Optical Communications: Components and Systems

Optical communication refers to any type of communication that uses light to carry information. An optical communication system is composed of three major components, which include a transmitter, channel and receiver. Transmitter is used to encode a message into an optical signal. Semiconductor devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes are the most commonly used transmitters. The function of a channel is to carry the signal to its destination. Receiver is a component tha...