Optical Fiber Communication

Dr. A. Senthil Kumar MCA, ME(CSE), PhD

Email : angusen@gmail.com / asenthilkumarcse@du.edu.et

Mobile No: 0967513362

 Chapter 1
• Introduction to Optical Fiber Communication System
– OFC system Architecture
• Optical Fiber Cable Structure / Optical Cable Types
• Generation of Optical Light Wave
• Advantages, Limitations and Applications of OFC
• Components of OFC
– Coupler
– Connecter
– Splicing
– Splitter
– Filter
– Isolator
– Circulators
– Optical Add / Drop Multiplexer
– Transmitter & Receiver
– Optical Switch
 Optical Communication
• Communication refers to information transmission
and reception.
• Information transmission is done in the form of
– Analog ( text/audio/vide )
– Digital (binary codes)
• Motivation of communication system is to increase
data rate
• Increasing carrier frequency range, supports higher
bandwidth. This leads to birth of radio, television
• Telecommunication refers optical / Satellite /
Mobile communication
 Signal
• Is a Function of one or more variables that convey
information on the nature of physical Signal
phenomenon(voice, light, Air, etc) Representation

Signals has three things

1. Frequency
2. Phase
3. Amplitude

Types of Signal

1. Continuous-Time Signal
2. Discrete-Time Signal
 Classification
– Message Signal
• The signal which contains a message to be transmitted, is called
as a message signal. It is a baseband signal, which has to undergo
the process of modulation, to get transmitted.
– Carrier Signal
• is a waveform that is modulated with an information-bearing
signal for the purpose of conveying information
 Signal Modulation / Demodulation
• Modulation is the process of converting data into
electrical signals optimized for transmission.
• Modulation techniques are roughly divided into
four types:
– Analog modulation,
– Digital modulation,
– Pulse modulation , and
– Spread spectrum method.

Optical Fiber
Optical Fiber is a
hair line thin,
cylindrical fiber of glass,
wave guided and
dielectric medium

They are arranged in a bundle

called “Optical Fiber Cable”

Its function is to guide visible and infrared light

over long distances
 Cable Structure…
• Core
– Optically transparent dielectrical medium
– Made-up of Silicon dioxide which is available in sand
– Carries lights from transmitter to receiver
– Core diameter is from 5micrometer to 100 micrometer
• Cladding
– Outer optical material, surrounded the core
– Having reflective index lower than core
– It keeps the light within the core
• Buffer Coating
- Plastic coting that protects fiber from external
interferences
 Light Used In Fiber Optics
• Fiber optic systems transmit using
– infrared light,
– invisible to the human eye, because it goes
further in the optical fiber at those
wavelengths.
Optical Communication System
• Information Source
– may contain information such as voice, video and digital
data. These are Non electrical messages
• Transducer
– Converts information into electrical signals
• Optical Transmitter
– Contains Driver Circuits and Light Source. Driver Circuit
drives the electrical signals into the light source. Light
source convert these electrical signals to optical signal
– LED (simple & less distance and power) / LASER are used
as light source
• Optical Receiver
– Photo Detector - to detect & Convert Optical signal to
Electrical Signals. Types: PIN diode & APD –Aphotodiode
– Amplifier: Electrical Signal is Amplified by Amplifier
• Repeater/Regenerator: to amplify weak optical signal
 Terms to understand…
• Refraction
• Refractive Index
• Reflection
• Critical Angle
• Total Internal Reflection
• Acceptance Angle
• Numerical Aperture
Reflective Index
Reflexive index measures optical density of a medium
• Refractive Index of glass
= Speed of light in vacuum / Speed of light in glass
= 3.8x108 / 2.8x108
= 1.5 (speed of light in glass is 1.5 times slower than
vacuum )
1.5 is the refractive index of glass
So, Refractive index is a ratio of speed of light in vacuum
and other medium
• Acceptance Angle
– Maximum angle with which the light ray may enter into
the core to be propagated along with core.
• Numerical Aperture
– This is a numerical value that Determines light gathering
capacity of fiber
NA = SRQT (n12 – n22)
• Critical Angle
– The angle of incidence for which angle of refraction
becomes 90o
– Sin ɸc / Sin 90o =n2 / n1
– ɸc = Sin -1 (n2 / n1 )

Total Internal Reflection Video

When the incident angle is greater than the critical
angle, the light ray is reflected back to medium1.
There will not be any light transmission in medium 2.
this is called total internal reflection
Refractive indexed is changed in the cladding
boundary
 Optical Fiber Specification

Optical Fiber cable is manufactured with the

following specifications

• Single Mode – Step Index Fiber (SMSI)

• Multimode – Step Index Fiber (MMSI)
• Multimode – Graded Index Fiber (MMGI)
• Core diameter is smaller, only one path of light
may take, internal dispersion is eliminated,
suitable for longer distance and maximum
info.
• Central Core has non uniform refractive index
• MMGI fiber have several mode / path
• Light rays near the edge takes a longer path that
results less dispersion
• Easy to couple light rays
 SMSI MMSI MMGI
Core Diameter 7-11 μm 100-300μm 50-100 μm
Cladding Dia- 125μm 150-400μm 125-150μm
Buffer Coating 200-300μm 400-1000μm 400-1000μm
Jacket 500-1000μm

Numerical 0.08 – 0.15 0.16 – 0.5 0.2 – 0.3

Aperture
Performance 2 to 5 db/km 2.6 to 50 db/km 2 to 10 db/km
with scattering with scattering with scattering
@0.85 μm WL @0.85 μm WL @0.85 μm WL
Bandwidth 500 MHz 6 to 50 MHz 200 MHz to
3GHz
Application Long Distances Shorter LAN
Distances
 Single Mode Optical Fiber Multimode Optical Fiber

Light takes single path, only one Light takes multiple paths. More
ray passes through fiber than one ray passes through fiber
Ray passes along axis (Axial Ray) MMSI – Meridional / Skey Ray
MMGI – Paraxial Ray
Core diameter is small, typically Core diameter is larger, typically
10-12 μm 50-200 μm
Dispersion is not present Dispersion is present

Fabrication is difficult Easier than SM OF

LED is not suitable as Light LED is suitable as Light Source

Source
n1 < n2 n1 > n2
Step-Index Optical Fiber Graded Index Optical
Fiber

Core has uniform refractive Non-uniform refractive index

index in core. Gradually decreases
towards cladding
Axial Rays - SMSI, Meridional Paraxial Rays – MMGI
Rays – MMSI and Skey Rays

Intermodel dispersion is Dispersion is reduced in

present in MMSI MMGI

Step Index profile / Numerical Graded Index profile / NA is

Aperture is Constant / Constant / Fabrication is
Fabrication is easy difficult
 Different Kinds of Signal Losses in
Optical Communication
• Attenuation
– Power loss while transmitting optical signal in fiber
optical

αf = (db /km) = (10/L) log10 (Pin / Pout)

If there is 55% power loss in the signal after 7km of

travel, what is the attenuation
αf = (db /km) = (10/7) log10 (1 / 0.55)
= 0.379 db / km
• Absorption Loss
– Absorption of photons within the fiber leads to
absorption loss
– Types
• Intrinsic – Occurs when light particles (Photon) interact
with Electrons
• Extrinsic – Occurs due to impurities of fiber
• Scattering
– Is a process that happens when power transferred
from one mode to another mode
– Types
• Linear Scattering
• Non Linear Scattering
• Micro bend Loss
• Macro Bend Loss
• Joint Loss
• Insertion Loss
• Dispersion
Pulse broadening in optical fiber
Global Undersea Fiber systems
Components of Optical Fiber System
OFC System - Components
 Transmitter
 Connectors
 Optical Splicer
 Coupler
 Splitter
 Filters
 Optical Isolator
 Circulators
 Optical Add/Drop
 Multiplexer & Demultiplexer
 Receiver

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 Transmitter - LASER
• Light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation (LASER)
• A laser is a device that produces a very strong
and concentrated beam.
• It consists of an energy source which is
applied to a lasing material, a substance that
emits light in all directions and it can be of
solid, or semiconducting material.

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 Optical Splices
• The Process of Joining two pieces of fiber cable to
make a single optical fiber cable is called Splicing.
• Permanent / Semi-Permanent joint between two
fibers
• Splicing Techniques
– Fusion Splice
– V-Groove Mechanical Splice
• Factors to be considered while splicing
– Geometrical difference between two fiber
– Fiber mis-alignments at the joint
– Mechanical strength of Splice
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 a. Fusion Splice
• Two fiber-ends thermally joined together
• The fiber ends are first pre-aligned
• Butt is heated with laser fusion welder for
melting and bonding together
• Produce very low splice loss (0.05db to 0.1db)
 b. V-Groove Splice
• Sandwiching the butted fiber-ends between V-
Groove glass substrate and flat glass retainer
plate
 mechanical splicing

• bonding two fibers

together in an
alignment structure
• Transparent bonding
agent
- e.g. epoxy resin
• Commonly used groove
- V-groove
• Alignment problems
 comparison

Mechanical splicing Fusion splicing

Reflection losses No reflection losses

(-45 db to -55 db)
Insertion loss Very low insertion loss
(0.2 db) (0.1 db to .15 db)
cost – high Comparatively less
Connectors
A mechanical or optical device that provides a
demountable connection between two fibers or a
fiber cable to circuit-card connection.
Cores must be aligned to sub-micron(10-9)accuracy
in optical connection.

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• Mechanism used in Connectors
–Butt-Joint
• Two alignment schemes used in butt-joint
–Straight Sleeve
–Tapered-Sleeve
– Expanded-Beam
- employs lenses on the end of the fibers
- focus the expanded beam onto the core of the
receiving fiber.
Single Fiber Connector – Connects a single fiber with
connection circuit (Single Fiber / SM OF or MM OF /
Simplex or Duplex )
Multi Fiber Connectors – Connects a multiple fibers
with connection circuit
Type: SC, LC, FC, ST, MU, SMA VIDEO
• Favored with single-mode fibre
• Insertion Loss 0.15 - 0.3 dB
• Return loss 55 dB (SMF), 25 dB (MMF)

Single fibre connector

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Connectors - contd.
• Connectors for Multimode fibre
– MT-RJ (50/125)
– MT-RJ Fan-Out (62.5/125)
• Low insertion loss & reflection

MT-RJ Patch Cord MT-RJ Fan-out Cord

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• The most widespread type is SC (Square
connector) type connector and LC (Lucent
Connector) is the successor of SC and takes up
half of the space.
• It is important to remember the color code
– Beige (light brown / mushroom color) is used for
multimode installation
– Blue is used for single mode installation
– Green is used for single mode installation without
reflection
 Optical Couplers
Optical coupler is a device that distributes light from
main fiber to one or more branch fiber.
• It is a passive device,
• Light Signal transfer takes place either through core or surface.
• Fused couplers can be made in any configuration, but they
commonly use multiples of two (2 x 2, 4 x 4, 8 x 8, etc.).

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Coupler
• Uses
– Splitter: (50:50)
– Taps: (90:10) or (95:05)
– Combiners

• Applications:
– Optical Switches,
– Optical amplifiers,
– passive star couplers, ...
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• Fiber Twisting
• Fiber Fusing
• Fiber Tapering
Star Couplers
• Optical couplers with more than four ports.

• Types of star couplers:

– transmission star coupler

the light at any of the input port is split equally through all output ports.

– reflection star coupler

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 Reflection Star Couplers

The light arriving at port A and is

reflected back to all ports.
A directional coupler separates
the transmitted and received
signals.

Source: Australian Photonics CRC 69

Y- Couplers
Y-junctions are 1 x 2 couplers and are a key element in networking.

I1
Ii
I2

1 X 8 coupler
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 Splitters
• Is the simple form of couplers
• They possess at least three ports but may have more than 32 for more
complex devices.
• Popular splitting ratios include 50%-50%, 90%-10%, 95%-5% and 99%-1%;
however, almost any custom value can be achieved.
• Excess loss: assures that the total output is never as high as the input. It
hinders the performance. All couplers and splitters share this parameter.

Output Output

Input
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 Coupler + Splitter - Applications
• Local monitoring of a light source output (usually for control
purposes).
• Distributing a common signal to several locations
simultaneously.
• Making a linear, tapped fiber optic bus. Here, each splitter
would be a 95%-5% device that allows a small portion of the
energy to be tapped while the bulk of the energy continues
down the main trunk.

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Optical Isolators
• Only allows transmission in one direction through it
• Main application: To protect lasers and optical amplifiers
from returning reflected light, which can cause instabilities

• Insertion loss:
– Low loss (0.2 to 2 dB) in forward direction
– High loss in reverse direction:
20 to 40 dB single stage, 40 to 80 dB dual stage)

• Return loss:
– More than 60 dB without connectors

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Optical Circulators
• Based on optical crystal technology similar to isolators
(allows signals to pass in one direction)
– Insertion loss 0.3 to 1.5 dB, isolation 20 to 40 dB

• Typical configuration: 3 port device

– Port 1 -> Port 2
– Port 2 -> Port 3
– Port 3 -> Port 1

Agilent Tech. LW Div.

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 Optical ADMux
 is a network device that allows to add or drop a wavelength from a signal
 Utilizes the full spectrum of the C and L band: 160 channels / single fibre
pair
 Allows for the direct interface and transport of data rates from 100 Mbps
to 10 Gbps
 Transports up to 160 OC-192 signals with a capacity of 1.6 Tb/s

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Optical Multiplexers (MUX) / Demultiplexers (DEMUX)

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 Multiplexers – Supervisory Channel

This extra channel, at 1510 nm, carries all the management information.
It also transports Electrical Order Wire (EOW) data channels, service
channels, and control commands for house keeping contacts.
Alcatel 1640 Line Terminal block diagram 77
Multiplexers
 Transmission lengths of more than 900 km can
be achieved on a 0.25 dB/km fibre.
 The 240 channels using 3 optical bands:
– C (1530–1570 nm)
– L (1570–1610 nm)
– S (1450–1490 nm)
 Error detection and correction
 Different synchronous bit rate
 Multi bit rate: 2.5 Gbps, 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps
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Optical Switches
 Optical Switch
• Electronic Switch: “Optical-to-electronic-to-optical”
(OEO) conversion and is a significant bottleneck

• Optical Switching is that by replacing existing

electronic network switches with optical ones

• For Switching, different types of equipment used

– Mechanical Switching
– Opto-electrical
– All Optical
One of the most common techniques being developed is that of the
tiny moveable mirrors known as micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS).

• MEMS consist of mirrors no larger in diameter than a human hair

that are arranged on special pivots so that they can be moved in
three dimensions.
• Several hundred such mirrors can be placed together on mirror
arrays no larger than a few centimeters square.
• Light from an input fiber is aimed at a mirror, which is directed to
move the light to another mirror on a facing array.
• This mirror then reflects the light down towards the desired output
optical fiber.
 Electro Holographic Switch

• holograms by means of electrical field are used

to deflect light beams appropriately
Optical Switches
• To provide high switching speed
• To avoid the electronics speed bottleneck
• I/O interface and switching is done using optics
• Switching control and switching is done using optics
• Switches act as routers and redirect the optical
signals in a specific direction.
• It uses a simple 2x2 switch as a building block

Main feature: Switching time (msecs - to- sub nsecs)

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Optical Cross Connects
 Applications
• Optical switching. Optical switches can be used as basic building
blocks for network nodes to provide optical circuit or packet
switching. Switching times in the ms range are sufficient for circuit
switching. Nevertheless, to the purpose of optical packet switching,
switching times in the ns range are required.

• Optical add-drop multiplexing. Optical add-drop multiplexers are

used to add and drop specific wavelengths from multi-wavelength
signals, to avoid electronic processing. For this application,
wavelength selective switches are required. Switching times in the
ms range are adequate.

• Fiber restoration and protection switching. Small-size switches are

used to restore optical paths in the event of link failure. For this
application, 2x2 switches, with switching times in the ms range, are
commonly used.
Optical Amplifier
Why Optical Amplifiers?

– Increase transmission distance

• by increasing optical power coupled to transmission fiber(power booster)
• by compensating optical fiber losses(in-line amplifier, remote pump
amplifier)
• by improving receiver sensitivity (optical preamplifier)

• Function : Amplification of optical signal without conversion to

electrical signal
• Ingredients : Pump energy, amplification medium
Optical output
Pumping of energy

Optical input ...

... amplification
medium

l1 l2 l3 l 4 l 5l 6l 7l 8 l 16

l l l l l l l l l
The Need of Optical Amplification
Why? – Extend distance - light signal can travel
without regeneration
• Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs) – application in
long haul. Today’s amplifier of choice.
• Erbium-Doped Waveguide Amplifiers (EDWAs) –
application in metro and access networks
• Raman Amplifiers – application in DWDM
• Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOA) – not fiber
based type, application in metro and access networks
Amplifier Standard Fiber

Pump Lasers
EDWA
 General Application of Optical
Amplification

•In-line amplifier
•Preamplifier
•Power (booster) amplifier
•LAN booster amplifier

Amplifier Standard Fiber

Pump Lasers
Amplifiers
 Photo-detectors and optical receivers
• Photo-detectors converts optical signal to photo-
current that is then electrically amplified through
two ways
– Direct detection
• Intensity of the incoming signal is detected
– Coherent Detection
• Research phase
• PIN diode / APD diode are used as photo detectors

• Each receiver consists of a

– photodetector,
– an amplifier, and
– signal-processing circuit.
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