Fiber Optic Transceivers are often used in modern optical communication channels to enable the ability  to send optical signals (light) down an optical fiber from a transmitter, through a fiber optic interconnect, and then into an optical receiver on the opposite end of the fiber optic cable. Often it is desired to be able to use that same fiber optic cable to send am optical signal back to what was once the transmitter and have it received.

Optical transceivers make it possible to be able to do just that – Transceivers allow for a transmitter and a receiver to exist at the same location on a fiber optic line. Traditionally, and even in some cases today, you would only have a group of fiber cables that are dedicated for transmitting signals down a line into a receiver for only one direction. Moreover, a separate or group of fiber cables for receiving or sending optical signals back. Without the use of fiber optic transceivers, the optical fiber is unidirectional. By implementing the utilization of a transceiver one can use half the amount of fiber optic cables, and be able to send and receive information in both directions, with the use of transceivers, thus enabling a bidirectional piece of fiber to accomplish a full duplex interconnect.

More and more internet routers and network interconnect and interface systems are using fiber optic transceivers in their system designs today.