A signal assembly mountable to an exterior of a vehicle is configured with a light-generating unit operable to emit a visually perceptible signal, and with a sound-generating unit operable to generate a sound signal. The cable includes a flexible sheath having first and second ends and multiple conductors embedded in the sheath. This technique can be employed, for example, to determine whether a given storage server already has the data, and to avoid sending the data to that storage server over a network if it already has the data. It also has the added feature of the snap compression ring to ensure the integrity of the part. One dispersion-compensated fiber is shared for a plurality of feeder lines. The system utilizes a CCD camera to capture an image.