BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

K. R. Road, V. V. Pura, Bangalore – 560004

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VII SEMESTER
Optical Communication (18TE71)
Optical joints and couplers
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER-2022
Faculty: Prof. Sudha. B, Dept of ETE, BIT
COURSE:OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SUB CODE:
18TE71
SEMESTER: VII CIE MARKS: 40

TOTAL NO. OF LECTURE HOURS: 3 HOURS + 2 HOURS SEE MARKS: 60

TUTORIAL
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
VISION
To establish and develop the Institute as a center of higher learning, ever abreast with expanding
horizon of knowledge in the field of engineering and technology, with entrepreneurial thinking,
leadership excellence for life-long success and solve societal problem.
MISSION
1. Provide high quality education in the engineering disciplines from the undergraduate through
doctoral levels with creative academic and professional programs.
2. Develop the Institute as a leader in Science, Engineering, Technology and management,
Research and apply knowledge for the benefit of society.
3. Establish mutual beneficial partnerships with industry, alumni, local, state and central
governments by public service assistance and collaborative research.
4. Inculcate personality development through sports, cultural and extracurricular activities and
engage in the social, economic and professional challenges.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VISION
Empower every student to be creative and productive in the field of
Telecommunication Engineering, by imparting excellent Technical Education and
inculcating Human Values
MISSION
M1. To make our Students acquaint with the Global requirements such as Problem
Solving Skills, Cultural Sensitivity, Ethical behavior and Social Responsibility.
M2. To motivate our Students to pursue Higher Education and engage in continuous
upgradation of their Professional Skills.
M3. To encourage students to develop Communication Skills, Professional Values and
Positive Attitude that in turn leads to fostering Leadership Qualities.
 Program specific Outcomes(PSO)
• PSO1: Specify, design, build and test analog, digital
and embedded systems for signal processing

• PSO2: Understand and architect wired and wireless

analog and digital telecommunication systems as
per specifications, and determine their
performance.
 COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This course will enable the Students to:
• Learn the basic principle of optical fiber communication with
different modes of light propagation.
• Understand the transmission characteristics and losses in
optical fiber.
• Study of optical components and its applications in optical
communication networks.
• Learn the network standards in optical fiber and understand
the network architectures along with its functionalities.
 COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of the course the students will be able to:
1. Understand the working of optical fiber with different modes of signal propagation.
2. Explain the transmission characteristics and Estimate losses in optical fiber
communication.
3. Outline the constructional features and the characteristics of optical sources and
detectors.
4. Classify the construction and working principle of optical connectors, multiplexers and
amplifiers.
5. Illustrate the networking aspects of optical fiber and describe various standards
associated with it.
6. Make use of Modern Simulation tools to Estimate the Optical fiber losses and
Demonstrate communication skills / ability to work as a team.
 Module -2

• Transmission characteristics of optical fiber: Attenuation, Material

absorption losses, Linear scattering losses, Nonlinear scattering losses,
Fiber bend loss, Dispersion, Chromatic dispersion.
• Intermodal dispersion: Multimode step index fiber.
• Optical Fiber Connectors: Fiber alignment and joint loss, Fiber splices,
Fiber connectors, Fiber couplers. (Text 2)
Optical Fiber Connectors-Chapter-5 by John. M senior
5.2 Fiber alignment and joint loss:
• 5.2.1: Multimode fiber joints
• 5.2.2: Single mode fiber joints
5.3 Fiber splices:
• 5.3.1: Fusion splice
• 5.3.2: Mechanical splice
• 5.3.3: Multiple splice
5.3 Fiber connectors,
• 5.4.1: Cylindrical ferrule connector
• 5.4.2:Duplex and multiple fiber connectors
• 5.4.3: Fiber connector-summary
5.6 Fiber couplers:
• 5.6.1Three and four port couplers
• 5.6.2 star couplers
• 5.6.3 WDM Couplers
• 1. List the 3 possible types of misalignment which may occur when jointing compatible
optical fibres, with diagrams
• 2. Explain Electric- arc fusion splicing technique with a neat diagram (8)
• 3.Define fiber splicing
• 4. Write a short note on Fibre couplers. (6)
• 5. What are the principles of good connector design ? (6)
• Explain the significance of fiber connectors and with schematics, discuss cylindrical
ferrule connectors.(06 Mark)
• Give a brief description of optical fiber couplers and connectors with relevant
diagrams(10M)
• With neat diagram, explain the technique of fusion splice for optical fibers. (4)
• Outline any six principal feature requirements of good optical fiber connector.(6)
• With a neat diagram of illustrative schematic, briefly explain the basic principle of
operation and three advantages of expanded beam connectors. (7)
• A 32 x 32 port multimode fiber transmissive star coupler has 1mW of optical power
launched into a single input port. The average optical power at each output port is 14μW.
Find the total loss incurred by the star coupler and the average insertion loss through the
coupler (7)
Fiber alignment and joint loss
• A major problem with all types of fiber–fiber connection is the optical loss which
occurs at the interface.

• Even when the two jointed fiber ends are smooth and perpendicular to the fiber
axes, and the two fiber axes are perfectly aligned, a small proportion of the light
will be reflected back into the transmitting fiber causing attenuation at the joint.

• This phenomenon, known as Fresnel reflection, is associated with the step

changes in refractive index at the jointed interface (i.e. glass–air–glass).

• The magnitude of this partial reflection of the light transmitted through the
interface may be estimated using the Fresnel formula for light of normal incidence
and is given by ---------------(1)
• where ‘r’ is the fraction of the light reflected at a single interface,
• n1 is the refractive index of the fiber core and ‘n’ is the refractive index
of the medium between the two jointed fibers (i.e. for air n =1).
• To determine the amount of light reflected at a fiber joint, Fresnel
reflection at both fiber interfaces must be taken into account.
• The loss in decibels due to Fresnel reflection at a single interface is
given by:

---------------(2)

• Using the relationships given in Eqs (1) and (2) it is possible to

determine the optical attenuation due to Fresnel reflection at a fiber–
fiber joint.
• Conclusion:

• The effect of Fresnel reflection at a fiber–fiber connection can be reduced to

a very low level through the use of an index-matching fluid in the gap
between the jointed fibers.

• Fresnel reflection is only one possible source of optical loss at a fiber joint.
• Example:
• An optical fiber has a core refractive index of 1.5. Two lengths of
the fiber with smooth and perpendicular (to the core axes) end
faces are butted together. Assuming the fiber axes are perfectly
aligned, calculate the optical loss in decibels at the joint (due to
Fresnel reflection) when there is a small air gap between the fiber
end faces
• Solution: The magnitude of the Fresnel reflection at the fiber–air interface is
• given by Eq.where:

• The value obtained for ‘r’ corresponds to a reflection of 4% of the transmitted

light at the single interface. Further, the optical loss in decibels at the single
interface may be obtained using Eq.2 where

• A similar calculation may be performed for the other interface (air–fiber).

However, from considerations of symmetry it is clear that the optical loss at the
second interface is also 0.18 dB. Hence the total loss due to Fresnel reflection
at the fiber joint is approximately 0.36 dB.
Q: List the 3 possible types of misalignment which may occur when
jointing compatible optical fibres, with neat diagrams
• Fiber Misalignment Loss :
• Any deviations in the geometrical and optical parameters of the two
optical fibers which are jointed will cause insertion loss through the
connection

• A greater source of loss at a fiber–fiber connection is caused by

misalignment of the two jointed fibers.
• Losses due to geometric variation:
• The three possible types of misalignment which may occur when jointing compatible
optical fibers are:
• (a) longitudinal misalignment;

• (b) lateral misalignment;

• (c) angular misalignment

• Misalignment may occur in three dimensions:

• The separation between the fibers is (longitudinal misalignment),

• The offset perpendicular to the fiber core axes (lateral/radial/ axial misalignment) and

• The angle between the core axes (angular misalignment).

 a) longitudinal misalignment b) lateral misalignment c) Angular misalignment

Fig: The three possible types of misalignment which may occur when
jointing compatible optical fibers
• Optical losses resulting from these three types of misalignment depend
upon the fiber type, core diameter and the distribution of the optical
power between the propagating modes
• optical losses due to the various types of misalignment are shown in
Figure a and b.
• Fig-a-shows the attenuation characteristic for both
longitudinal and lateral misalignment of a graded index
fiber of 50 μm core diameter.
• It is observed that the lateral misalignment gives
significantly greater losses per unit displacement than
the longitudinal misalignment.
• For instance, in this case a lateral displacement of 10
μm gives about 1 dB insertion loss whereas a similar
longitudinal displacement gives an insertion loss of
around 0.1 dB.
• Fig-b, shows the attenuation characteristic for the
angular misalignment of two multimode step
index fibers with numerical apertures of 0.22 and
0.3.

• An insertion loss of around 1 dB is obtained with

angular misalignment of 4° and 5° for the NA =
0.22 and NA = 0.3 fibers respectively.

• It is observed in Figure (b) that the effect of an

index-matching fluid in the fiber gap causes
increased losses with angular misalignment.

• Hence it is clear that relatively small levels of

lateral and/or angular misalignment can cause
significant attenuation at a fiber joint.
Intrinsic losses
• There are inherent connection problems when jointing fibers such as:
(a) different core and/or cladding diameters;
(b) different numerical apertures and/or relative refractive index
differences;
(c) different refractive index profiles;
(d) fiber faults (core ellipticity, core concentricity, etc.).
• The losses caused by the following factors together with those of Fresnel
reflection are called as intrinsic joint losses.
 Multimode fiber joints
• Theoretical and experimental studies of fiber misalignment in optical fiber
connections allow approximate determination of the losses encountered with
the various misalignments of different fiber types.

• We consider here some of the expressions used to calculate losses due to

lateral and angular misalignment of optical fiber joints.

• Lateral misalignment reduces the overlap region between the two fiber cores.
 Multimode fiber joints
• Assuming uniform excitation of all the optical modes in a multimode step index fiber, the
overlapped area between both fiber cores approximately gives the lateral coupling
efficiency- ηlat.

• Hence, the lateral coupling efficiency for two similar step index fibers may be written as

----------- 1

• where n1 is the core refractive index, ‘n’ is the refractive index of the medium between the
fibers, ‘y’ is the lateral offset of the fiber core axes, and ‘a’ is the fiber core radius. The
lateral misalignment loss in decibels may be determined using
• Losslat = −10 log10 ηlat dB ----------- 2
• Example :

• A step index fiber has a core refractive index of 1.5 and a core diameter of 50
μm. The fiber is jointed with a lateral misalignment between the core axes of
5 μm. Estimate the insertion loss at the joint due to the lateral misalignment
assuming a uniform distribution of power between all guided modes when:

(a) there is a small air gap at the joint;

(b) the joint is considered index matched.

Solution: (a) The coupling efficiency for a multimode step index fiber with
uniform illumination of all propagating modes( n=1 air gap) is given by Eq.
(1) as:

The insertion loss due to lateral misalignment is given by Eq. 2where:

• Hence, assuming a small air gap at the joint, the insertion loss is
approximately 1 dB when the lateral offset is 10% of the fiber diameter.

• (b) When the joint is considered index matched (i.e. no air gap) the
coupling efficiency may again be obtained from Eq -1where:
 Multimode graded index fibers:
• In multimode graded index fibers Lateral misalignment loss is dependent
on the refractive index gradient ‘α’ for small lateral offset and may be
obtained from general equation
-------------(3)

-------------(4)

Hence Eq. (4) may be utilized to obtain the lateral misalignment loss in decibels. Assuming
uniform illumination of guided modes With a parabolic refractive index profile where 𝜶 = 2,
Eq. (3) gives lateral offset :
-------------(5)
• When assuming the uniform illumination(Including Leaky modes) lateral
misalignment loss the equation -4 can be written as
𝑦
lateral misalignment loss( Leaky modes GIF) , Lt = 0.75( ) ----6
𝑎
For step index fiber ( where 𝛼 = ∞ )

For guided mode only, lateral misalignment loss is

𝑦
Lt = 0.65( ) ----7
𝑎

For guided plus leaky mode lateral misalignment loss is

𝑦
Lt = 0. 5( ) ----8
𝑎
Example 2:
• A graded index fiber has a parabolic refractive index profile (α = 2) and a
core diameter of 50 μm. Estimate the insertion loss due to a 3 μm lateral
misalignment at a fiber joint when there is index matching and assuming:
(a) there is uniform illumination of all guided modes only;
(b) there is uniform illumination of all guided and leaky modes

Solution: (a) Assuming uniform illumination of guided modes only, the misalignment
loss may be obtained using Eq. (5), where

The coupling efficiency is given by Eq. (4) as:

• Hence the insertion loss due to the lateral misalignment is given by
Eq. (3), where:

• b) When assuming the uniform illumination of both guided and leaky

modes Gloge’s formula becomes

Therefore the coupling efficiency is:

and the insertion loss due to lateral misalignment is:

Angular misalignment losses at joints in multimode step index fibers
• Angular misalignment losses at joints in multimode step index fibers may
be predicted with reasonable accuracy using an expression for the angular
coupling efficiency ηang given as

---------------9

• where θ is the angular displacement in radians and Δ is the relative

refractive index difference for the fiber. The insertion loss due to angular
misalignment may be obtained from the angular coupling efficiency.
---------------10
• Example 3

• Two multimode step index fibers have numerical apertures of 0.2 and 0.4,
respectively, and both have the same core refractive index of 1.48. Estimate
the insertion loss at a joint in each fiber caused by a 5° angular misalignment
of the fiber core axes. It may be assumed that the medium between the fibers
is air.
• Solution: The angular coupling efficiency is given by Eq. (9) as:
• The numerical aperture is related to the relative refractive index difference
with the relation:
• NA = n1(2Δ)1/2

• Hence substitute NA equation in coupling efficiency and rewrite equation(

n=1 for air) and solve( with Angle in radians)
• The insertion loss due to the angular misalignment may be obtained from
Eq. (10),
• where:
Lossang = −10 log10 ηang = −10 log10 0.797

= 0.98 dB

For the NA = 0.4 fiber:

 5.3:Fiber splices
• 1. Define fiber splicing
• 2. Explain Electric- arc fusion splicing technique with a neat diagram (8)
• 3. With neat diagram, explain the technique of fusion splice for optical
fibers. (4)
• 4. Discuss the Fusion and Mechanical fiber splices.-8M
• 5. Explain the significance of fiber connectors and with schematics,
discuss cylindrical ferrule connectors(06 Mark)
• 6. Describe the process of fusion splices with relevant sketches
• 7. Give a brief description of optical fiber couplers and connectors with
relevant diagrams
• Fiber Splice: A permanent joint formed between two individual optical fibers in the
field or factory is known as a fiber splice. Fiber splicing is frequently used to
establish long-haul optical fiber links where smaller fiber lengths need to be
joined, and there is no requirement for repeated connection and disconnection.

• Splices may be divided into two broad categories depending upon the splicing
technique utilized.

• These are

a)Fusion splicing or welding and

b)Mechanical splicing.
 Fusion splicing
• Explain Electric- arc fusion splicing technique with a neat diagram
• The fusion splicing involves the heating of the two prepared fiber ends to their
fusing point with the application of sufficient axial pressure between the two
optical fibers. The most widely used heating source is an electric arc.
• Fusion splicing is the process of fusing or welding two fibers together
usually by an electric arc. Fusion splicing is the most widely used method of
splicing as it provides for the lowest loss and least reflectance, as well as
providing the strongest and most reliable joint between two fibers..
• The basic arc fusion method is given in Figure-a
• Fig-b-shows a development of the basic arc fusion process which involves the
rounding of the fiber ends with a low-energy discharge before pressing the
fibers together and fusing with a stronger arc.
• This technique, known as prefusion, removes the requirement for fiber end
preparation which has a distinct advantage in the field environment. It has been
utilized with multimode fibers giving average splice losses of 0.09 dB
• Drawback with fusion splicing
is that the heat necessary to
fuse the fibers may weaken the
fiber in the vicinity of the
splice.

• even with careful handling, the

tensile strength of the fused
fiber may be as low as 30% of
that of the uncoated fiber
before fusion

Fig: Electric arc fusion splicing: (a) an example of fusion splicing apparatus
(b) schematic illustration of the prefusion method for accurately splicing optical fibers
 Mechanical splices
• Mechanical splices are simply alignment devices, designed to hold the two fiber
ends in a precisely aligned position thus enabling light to pass from one end to
the other.
• A common method involves the use of an accurately produced rigid alignment
tube into which the prepared fiber ends are permanently bonded.
• Techniques for tube splicing of optical fibers are:
A) Snug tube splice
B) Loose tube splice (square cross section capillary)
C) V-Groove splice
 Mechanical splicing in Tube
• uses an accurately produced rigid alignment tubes into which the prepared fiber
ends are permanently bonded
• A) Snug tube splice:
Bonding two fibers together in an alignment structure.

• utilize a glass or ceramic capillary with an inner diameter just large enough to
accept the optical fibers.

• Transparent adhesive (e.g. epoxy resin) is injected through a transverse bore in

the capillary to give mechanical sealing and index matching of the splice.

• Average insertion losses as low as 0.1 dB have been obtained

Snug Tube Splice
Loose Tube Splice
 B)Loose Tube Splice:
• It's a technique which avoids the critical tolerance requirement of the snug tube
splice is shown in above figure (b).
• This loose tube splice use an oversized square-section metal tube which
easily accepts the prepared fiber ends.
• Transparent adhesive is first inserted into the tube followed by the fibers.
The splice is self-aligning when the fibers are curved in the same plane, forcing
the fiber ends simultaneously into the same corner of the tube, as indicated in
Figure (b).
• Mean splice insertion losses of 0.073 dB have been achieved using multimode
graded index fibers with the loose tube approach.
 C) V-Groove Splice
• Other common mechanical splicing techniques involve the use of grooves
to secure the fibers to be jointed.
• A simple method utilizes a V-groove into which the two prepared fiber
ends are pressed.
This method gives Better alignment to the prepared fiber ends with Insertion
losses≈0.1dB
• V-groove splices formed by sandwiching the butted fiber ends between

a V-groove glass substrate and a flat glass retainer plate, as shown in

Figure (b), have also proved very successful in the laboratory.

• Splice insertion losses of less than 0.01 dB when coupling single-

mode fibers have been reported using this technique

 5.4 Fiber connectors
Q: What are the principles of good connector design ?
Q: Explain the significance of fiber connectors and with schematics, discuss
cylindrical ferrule connectors.(06 Mark)
Q: Outline any six principal feature requirements of good optical fiber
connector
• Fiber connectors : Demountable fiber connectors or simple connectors are
removable joints which allow easy, fast, manual coupling and uncoupling of
fibers (analogous to electrical plugs and sockets).
• The connector design must allow for repeated connection and disconnection
without problems of fiber alignment, which may lead to degradation in the
performance of the transmission line at the joint.
• Hence to operate satisfactorily the demountable connector must provide
reproducible accurate alignment of the optical fibers
• In order to maintain an optimum performance
• the connection must also protect the fiber ends from damage which may occur due to
handling (connection and disconnection),
• Must be insensitive to environmental factors (e.g. moisture and dust) and
• must cope with tensile load on the cable.
• Additionally, the connector should ideally be a low-cost component which can be fitted with
relative ease
• Hence optical fiber connectors may be considered in three major areas, which
are:
(a) the fiber termination, which protects and locates the fiber ends;
(b) the fiber end alignment to provide optimum optical coupling;
(c) the outer shell, which maintains the connection and the fiber alignment,
protects the fiber ends from the environment and provides adequate
strength at the joint
• There are a large number of demountable single-fiber connectors, both commercially
• available and under development, which have insertion losses in the range 0.2 to 3 dB.
• Fiber connectors may be separated into two broad categories:
• butt-jointed connectors
• expanded beam connectors.

• Butt-jointed connectors rely upon alignment of the two

• prepared fiber ends in close proximity (butted) to each other so that the fiber core axes
• coincide. Expanded beam connectors utilize interposed optics at the joint (i.e. lenses)
in
• order to expand the beam from the transmitting fiber end before reducing it again to a
size
• compatible with the receiving fiber end.
• Butt-jointed connectors are the most widely used connector type and a substantial
• number have been reported
 5.6 Fiber couplers
Q: Write a short note on Fibre couplers
• An optical fiber coupler is a device that distributes light from a main fiber into
one or more branch fibers (called Multi port couplers)

• The latter case is more normal and such devices are known as multiport fiber
couplers.
• Applications: Fiber couplers are used to divide or combine optical signals for
application within optical fiber information distribution systems such as:
data buses,
LANs,
computer networks and
telecommunication access networks
 Classification of optical fiber couplers
• Optical fiber couplers are passive devices in which the power transfer takes place by the
following methods
• Classification of optical fiber couplers by Mechanism of power transfer:
(a) core interaction type;
(b) surface interaction type

• In core interaction type power transfer takes place through the fiber core cross-section
by butt jointing the fibers or by using some form of imaging optics between the fibers

• In surface interaction type power transfer takes place through the fiber surface and
normal to its axis by converting the guided core modes to both cladding and refracted
modes which then enable the power-sharing mechanism
• The mechanisms associated with these two broad categories are illustrated
in Figure

Classification of optical fiber couplers:

(a) core interaction type; (b) surface interaction type
 Multiport optical fiber couplers
• Multiport optical fiber couplers can be subdivided into the following three main
groups:
1. Three-port couplers and.
2. four-port couplers (2 × 2 star couplers.) which are used for signal
splitting, distribution and combining
3. Star couplers, which are generally used for distributing a single input
signal to multiple outputs.
4. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) devices, which are a
specialized form of coupler designed to permit a number of different peak
wavelength optical signals to be transmitted in parallel on a single fiber.
• WDM couplers either combine the different wavelength optical signal onto the

fiber (i.e. multiplex) or separate the different wavelength optical signals output
from the fiber (i.e. demultiplex).
 Fig: Optical fiber coupler types and functions:

(c) star coupler;

(a) three-port couplers; (d) wavelength division multiplexing
(b) four-port coupler; and demultiplexing couplers
 Three- and four-port couplers
• Methods used to fabricate three- and four-port optical fiber couplers are:
• A) lateral offset method
• B) The semi-transparent mirror method
• The lateral offset method, illustrated in Figure (a), relies on the
overlapping of the fiber end faces.
• Light from the input fiber is coupled to the output fibers according to the
degree of overlap.
• Hence the input power can be distributed in a well defined proportion by
appropriate control of the amount of lateral offset between the fibers.
• This technique, which can provide a bidirectional coupling capability, is
well suited for use with multimode step index fibers but may incur higher
excess losses as all the input light cannot be coupled into the output
fibers.
B) The semi-transparent mirror method:

• Here coupling technique is to incorporate a

beam splitter element between the fibers.
• The semitransparent mirror method fiber
coupler is shown in Figure (b)
• A partially reflecting surface can be applied
directly to the fiber end face cut at an angle of
45° to form a thin-film beam splitter.
• The input power may be split in any desired
ratio between the reflected and transmitted
beams depending upon the properties of the
intervening mirror.
• losses for the device lie in the range 1 to 2 dB.
• Using this technology both three- and four-
port couplers with both multimode and single-
mode fibers can been fabricated
• The various loss parameters associated with four-port couplers are:
A) the excess loss which is defined as the ratio of power input to power
output is given by:
𝑃1 -------1
Excess loss (four-port coupler) = 10 log10 [ ] (dB)
𝑃3+𝑃4
• The insertion loss, is generally defined as the loss obtained for a particular port to-
port optical path
Insertion loss (ports 1 to 4) = 10 log10 P1/P4(dB) --------2
• The crosstalk which provides a measure of the directional isolation achieved by the
device is the ratio of the backscattered power received at the second input port to the
input power is
Crosstalk (four-port coupler) = 10 log10 P2/P1(dB) ------3
• The splitting or coupling ratio indicates the percentage division of optical power
between the output ports.
𝑃3 𝑃4
Split ratio = [ ] × 100% = [ 1 − ] × 100% ---4
𝑃3+𝑃4 𝑃3+𝑃4
• Example :
• A four-port multimode fiber FBT coupler has 60 μW optical power launched
into port 1. The measured output powers at ports 2, 3 and 4 are 0.004, 26.0
and 27.5 μW respectively. Determine the excess loss, the insertion losses
between the input and output ports, the crosstalk and the split ratio for the
device.
Solution: The excess loss for the coupler may be obtained
−
from Eq. -1 Where
𝑃1 60×10 6
Excess loss = 10 log10 [ ] = 10 log10 [ − ] = 0.5(dB)
𝑃3+𝑃4 26+27.5 ×10 6
Insertion loss (ports 1 to 3) = 10 log10 P1/P3 = 10 log10 60/26 = 3.63 (dB)
Insertion loss (ports 1 to 4) = 10 log10 P1/P4 = 10 log10 60/27.5 = 3.39 (dB)
Crosstalk = 10 log10 P2/P1 = 10 log10 0.004/60 = -41.8 (dB)
𝑃3 26
Split ratio = [ ] × 100% = [ ] × 100% = 48.6%
𝑃3+𝑃4 53.5
 Star couplers:
• Star couplers distribute an optical signal from a single-input fiber to output fiber.
• The two manufacturing techniques for producing multimode fiber star couplers
are the mixer-rod and the FBT methods.
• In the mixer-rod method illustrated in Figure (a) thin platelet of glass is
employed, which effectively mixes the light from one fiber, dividing it among
the outgoing fibers.
• This method can be used to produce a
• transmissive star coupler or

• a reflective star coupler,

• The typical insertion loss for an 8 × 8 mixer-rod trans missive star coupler with
fiber pigtails is 12.5 dB with port-to-port uniformity of 0.7dB
Fiber star couplers using the mixer-rod technique:
(a) transmissive star coupler; (b) reflective star coupler
• In an ideal star coupler the optical power from any input fiber is evenly
distributed among the output fibers.
• The total loss associated with the star coupler comprises its theoretical splitting
loss together with the excess loss.
• The splitting loss is related to the number of output ports N following:
Splitting loss ( Star Coupler) = 10 log10 N (dB) ----1
For a reflective star coupler N is equal to the total number of ports(both input
and output combined).
• For a single input port and multiple output ports where j = 1, N, then the excess
loss is given by:

• The insertion loss between any two ports on the star coupler may be obtained in
a similar manner to the four-port coupler using Eq. (2). Similarly, the crosstalk
between any two input ports is given by Eq. (3).
• Example :
• A 32 × 32 port multimode fiber transmissive star coupler has 1 mW of
optical power launched into a single input port. The average measured
optical power at each output port is 14 μW. Calculate the total loss incurred
by the star coupler and the average insertion loss through the device.
• Solution:
• The total loss incurred by the star coupler comprises the splitting loss and the
excess loss through the device. The splitting loss is given by Eq- 1as.

Splitting loss ( Star Coupler) = 10 log10 N = 10 log10 32 = 15.05 dB

• Hence the total loss for the star coupler:
Total loss = splitting loss + excess loss = 15.05 + 3.49
= 18.54 dB
• The average insertion loss from the input port to an output port is
provided by Eq. (2) as:

• Insertion loss = 10 log10 Pi/Pout = 10 log10 103/14 = 18.54dB

• Therefore, the total loss incurred by the star coupler is equivalent to the
average insertion loss through the device.