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Optical communications system

Transmitter Medium / Receiver

Channel • One that uses light as the carrier
of information
• Use glass or plastic fiber cables to
“contain” the light waves and
Guided Unguided guide them in a manner similar to
the way electromagnetic waves
are guided through a metallic
Conductive
Non- transmission medium
conductive

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Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Fiber
Transmission
Media

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Optical Principles
Wavelength
The length that one cycle of an
electromagnetic wave occupies in space.

λ = c/f
where:
λ = wavelength (meters/cycle)
c = velocity of light (
300,000,000 meters per
second)
f = frequency (hertz)

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The Light Frequency Spectrum

 Infrared When with light frequencies,
 The band of light frequencies that is too high to be
seen by the human eye with wavelengths ranging
between 770nm and 106 nm. Optical fiber systems
generally operate in the infrared band.
Wavelength is often stated in microns,
 Visible
where 1 micron = 10−6 m (1 μm), or in
 The band of light frequencies to which the human eye
nanometers (nm), where 1 nm = 10−9 m.
will respond wavelengths ranging between 390 nm and
770 nm. This band is visible to the human eye.
 Ultraviolet For optical spectrum, the unit angstrom is
 The band of light frequencies that are too low to be sometimes used to express wavelength,
seen by the human eye with wavelengths ranging where 1 Å = 10−10 m, or 0.0001 micron.
between 10nm and 390 nm.

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Example

 20 Angstrom is equal to how many microns?

Information-carrying capacity
0.002 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠
• Directly proportional to bandwidth
 100 Angstrom is equal to how many microns?
0.01 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠
Optical fiber cables:
• have an infinite bandwidth.
• Have the capacity to carry much more
information than metallic counterpart

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Answers For comparison purposes, it is common to

express the bandwidth of an analog
communications system as a percentage of
its carrier frequency. This is sometimes
called the bandwidth utilization ratio.
For instance, a VHF radio communications
system operating at a carrier frequency of
100 MHz with 10 MHz bandwidth has a
bandwidth utilization ratio of 10%.

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History of optical fiber

communications
Example: 1930 John Logie Baird and Clarence W. Hansell
Were granted patents for scanning and
A microwave radio system operating at transmitting television images through uncoated
a carrier frequency of 10 GHz with a fiber cables
10% bandwidth utilization ratio would
1 GHz of bandwidth available.
have ______ Heinrich Lamm
Successfully transmitted images through a
single glass fiber

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History of optical fiber History of optical fiber

communications communications
1880 PHOTOPHONE 1951 FLEXIBLE FIBERSCOPE
(A.C.S. van Heel of Holand and
(Alexander Graham Bell) H.H. Hopkins and N.S. Kapany)
It was a device  Experimented with light
transmission through bundles
constructed from of fibers
mirrors and selenium
detectors that 1956 Narinder Singh Kapany
transmitted sound  Coined the term “fiber optics”
waves over a beam of
light.

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History of optical fiber Optical Fiber versus Metallic

communications Cable Facilities
1958 Charles H. Townes and Arthur L. Schawlow Advantages of Optical Fiber Cables
 Wrote a paper describing how it was possible to use stimulated 1. Wider Bandwidth and Greater Information Capacity
emission for amplifying light waves (laser) as well as microwaves
(maser) 2. Immunity to Crosstalk
1960 Maser (Theodore H. Maiman) 3. Immunity to Static Interference
 Built the first maser 4. Environmental Immunity
1967 K.C. Kao and G.A. Bockham
5. Safety and Convenience
 Proposed a new communication medium using cladded fiber
cables 6. Lower Transmission Loss
1970 Kapron, Keck and Maurer 7. Security
 developed am optical fiber with losses less than 2 dB/km. 8. Durability and Reliability
9. Economics

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Optical Fiber versus Metallic

Advantages of Fiber Cable Facilities
Optic Communication
Disadvantages of Optical Fiber Cables
1. Interfacing Cost
2. Strength
3. Remote Electrical Power
4. Optical Fiber Cables are More Susceptible to
Losses Introduced by Bending the Cable
5. Specialized Tools, Equipment, and Training

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Fiber Cable Construction Types of Optical Fiber

Based on Material

2. Glass core with plastic cladding (PCS)

Low signal loss
Less affected by radiation
Suitable for military application

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Types of Optical Fiber Types of Optical Fiber

Based on Material
Based on Material

3. Glass core with silica cladding (SCS)

1. Plastic core with plastic cladding
 Lower signal loss
 Easy to produce
 More susceptible to radiation
 Less expensive and easy to install
 Used in short distance
 Capable of up to 6 Mbps

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Types of Optical Fiber Types of Optical Fiber

Based on Mode of Transmission
Based on Index Profile
1. Single mode fiber
 one path for light to pass
1. Step index fiber
 very small diameter of core (7-10 um)
 bandwidth up to 40 GHz  have uniform reflective core index
Core has bigger refractive index than
cladding

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Types of Optical Fiber Types of Optical Fiber

Based on Mode of Transmission
Based on Index Profile
2. Multimode fiber
 designed to carry multiple light
 each have different reflection angle 2. Graded index fiber
have a non-uniform core index

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Block Diagram of an Optical

Fiber Communication System Types of Optical Fiber
Based on Material

1. Plastic core with plastic cladding

Easy to produce
Less expensive and easy to install
Used in short distance
Capable of up to 6 Mbps

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Optical Fiber Configuration

Types of Optical Fiber
 Fiber core and cladding – the
actual fiber portion of an optical
fiber
Based on Material
 Protective coating – protect the
fiber from moisture, which reduces
the possibility of the occurrence of a
detrimental phenomenon called 2. Glass core with plastic cladding (PCS)
stress corrosion ( also called static
fatigue) Low signal loss
 Buffer Jacket – provides additional
protection against abrasion and Less affected by radiation
shock
Suitable for military application
 Strength member – increases the
tensile strength of the over-all cable More immune to external interference
assembly
 Polyurethane outer jacket - the
entire cable assembly is contained
in it

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Types of Optical Fiber Planck’s law

Based on Material  “When visible light or high-frequency EM
radiation illuminates a metallic surface,
3. Glass core with silica cladding (SCS) electrons are emitted.”
 Lower signal loss 1.241
 More susceptible to radiation
𝐸𝑃 𝐽 = ℎ𝑓 𝐸 𝑒𝑉 =
𝜆
 Have best propagation characteristics
 More susceptible to increases in attenuation Where: Ep – energy of the photon
when exposed to radiation h – Planck’s constant (6.625 x 10-34 Js)
f – frequency (Hz)
λ- wavelength (μm)

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Light propagation Examples

 1860 James Clerk Maxwell
1. Calculate the energy of the photon of infrared
light energy at 1.55 μm.
 theorized that EM radiation contained a series of
oscillating waves comprised of an electric and a
magnetic field in quadrature

 1905 Albert Einstein and Max Planck

 showed that when light is emitted or absorbed, it
behaves like an EM wave and also like a particle,
called a photon

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Examples Optical Power

2. Find the number of photons incident on a Measures the rate at which
detector in 1s if the optic power is 1μW and the electromagnetic wave transfer light
wavelength is 0.8 μm. energy
Flow of light energy past a given point
in a specified time
Sometimes called radiant flux

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Optical Power Optical Power

Photometry Generally stated in decibels relative to
science of measuring only light waves a defined power level
that are visible to the human eye
In terms of luminous flux density
(lumens per unit area)

Radiometry
measures light throughout the entire
electromagnetic spectrum

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Recitation
Determine the optical power in dBm and
dBμ for power levels of
10 mW
20 μW

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Physical Optics
 refers to the ways that light can be
processed

Reflection
 When light rays strike a reflective
surface, such as a mirror, the light
waves are thrown back or reflected.
Law of reflection “The angle of incidence
is equal to the angle of reflection.”

Refraction
 the bending of a light ray that occurs
when the light rays pass from one
medium to another.
 occurs because light travels at different
speeds in different materials

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Refraction of light

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Refractive Index Snell’s Law

(Willebrord Snell)

Simply the ratio of the velocity of

propagation of a light ray in free
space to the velocity of propagation Where:
of a light ray in a given material n1- refractive index of
material 1
n2- refractive index of
material 2
n=c/v 𝜃1 –angle of incidence
𝜃2 –angle of refraction

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Examples SEATWORK
1. For a glass (n=1.55) to ethyl alcohol 1. For a glass (n=1.5)/quartz(n=1.38)
(n=1.36) interface, and an angle of incidence interface and an angle of incidence of
of 33deg, determine the angle of refraction. 35deg, determine the angle of
refraction.
2. How many photons are arriving per
second at a receiver if the power is
1nW at a wavelength of 1.3um?

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Critical Angle
Examples
 Minimum angle of
2. Calculate the resulting deviation from the normal line incidence at which a light
for a light signal that travels from air-to-glass-to-diamond ray may strike the interface
if the striking angle is 38o. of two media and result in
an angle of refraction of
90o or greater

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Acceptance angle /
Acceptance cone half-angle

 The maximum angle in

which external light rays
may strike the air/glass
interface and still
propagate down the fiber

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Example Example

For a multimode step index fiber with An optical fiber and its cladding have
glass core (n=1.53) and a fused quartz refractive indexes of 1.55 and 1.32
cladding (n=1.44), determine the critical respectively. Determine the acceptance
angle. angle.

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Numerical Aperture (NA) Optical Fiber Configurations

 Figure of merit commonly used to measure

the magnitude of the acceptance angle
 Used to describe the light-gathering or light-
collecting ability of an optical fiber
Where N = number of
propagating modes
d = core diameter
λ = wavelength
n1 = refractive index of core
n2 = refractive index of
cladding

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Example Index Profile

 Graphical representation of the magnitude of the refractive
index across the fiber. The refractive index is plotted on the
horizontal axis, and the radial distance from the core axis is
An optical fiber and its cladding have plotted on the vertical axis.
refractive indexes of 1.51 and 1.354
respectively. Determine the numerical
aperture.

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Basic Types of Index Profiles Example

Step-index Fiber
 Has a core with a uniform refractive index
 An outside cladding that also has a uniform Calculate the maximum core radius to
refractive index surrounds the core; however, the support single mode operation for a fiber
refractive index of the cladding is less than that of with NA of 0.15 and λ=0.82μm.
the central core

Graded-index Fiber
 There is no cladding, and the refractive index of
the core is non-uniform; it is highest in the center
of the core and decreases gradually with distance
towards the outer edge

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Optical Fiber Classifications Optical Fiber Classifications

Single-Mode Step-Index Multimode Step-Index Optical
Optical Fiber Fiber
 Dominant fibers  Similar to the single-mode
step-index fibers except the
 Has a central core center core is much larger
that is significantly with the multimode
smaller in diameter configuration
than any of the  Has a large light-to-fiber
multimode cables aperture
 Allows more external light to
 Has a wide
enter the cable
external
acceptance angle Multimode Graded-Index
Optical Fiber
 Very weak and
 Graded-index fibers are
difficult to splice or characterized by a central
terminate core with a nonuniform
refractive index

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Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

1. Absorption Losses
- Analogous to power dissipation in copper cables; impurities
in the fiber absorb the light and convert it to heat
a. Ultraviolet absorption – caused by valence electrons in
the silica material from which fibers are manufactured
b. Infrared absorption – result of photons of light that are
absorbed by the atoms of the glass core molecule
c. Ion resonance absorption- caused by OH- ions in the
material that has been trapped in the glass during
manufacturing process which can be minimized
by drying the glass in chlorine gas to leach out the
water vapor

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Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

2. Material, or Rayleigh Scattering Losses

- occurs when a wave interacts with a particle in a way
that removes energy in the directional propagating wave
and transfer it to other directions.

0.887
𝐿=
𝜆4
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
𝜆 = 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝜇𝑚

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Example Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

Calculate the Rayleigh scattering loss in dB for
5. Modal Dispersion (pulse spreading) – caused by the
a 50/125 step-index fiber operating at 1200 nm.
difference in the propagation times of light rays take
Also compute for the attenuation in Neper.
different paths down a fiber
6. Coupling Losses – are caused by imperfect physical
connections

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Losses in Optical Fiber Cables Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

3. Chromatic, or Wavelength Dispersion
- impairment wherein light rays that are simultaneously emitted from an LED a. Lateral displacement
and propagated down the fiber do not arrive at the far end of the fiber at the (misalignment)- simply due
same time
to the non-overlap of
- can be eliminated by using a monochromatic light source such as an ILD transmitting and receiving
4. Radiation Losses fiber cores
- are caused mainly by small bend and kinks in the fiber b. Gap displacement
(misalignment) - when
splices are made in optical
2 Types of Bends fibers, the fibers should
a. Microbends – occurs as a result of differences in the thermal contraction actually touch. The farther
rates between the core and the cladding material apart the fibers, the greater
- miniature bend the loss of light.
b. Constant-radius bends – are caused by excessive pressure and tension
and generally occur when fibers are bent during handling or installation

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Losses in Optical Fiber Cables Optical Sources

c. Angular displacement 1. LED

(misalignment) – if the angular
displacement is less than 2deg, - Is a p-n junction diode, usually
the loss will typically be less made from a semiconductor
than 0.5dB material such as AlGaAs or
GaAsP
- Emits light by spontaneous
emission-----light emitted as a
d. Imperfect surface furnish- the result of the recombination of
ends of the two joining fibers electrons and holes
should be highly polished and fit
together squarely 2. ILD
- is similar to the LED

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Light Sources
Light Detectors
1. PIN Diode
Light sources used for
the optical fiber - Is a depletion-layer photodiode and is
systems must be at probably the most common device used
wavelengths efficiently as a light detector in fiber-optic
propagated by the communications system
optical fiber.
Light sources must 2. APDs
also produce sufficient
power to allow the light - are more sensitive than PIN diodes
to propagate through and require less additional amplification
the fiber without
- disadvantages are relatively long
causing distortion in
the cable itself or in the transit time and additional internally
receiver. generated noise due to the avalanche
multiplication factor

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Characteristics of Light Laser Types

Detectors
Responsivity
 Gas Lasers – use a mixture of helium and
 measure of the conversion efficiency of the photodetector neon enclosed in a glass tube
 Ratio of the output current of a photodiode to the input optical power (A/W)
 Liquid lasers – use organic dyes enclosed
Dark Current
in a glass tube for an active medium
 the leakage current that flows through a photodiode with no light input
Transit time
 Solid lasers – use a solid, cylindrical crystal,
such as ruby, for the active medium
 time it takes a light-induced carrier to travel across the depletion region of
a semiconductor  Semiconductor lasers – are made from
Spectral response semiconductor p-n junctions and are
 the range of wavelength values that a given photodiode will respond commonly called ILDs
Light sensitivity
 the minimum optical power a light detector can receive and still produce a
usable electrical output signal

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LASERS Optical Fiber System Link Budget

Light Amplification
by Stimulated
Emission of
Radiation
The first laser was
developed by
Theodore H.
Maiman.

Optical fiber communications systems: (a) without

repeaters; (b) with repeaters

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Optical Fiber System Link

Budget
Link budget consists of a light power source, a
light detector, and various cable and connector
losses:
Cable losses
Connector losses
Source-to-cable interface loss
Cable-to-light detector interface loss
Splicing loss
Cable bends

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Example

Determine the optical power received in dBm and watts for

a 30-km optical fiber link with the following parameters:
LED output power of 30 mW
Four 5-km sections of optical cable each with a loss
of 0.5 dB/km
Three cable-to-cable connectors with a loss of 2 dB
each
No cable splices
Light source-to fiber interface loss of 1.9 dB
Fiber-to-light detector loss of 2.1 dB
No losses due to cable bends

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