiplexing,
switching, filtering, and correlation, since optical signal
processing is more efficient than electrical signal processing.