Signal Dispersion in Optical Fibres

• It is defined as the signal broadening or spreading while

it propagates through the fibre.
• It occurs when a pulse sent into the fibre broadens in
time during propagation, which is caused when its
phase velocity depends on its frequency. Due to this,
pulses launched into the fibre together emerge out at
different times.
• Due to dispersion, a pulse of light travelling through a
fibre not only gets attenuated but also distorted.
• Signal Dispersion in Optical Fibres is of two types-
(i) Modal/Intermodal Dispersion- It occurs when each
mode of signal travels different distances over the
same time span, obviously they emerge out at
different times leading to pulse spreading. It does Advantages of Optical Fiber Cable
not occur in single mode fibre. • Bandwidth - Fiber optic cables have a much greater
(ii) Chromatic/Intramodal Dispersion- It occurs when bandwidth than metal cables. The amount of
the light source feeds the signal at different information that can be transmitted per unit time of
frequencies including propagation delay differences fiber over other transmission media is its most
between the signals of same frequencies. It causes significant advantage.
the broadening of each transmitted mode. • Low Power Loss - An optical fiber offers low power
It is of two types- loss, which allows for longer transmission distances.
a) Material Dispersion- It is caused when there are In comparison to copper, in a network, the longest
different refractive index responses offered by recommended copper distance is 100m while with
the material of the fibre to different frequencies fiber, it is 2km.
of the input signal. As different spectral • Interference - Fiber optic cables are immune to
components of the optical pulse have different electromagnetic interference. It can also be run in
speeds, it causes pulse spreading in time. electrically noisy environments without concern as
b) Waveguide Dispersion- It occurs when the speed electrical noise will not affect fiber.
of the wave in an optical fibre varies with its • Size - In comparison to copper, a fiber optic cable has
frequency due to geometric reasons. It occurs for nearly 4.5 times as much capacity as the wire cable
waves propagating through any inhomogeneous has and a cross sectional area that is 30 times less.
structure of the fibre. • Weight - Fiber optic cables are much thinner and
The amount of wave guide dispersion depends upon the lighter than metal wires. They also occupy less space
fibre design. with cables of the same information capacity. Lighter
weight makes fiber easier to install.
OPTIC - FIBER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
An optical fiber communication system has following • Security - Optical fibers are difficult to tap. As they do
components- not radiate electromagnetic energy, emissions
cannot be intercepted. As physically tapping the fiber
takes great skill to do undetected, fiber is the most
secure medium available for carrying sensitive data.
• Flexibility - An optical fiber has greater tensile
strength than copper or steel fibers of the same
diameter. It is flexible, bends easily and resists most
corrosive elements that attack copper cable.
• Cost - The raw materials for glass are plentiful, unlike
copper. This means glass can be made more cheaply
than copper.

Applications
• Medical- Used as light guides, imaging tools and
also as lasers for surgeries
• Défense/Government - Used as hydrophones for
seismic waves and SONAR, as wiring in aircraft,
submarines and other vehicles and also for field
networking
• Data Storage - Used for data transmission
• Telecommunications - Fiber is laid and used for
transmitting and receiving purposes
 • Networking - Used to connect users and servers in 5. The velocity of a light in the core of silica fiber is 2×108
a variety of network settings and help increase the m/s and the critical angle at the core cladding interface
speed and accuracy of data transmission is 60°. Determine:
• Industrial/Commercial- Used for imaging in hard- i)The refractive index of the core and cladding.
to-reach areas, as wiring where EMI is an issue, as ii) The numerical aperture for the fiber (2018-19)
sensory devices to make temperature, pressure 6. If fractional difference between core and cladding
and other measurements, and as wiring in refractive indices of the optical fiber is 0.0135 and
automobiles and in industrial settings. numerical aperture is 0.2425, calculate the refractive
• Broadcast/CATV- Broadcast/cable companies are indices of core and cladding materials.
using fiber optic cables for wiring CATV, HDTV,
internet, video on-demand and other applications. Long Answer
• Fiber optic cables are used for lighting and imaging 1. Explain the propagation mechanism inside the fiber optic
and as sensors to measure and monitor a vast system? What is the advantage of fiber optics technology
array of variables. in communication system?
• Fiber optic cables are also used in research, 2. Describe an optical fiber. Explain basic principle of
development and testing across all the above- optical fiber. Discuss fiber classification?
mentioned industries. 3. Discuss different types of pulse dispersion in optical
fiber.
Short Answer Questions 4. Discuss the propagation mechanism and communication
1. What is optical fiber? (2018-19) in optical fibers. Also discuss about the power loss in
2. What do you mean by 'acceptance angle and acceptance optical fibers. (2015-16)
cone for an optical fiber'? (2021-22) 5. Explain acceptance angle and acceptance cone of an
3. What is 'numerical aperture'? Define it using the concept optical fiber. What do you mean by numerical aperture?
of total internal reflection. Derive expressions for them. (2018-19)
4. Why modal dispersion is negligible in single mode fiber? 6. Explain single and multimode fibers. Differentiate single
5. What is dispersion of radiation in optical fiber mode from multimode fiber.
communication? 7. What do you understand by attenuation in optical fiber?
6. What is step index multimode fiber? Discuss the important factors responsible for the loss of
7. Why graded index optical fiber is better than multimode power in optical fiber.
step index fiber? 8. Discuss the different types of losses in an optical fiber.
8. What do you mean by scattering losses in fiber? (2016-17)
9. Give few important applications of optical fiber. (2018- 9. What is optical fiber communication? Classify the optical
19, 15-16) fibers and explain it in detail.
10.What do you understand by attenuation in optical fiber? 10.What do you understand by modes of an optical fiber?
(2018-19) Discuss propagation of light in single mode, multimode
11.What precautions are needed to minimize the material and graded index fiber. (2018-19, 16-17)
dispersion? (2016-17)

Numerical Problems
1. A step index fiber has core and cladding refractive indices
1.466 and 1.460 respectively. If the wavelength of light
0.85 m is propagated through the fiber of core diameter
50 µm, find the normalized frequency and number of
mode supported by the fiber. [V= 24.75; N=
306] (2021-22, 18-19)
2. A silica glass optical fiber has a core refractive index of
1.500 and cladding refractive index of1.450. Calculate
the numerical aperture, acceptance angle and critical
angle of the filter. [NA= 0.385; ia= 22.630; θc= 75.30]
(2021-22, 16-17)
3. A communication system uses 10 Km fiber having a loss
of 2.5 dB/Km compute the output power if the input
power is 500µW? (2021-22)
4. A step index fiber has core refractive index 1.468 and
cladding refractive index 1.462. Compute the maximum
radius allowed for fiber, if it support only one mode at a
wavelength 1300 nm. (2015-16)