Fiber optic relay systems consist of a transmitter that produces and encodes the light signals, optical fiber that conducts the light signals over a distance, optical regenerator to boost the light signal and optical receiver that receives and decodes the light signals.
The transmitter receives and directs the optical device in the correct sequence that generates a light signal. The transmitter is physically close to the optical fiber and may have a lens to focus the light into the fiber.
Because some signal loss occurs when the light is transmitted through the fiber, one or more optical regenerators are spliced along the cable to boost the degraded light signal. The optical regenerator is a laser amplifier for the incoming signal.
The optical receiver takes the incoming digital light signals, decodes them and sends the electrical signal to the other user’s computer, television, or telephone. The receiver uses a photocell or photodiode to detect the light.