Quick Reference Guide to 10BASE-FL Fiber Optic Ethernet

6.1 10-Mbps Fiber Optic Media System

FIGURE 6.1 Connecting a computer to a 10BASE-FL segment

The use of light pulses provides superior electrical isolation for equipment at each end of a fiber link. While Ethernet equipment used in metallic media segments has protection circuits designed for typical indoor electrical hazards, fiber optic media is totally non-conductive. This complete electrical isolation provides immunity from much larger electrical hazards including the effect of lightning strikes, and from the different levels of electrical ground currents that can be found in separate buildings. Complete electrical isolation is essential when Ethernet segments must travel outside a building to link separate buildings.

The figure shows a computer linked to a repeater hub with a 10BASE-FL segment. The computer is equipped with an Ethernet interface that has a 15-pin AUI connector. This connector allows a connection to an outboard fiber optic MAU (FOMAU), using a standard AUI cable. The FOMAU, in turn, is connected to the repeater hub with two strands of fiber optic cable. Another port on the repeater is shown connecting to a fiber optic cable, which might connect to another fiber optic repeater hub located some distance away.

A major advantage of the 10BASE-FL fiber optic link segment is the long distances that it can span. Another major advantage is that fiber optic media can support transmission speeds much higher than 10-Mbps. When designing a network backbone you can use fiber optic media to link 10-Mbps hubs and upgrade to 100-Mbps hubs later. The same fiber optic media will handle both speeds.

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