EC2402 - OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

AND NETWORKING
 SYLLABUS

UNIT I - INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Ray theory transmission
– Total internal reflection
– Acceptance angle
– Numerical aperture
– Skew rays
– Phase and group velocity

cylindrical fibers

SM fibers
 INTRODUCTION

Optical Communication is the most modern mode of
wired communication.

Optical communication is also the youngest mode of
communication. However its capabilities supersede all
other modes of communication.

Before optical communication, the most of the
communication was in radio and microwave domain
which has lower frequency range than the optical.
ELECTRO MAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 INTRODUCTION
For good communication a system needs to have following
things.
(1)Bandwidh (BW)
(2)Good signal to noise ratio (SNR) i.e. low loss.
Since the bandwidth of a system is more or less proportional
to the frequency of operation, use of higher frequency
facilitates larger BW.
The BW at optical frequencies is expected to be 3 to 4 orders
of magnitude higher than that at the microwave frequencies
(1GHz to 100GHz).
 TRANSMISSION MEDIA ALTERNATIVE TO
THE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION
There are various wired and wireless media used for
long and short distance communication.
Their broad characteristics are summarized in the
following.
The first two media have a very limited bandwidth.

Microwave links and Satellite communication has
comparable bandwidths as in principle their mode of
operation is same but the spatial reach of satellite is
far greater.

Before Fiber optic communication became viable,
satellite communication was the only choice for long
distance communication.
Medium / Link Carrier Information Capacity

Copper Cable 1 MHz 1 Mbps

(short distance)

Coaxial Cable 100 MHz 140 Mbps (BSNL)

(Repeater every 4.5 km)

UHF Link 2 GHz 8 Mbps (BSNL), 2 Mbps (Rly.)

MW Link 7 GHz 140 Mbps (BSNL), 34 Mbps (Rly.)

(Repeater every 40 km)

1550 nm
OFC 2.5 Gbps(STM-16 – Rly.)
10 Gbps (STM-64)
1.28 Tbps (128 Ch. DWDM)
20 Tbps (Possible)
 Frequency Vs Attenuation
In Various Types of Cable
• More
information
carrying
capacity
fibbers can
handle much
higher data
rates than
copper. More
information
can be sent in
a second
ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL FIBRE

 Thinner
 Less Expensive
 Higher Carrying Capacity
 Less Signal Degradation&
Digital Signals
 Light Signals
 Non-Flammable
 Light Weight
 ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

 Much Higher Bandwidth (Gbps) - Thousands of

channels can be multiplexed together over one strand
of fiber
 Immunity to Noise - Immune to electromagnetic
interference (EMI).
 Safety - Doesn’t transmit electrical signals, making it
safe in environments like a gas pipeline.

High Security - Impossible to “tap into.”
ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

 Less Loss - Repeaters can be spaced 75 miles

apart (fibers can be made to have only 0.2 dB/km of
attenuation)
 Reliability - More resilient than copper in extreme
environmental conditions.
 Size - Lighter and more compact than copper.
 Flexibility - Unlike impure, brittle glass, fiber is
physically very flexible.
FIBER OPTIC ADVANTAGES
 greater capacity
(bandwidth up to 2 Gbps,
or more)
 smaller size and lighter
weight
 lower attenuation
 immunity to environmental
interference
 highly secure due to tap
difficulty and lack of signal 17

radiation
DISADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS


Disadvantages include
the cost of interfacing
equipment necessary to
convert electrical
signals to optical
signals. (optical
transmitters, receivers)


Splicing fiber optic
cable is also more
difficult.
FIBER OPTIC DISADVANTAGES
 expensive over short distance
 requires highly skilled installers
 adding additional nodes is difficult

19
AREAS OF APPLICATION


Telecommunications

Local Area Networks

Cable TV

CCTV

Optical Fiber Sensors
ATTENUATION HISTORY
 FIRST WINDOW


Initially in early 1970s due to technology
limitation, the optical fiber had a low loss window
around 800nm.

Also the semiconductor optical sources were
made of GaAs which emitted light at 800nm.

Due to compatibility of the medium properties
and the sources, the optical communication
started in 800nm band so called the ‘First
window.
 SECOND WINDOW


As the glass purification technology improved, the
true silica loss profile emerged in 1980s.

The loss profile shows two low loss windows, one
around 1300nm and other around1550nm.

In 1980s the optical communication shifted to
1300nm band , so called the ‘ Second
Window' .

This window is attractive as it can support the
highest data rate due to lowest dispersion.
 THIRD WINDOW


In 1990s the communication was shifted to
1550nm window, so called ‘Third Window' due
to invention of the Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier
(EDFA).

The EDFA can amplify light only in a narrow band
around 1550nm. Also this window has intrinsically
lowest loss of about 0.2 dB/Km .

This band has higher dispersion, meaning lower
bandwidth.

However, this problem has been solved by use of
so called ‘dispersion shifted fibers'.
 BASICS OF LIGHT
I Characteristics of light are

Intensity (Power per unit solid angle)

Wavelength (Color)

Spectral width ( purity of color)

Polarization
- Linear
- Circular
- Elliptical

The first three parameters are scalar characteristics of light

whereas the last parameter, polarization, describes the
vector nature of light.
PHYSICS OF LIGHT

Photons (light “particles”)

light represented by tiny bundles of energy (or quanta),

following straight line paths along the rays.
PHYSICS OF LIGHT
PLANCK’S LAW

Ep =hf
Where,

Ep – energy of the photon (joules)

h = Planck’s constant = 6.625 x 10 -34 J-s
f – frequency o f light (photon) emitted (hertz)
INDEX OF REFRACTION
 SNELL’S LAW

When light travels from one medium to other, it

gets refracted.
The relation between the angle of incidence and
the angle of refraction is given by the Snell's
law.
SNELL’S LAW
EXAMPLE:

Let medium 1 be glass ( n1 = 1.5 ) and medium 2 by
ethyl alcohol (n2 = 1.36 ). For an angle of incidence of
30°, determine the angle of refraction.


Answer: 33.47°
SNELL’S LAW
OPTICAL FIBER

Optical fiber consists of a core, cladding and a
protective outer coating, which guides light along the
core by total internal reflection.
 OPTICAL FIBER CONSTRUCTION

Core – thin glass center of

the fiber where light travels.

Cladding – outer optical

material surrounding the
core

Buffer Coating – plastic

coating that protects
the fiber.
OPTICAL FIBER

The core, and the lower- refractive index cladding, are
typically made of high-quality silica glass, though they
can both be made of plastic as well.
FIBER OPTIC LAYERS

consists of three concentric sections

plastic jacket glass or plastic

cladding fiber core

36
FIBER OPTIC CABLE

37
FIBER-OPTIC CABLE


Contains one or
several glass
fibers at its
core


Surrounding the
fibers is a layer of
glass called
cladding
 3 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBER
3 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

1. Plastic core and cladding

2. Glass core with plastic
cladding ( called PCS fiber-
Plastic Clad Silica )
3. Glass core and glass
cladding ( called SCS -
Silica Clad Silica )
 PROPAGATION OF LIGHT IN AN
OPTICAL FIBER

1. Optical fiber is basically a solid glass rod. The

diameter of rod is so small that it looks like a
fiber.
2.Optical fiber is a dielectric waveguide. The light
travels like an electromagnetic wave inside the
waveguide. The dielectric waveguide is
different from a metallic waveguide which is
used at microwave and millimeter wave
frequencies.
3. In a metallic waveguide, there is a complete
shielding of electromagnetic radiation but in an
optical fiber the electromagnetic radiation is not
just confined inside the fiber but also extends
outside the fiber.
4. The light gets guided inside the structure,
through the basic phenomenon of total internal
reflection .
 WORKING PRINCIPLE

Total Internal Reflection

• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer
medium such that the angle of incidence is greater than
the critical angle, the ray reflects back into the same
medium this phenomena is called total internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated total
number of reflections until it emerges out of the other end
of the fiber, even if the fiber is bent.r is bent.f the fiber is
bent.r is bent.
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION IN
FIBER
CRITICAL ANGLE, ΘC

The minimum angle of incidence at which a light ray ay
strike the interface of two media and result in an angle
of refraction of 90° or greater.
ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALF-
ANGLE

The maximum angle in which external light rays may
strike the air/glass interface and still propagate down the
fiber.
ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALF-
ANGLE
ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALF-
ANGLE


θin (max) = sin-1


Where,

θin (max) – acceptance angle (degrees)

n1 – refractive index of glass fiber core (1.5)

n2 – refractive index of quartz fiber cladding ( 1.46 )
NUMERICAL APERTURE (NA)

Used to describe the light-gathering or light-collecting
ability of an optical fiber.

In optics, the numerical aperture (NA) of an optical
system is a dimensionless number that characterizes
the range of angles over which the system can accept
or emit light
NUMERICAL APERTURE (NA)

The numerical aperture in

respect to a point P depends on
the half-angle θ of the maximum
cone of light that can enter or
exit the lens.
CLASSIFICATION OF OPTICAL FIBER

• Optical fiber is classified into two categories based

on :-
1) The number of modes, and
2) The refractive index
 On the basis of number of modes

1.Single mode fiber (SMF)

2.Multi-mode fiber (MMF)

 SINGLE-MODE FIBERS


In single mode fiber only one mode can propagate through
the fiber.

This type of fiber has small core diameter(5um) and high
cladding diameter(70um) and the difference between the
refractive index of core and cladding is very small.

There is no dispersion i.e. no degradation of signal during
travelling through the fiber.

The light is passed through the single mode fiber through
laser diode.
 MULTI-MODE FIBER


Multi mode fiber allows a large number of modes
for the light ray travelling through it.

The core diameter is (40um) and that of cladding
is(70um)
 MULTI-MODE FIBER


The relative refractive index difference is also
larger than single mode fiber.

There is signal degradation due to multimode
dispersion.

They are not suitable for long distance
communication due to large dispersion and
attenuation of the signal.
 REFRACTION
Refraction is the changing direction of light when it
goes into a material of different density.
 On the basis of Refractive index

• There are two types of optical fiber:-

(i) Step-index optical fiber
(ii) Graded-index optical fiber
 STEP INDEX FIBER
• The refractive index of core is constant
• The refractive index of cladding is also constant
• The light rays propagate through it in the form of
meridiognal rays which cross the fiber axis during every
reflection at the core cladding boundary.
 GRADED INDEX FIBER

• In this type of fiber core has a non uniform refractive

index that gradually decrease from the centre towards
the core cladding interface.
• The cladding has a uniform refractive index.
• The light rays propagate through it in the form of skew
rays or helical rays. They do not cross the fiber axis at any
time.
• Click to edit Master text styles
– Second level
– Third level
• Fourth level
– Fifth level
Optical Fiber Communication System
FIBER-OPTIC COMMUNICATION
The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves
the following basic steps:
 Creating the optical signal using a transmitter,

 relaying the signal along the fiber, ensuring that the

signal does not become too distorted or weak,

 and receiving the optical signal and converting it into an

electrical signal.
• Information source- it provides an electrical signal
to a transmitter comprising an electrical stage.
• Electrical transmitter- It drives an optical source to
give an modulation of the light wave carrier.
• Optical source- It provides the electrical-optical
conversion .It may be a semiconductor laser or an
LED.
• Optical cable: It serves as transmission medium.
• Optical detector: It is responsible for optical to
electrical conversion of data and hence responsible
for demodulation of the optical carrier. It may be a
photodiodes, phototransistor, and
photoconductors.
Electrical receiver: It is used for electrical interfacing
at the receiver end of the optical link and to
perform the signal processing electrically.
Destination: It is the final point at which we receive
the information in the form of electrical signal.
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