Question

Is there any large technical difference between the optical fiber communication and the infrared communication ?

Answer

The basic transmit-receive technique and the system design concept are almost the same.

But there is the difference about the design philosophy because the optical fiber communication uses the stable closed space and the infrared communication has many obstruction factors. That is, in the infrared communication system the signal degradation is larger than that of the optical fiber communication, and the degradation is much deviated by the meteorological condition while the degradation is calculated using the cable length in the optical fiber communication. Consequently the infrared communication system must include the large system margin against the deviation of the signal quality.

In the infrared communication system the signal quality, that is the system availability, is affected by the meteorological condition and remarkably affected by the regional difference.

The infrared communication system uses many technical solutions in order to provide the stable transmission path against these environmental conditions.