Fiber Optics

Telecommunications
Dr. Muhammad Hassan Sayyad
Professor,
Faculty of Engineering Sciences (FES), 
GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, NWFP.

E-mails:
[email protected]; [email protected]
 Outline
1. Types of Optical Communication
2. Fiber Optics Telecommunication- An
Overview
3. Principles of Fiber Optics
4. Fiber Characteristics
5. Types of Optical Fibers
6. Optical communication Systems
7. Fiber Optic Components
8. Optical Fiber Networking
9. Other Applications of Optical Fiber
1. Types of optical communication
Free Space Communication
Bell’s Photophone
• After succeeding in transmitting a
voice signal over 200 meters
using a light signal, Bell wrote to
his father: "I have heard a ray of
light laugh and sing. We may talk
by light to any visible distance
without any conducting wire.“

• To the end of his life, he insisted

was '...the greatest invention I
have ever made, greater than the
telephone....' Unlike the
telephone, though, it had no
commercial value."
 Free Space Communication cont.
Bell’s Photophone

• 1880 – first modern optical communication system concept

 Free Space Communication cont.
1960: Line of sight optical transmission using laser

Line of sight Free-Space Optical Communication has recently

emerged as a hot new Technology for the last mile optical
wireless network
 Free Space Communication cont.

Deep-Space Laser Communication Link

• NASA and MIT are teaming together to build
the first interplanetary laser communicatio
n link between Mars and Earth
.
• In 2010, the Mars Laser Communication
Demonstration (MLCD) will test the first deep-
space laser communication link, which promises
to transmit data at a rate nearly ten times higher
than any existing interplanetary radio
communication link.
 Free Space Communication cont.

• Japan's Optical Inter-Orbit Communication Engineering Test Satellite

(OICETS) will test long-range laser tracking across free-space.
 Fiber Optic communication
TRANSMITTER FIBRE RECEIVER

+ –
+ –
The use of light as a "carrier" of an
acoustic signal (Intensity modulation).
Integrated Optical Modulators
Transmitters and Receivers
2. Fiber Optics Telecommunication-
An Overview
Why Optical?
What is driving demand?
 Communication History- Before Fiber

1. Optical Communication
• Hands
• Smoke signals
• Lamps, etc
• Bit rate  1 bps
 Communication History- Before Fiber
cont.
2. Telegraph
• 1830’s
• era of electrical
communication
• coding techniques
• Morse code ~ 10 bps
• digital ( dot –dash)
DOT = * BATTE
DASH = - RY

LONG DASH = ---- Electromagne

t
A ( * -)
B (- * *)
 Communication History- Before Fiber
cont.

3. Telephone
• 1876
• Analog
• Bandwidth ~
10 kHz
 Communication History- Before Fiber
cont.

4.Coaxial cable
• 1940
• Bandwidth ~ 300 MHZ
(300 voice channels)
• Limited by frequency
dependent cable loss
which becomes
significant above 10 MHz
 Communication History- Before Fiber
cont.

5. Microwave communication
• ~ 1950
• Typical bit rate
100 Mbps
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Historical developments
• 1950 -55: The birth of clad fiber
• 1930: Experiments with silica fibers started, Germany

John Tyndall’s Experiment, 1870 Optical Fiber with Cladding

 Fiber Optic Communication-
Historical developments cont.

• 1962: Semiconductor Laser, USA

• 1970: Loss from 1000 dB/km to 20 dB/km – a breakthrough, USA
Optic Communication- Historical
developments cont.
• 1970: Graded-index multimode fiber, Japan,
Start of fiber deployment
• 1976: 800 nm, GMMF, @ 2Gbps/km
• 1980: 1300 nm, SMF, @100 Gbps/km
1550 nm, SMF, @1000 Gbps/km, EDFA
• 1990: 10 Gbps over 1000,000 km with no error
WDM, TDM, SOLITON
• 2000 and beyond: DWDM @ 2.5 Gbps/channel
Hybrid DWDM/TDM
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Generations
Generation 1 ~ 1980
• GaAs Laser 0.8 μm
• Multimode fiber
• 45 Mbps spacing 10 km
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Generations cont.

Generation 2 - early 1980’s

• 1.3 μm InGaAsP sources/detectors
• Single mode fiber
• 2 Gbps spacing 50 km
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Generations cont.
Generation 3 – late 1980’s
• 1.55 μm LD
• Single mode fiber
• Typical bit rate 2.5 Gb/s up to 10 Gbps
• spacing 60 – 70 km, electronic repeater
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Generations cont.
Generation 4 – early 1990’s
• 1.55 μm
• Single mode dispersion shifted
fiber fiber
• 2.5 Gbps , spacing 10 000 km.
• EDFA, WDM
 Fiber Optic Communication-
Generations cont.
Generation 5 – today
• DFB Lasers
• EDFA
• DWDM
• Fiber Bragg Gratings
• Add/Drop MUX
• Single mode dispersion shifted fiber fiber
• 2.5 Gbps to 160 Gbps repeatered systems with
unlimited length and unrepreated systems for
lengths of 400 km.
 Fiber Optic Commuincation-
Present status
• Advances in technology have led to a rapid
decline in the cost of fiber transmission
bandwidth, enabling a constant stream of new
applications for terrestrial networks.
• Through dense wavelength division multiplexing
(DWDM) and Synchronous Optical
Network/SynchronousDigital Hierarchy
(SONET/SDH) transmission technologies,
backbone network data rates as high as 640
Gbps (Next Slide) are currently possible with
commercially-available equipment.
Nortel OPTERA 640 System

64 wavelengths each carrying 10 Gb/s

SEA-ME-WE 3
DWDM under sea cable network connecting countries
between Germany and Singapore. Ready since 30-08-1999
Total over 20,000 km (Courtesy, Alcatel), Capacity 40 Gbps
 3. Parts of an Optical Fiber
Fibre
Fibrecore
core
SiO + GeO
SiO22+ GeO22
10m
ØØ10 m
nn1.443
1.443

SiO
SiO22Cladding
Cladding
125m
ØØ125 m
nn1.44
1.44 Primary
Primarycoating
coating(soft)
(soft)
400m
ØØ400 m

Secondary
Secondarycoating
coating(hard)
(hard)
ØØ11mm
mm

Dimensions: For SMF 10/125, and for MMF 50/125 & 62.125
Optical Fiber Cable
Relative Core/Cladding Size
Fabrication of Optical Fiber

Step 1 - Creation of preform.exe

Step 2 - Drawing of the Fiber.exe

 Geometry Defined by Core/Cladding
Radius and Refractive Indices
• Typical refractive indices do not vary much
from pure silica
– Add germanium to raise index in core
– Add fluorine to lower index in cladding
• Cladding diameters range depending upon
fiber
– Single mode – 125 m
– Multi-mode – 125 to 400 m
– Plastic fiber – 1-2 mm
4. Principles of Fiber Optics
Reflection and Refraction of
Light
Total Internal Reflection
Ray Propagation in Fibre -
Bound Rays
Ray Propagation in Fibre -
contd.
Ray Propagation in Fibre -
contd.
 5. Fiber types
refractive
index

SM
SM
Single-Mode
Single-Mode

MM-SI
MM-SI
Multi-Mode
Multi-Mode
Step
StepIndex
Index

MM-GI
MM-GI
Multi-Mode
Multi-Mode
Graded
GradedIndex
Index
 6. Fiber Characteristics
First Generation, ~1975, 0.8 m
MM-fibre, GaAs-laser or LED

Second Generation, ~1980, 1.3 m, MM & SM-fibre

InGaAsP FP-laser or LED

Third Generation, ~1985, 1.55 m, SM-fibre

InGaAsP DFB-laser, ~ 1990 Optical amplifiers

Fourth Generation, 1996, 1.55 m

WDM-systems
Attenuation

0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Wavelength (m)
Fibre Characteristics
 Properties of silica glass

• Chemical formula SiO2

• Lowest fiber loss 0.2 dB/km
• Bandgap of fused silica 9 eV (~137 nm)
• (Pure germania bandedge ~185 nm)
• Infrared edge (vibrational resonances) ~2µm
• Rayleigh scattering ~λ-4
• OH- ions infrared absorption: fundamental 2.27
and overtones 1.37, 0.95 and 0.725 µm
Attenuation in Optical Fibers
Attenuation Vs. Wavelength – SM Fibre
Causes of attenuation of
silica glass fiber
 History of Attenuation Through
Standard Silica glass Optical Fiber

• 1970 - 20dB/km achieved by

Kapron, Keck & Maurier of the
Corning glass works
R & D EXPLOSION
• 1974 - 3dB/km @ l = 800nm
• - 0.5dB/km @ l = 1300nm
• 1980 - 0.3dB/km @ l = 1300nm
• - 0.2dB/km @ l = 1550nm
• LOSSES ARE MUCH LOWER
THAN COPPER CABLE (10 -
20dB/km for best coaxial cable)
®
• Fewer repeaters - 2 to 3km
spacing for coax, 30 to >100km
spacing for optical fibre
• Low cost systems
Telecommunication Windows for
Fiber Optic Systems
There are three major applications of fiber optic telecommunications -
each one corresponding to the three low fiber-attenuation window:
long haul backbone networks (1.55µm); metro area networks (1.31µm)
and local area optical networks (0.85µm).

First Generation, ~1975, 0.85 m

MM-fibre, GaAs-laser or LED

Second Generation, ~1980, 1.31 m, MM & SM-fibre

InGaAsP FP-laser or LED

Third Generation, ~1985, 1.55 m, SM-fibre

InGaAsP DFB-laser, ~ 1990 Optical amplifiers

Fourth Generation, 1996, 1.55 m

WDM-systems
Attenuation

0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Wavelength (m)
Fibre Dispersion
Chromatic Dispersion
Modal (Intermodal) Dispersion
Dispersion - Consequences
Animation of Pulse Spreading
Through a Dispersive Medium
Controlling Dispersion
7. Fiber Optic communication
A simple digital link
Elements of a Fiber Optic Link
 The Links Discussed are
Single Channel
• Inefficient use of resources…
• The full bandwidth of the link is
under-utilized, and thus the full
economic capacity of the link is
under-utilized
• Multiplexing allows for more efficient
use of the link resource
Various Multiplex Methods Are Available
for Increasing Resource Utilization

Multiplexing
• Two or more simultaneous transmissions
on a single circuit.
• Transparent to end user.
• Multiplexing costs less.
 Medium Sharing
• Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
• Frequency Division Multiplexing
• In the optical domain,
– Wavelength Division Multiplexing
Time Division Multiplexing
Wavelength Division Multiplexing
Animation of Wavelength
Division Multiplexing
 What is DWDM?

• DWDM puts data from different

sources together on an optical fiber,
with each signal carried on its own
separate light wavelength
• Each wavelength is considered a
channel or virtual fiber; a channel has
a maximum bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps
What is DWDM? (cont.)
 What makes up DWDM?

• Photonic layer – Optical Fiber

• Optical Amplifiers – signal boosting
(EDFA -Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier)
• Wavelength Converters: data -> light
• Wavelength Add/Drop Multiplexer –
Transforms a single wavelength point-to-
point optical signal into a wavelength
division
 How Fast is DWDM?
Between 2.5 Gbps to 2.4 Tbps
How Do I Upgrade a DWDM System?
 Increase the number of virtual fibers
 Upgrade multiplexer
 Lay more optical cable? No!

 Maximize existing optical fiber capacity?

Yes!
 Benefits of DWDM:

• It economically targets serving areas

• It adds capacity to existing fiber
architectures
• It simplifies network architectures
• It lowers operational costs
• It promotes head-end space
efficiency
Who Makes DWDM Equipment?
• Nortel Networks
• Lucent Technologies
• Alcatel Network Systems
• Cisco Systems
• Fujitsu Network
Communications
• Tellium Inc.
• Ciena Corp.
• Tellabs
 WDM Applications

                                                                                  

• They are avail with wavelength pairs

850/1310 & 1310/1550
 WDM Applications- cont.
• Unidirectional Analog/Digital CATV Transport
Using WDM
 WDM Applications- cont.
• Bidirectional Analog/Digital CATV
Transport Using WDM
WDM Applications- cont.
WDM Applications- cont.
 WDM Applications- cont.
Data Optical Optical
Sites Nodes Coupler

Optical
Amplifier

129,024
telephones
A Combination of Media Converters
and DWDM
A Combination of Media Converters
and DWDM- Cont.
DWDM Architecture 1: Shared
Path / Separate Channel
signal 1 Tx1 Each channel uses its own wavelength,
and each of the signals is transmitted
1 ~ along the common fiber.
signal 2 Tx2 Rx1

2 ~ DWDM DWDM Rx2

mux demux

Rx4
DWDM – Can be a wavelength-
signal 4 Tx4
independent coupler or a
wavelength independent Each receiver is coupled
4 ~ multiplexer
to a specific transmitter.
 WDM Architecture 2: WDM
Signal Distribution
Each signal is transmitted on a separate
signal 1 Tx1
wavelength, and each of the wavelength
signals is transmitted along the same
1 ~
fiber.
signal 2 Tx2 TOF1 Rx1

2 ~ WDM
splitter
TOF1 Rx2
mux

TOF1 Rx4

signal 4 Tx4
Tunable Optical Filter (TOF)
4 ~ Each receiver may receive any
transmitted signal, one at a time.
 Network Architecture Design
using DWDM- Example
• Suppose we have 4 computers requiring high
data rate network connections to a server for a
special computational task
• You discover that the receivers you have
purchased are sensitive to strong transmitter
signal back reflection, so that separate fibers
must be used for traffic moving to and from the
server
• Design a DWDM network architecture to
connect the computers to the servers
 One Possible Architecture
Add/Drop can be in same module
ADM
1 Tx 1 computer
ADM Rx 1 1
Tx 1 1
Tx 2
Tx 3 WDM ADM
2 Tx 2 computer
Tx 4 mux ADM Rx 2 2
2
expansion
server ports
ADM
3 Tx 3 computer
Rx 1
ADM Rx 3 3
Rx 2 3
Rx 3 WDM
Rx 4 demux ADM
Tx 4
4 computer
expansion ADM Rx 4 4
ports 4

from other to other

computers computers
Wavelength-division multiplexing
system using EDFAs
Three Applications of an EDFA
Another application of an EDFA

• Loss Compensation in Optical Networks

Fiber Bragg Grating
Fiber Optic Circulator
Typical DWDM Transmission
System
8. Optical Networks and
Future
Optical Networking
Fiber Optic Network Topologies
• Interconnections Between Different Network Types
1. Bus Network Topolog
2.Bus Network with backbone
3. Star Network Topology
4. Token Ring Network Topology
Self-healing Ring Topology
Principle of an Optical Add-Dropp
Multiplexer
Components for a 2nd generation
OADM
Lucent 2nd Generation
Programmable OADM
Simple Optical Network Example
SDH Ring with ADM
 The Future …………..
Prediction is difficult and frequently wrong

 “The telephone has too many shortcomings to be considered

as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no
value to us.
Western Union internal memo, 1876
 “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
 “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their
home.”
Ken Olson, President and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977
 “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
 In the future computers may weigh less than one and half
tons.”
Practical Mechanics Magazine
 How can we Achieve the
“Maximum Fiber Capacity”
Future of Optical Systems
9. Other Applications of Optical
Fiber
Parts of a Dense Wavelength
Division Multiplexing (DWDM)

Dwdm.swf
Thank You