beam, which is Coherent and monochromatic. This single carrier usually carries 70 to 80channels of TV programs.
In the early days of Fibre Optics, a LASER used to typically be a large unwieldy piece ofequipment, that required an entire room to house it. This image of the laser, was furtherreinforced by science fiction stories of mad scientists in the labs, toiling over giant Laserscapable of vaporising air planes in mid-air ! While there do exist today, Lasers that are capableof burning a hole through a thick slab of steel, most commercial lasers are mundane pieces ofequipment, called Laser Diodes. Every CD player (Video, Audio or computer ) uses a laserdiode to read the information from the disc. This laser diode is the size of a regular LED and isalso fabricated using similar production facilities. These laser diodes cost approximately US $100 (Rs. 4,200) each. Of course, a range of products are available, with different intensitiesand wavelengths. CATV F.O. systems utilise lasers emitting light at 1310 or 1550 nanometers.This wavelength is in the near infra red region, not visible to the human eye.The light from the laser is quite powerful, particularly since it is focused into a narrow beam.This beam, though invisible, can injure the retina if the light is directed, even accidentally, tothe eye. For safety reasons, most Laser equipment carry statutory warning near active lasers.Several CATV transmitters even have a provision to automatically reduce the laser intensity ifthe output port is left open, or a fault develops in the distribution system. A Fibre OpticTransmitter typically costs approximately Rs. 4 to 5 Lakhs each. One of the most importantfactors that influences price of the transmitter, is the output power of the laser. A morepowerful laser permits longer runs of cable from the F.O. Transmitter to the Receiver. Thelasers initially developed had a life of about 10,000 hours. The more powerful lasers had aneven shorter life. The technology has now advanced significantly, and now Scientific Atlantaclaim a M.T.B.F. (Mean Time Before Failure) of 100,000 hours, fortheir Fibre Optictransmitters. This is equivalent to over 10 years of continuous use.
THE TRANSMISSION MEDIUM
The next step in the process is to transmit thislight beam to where ever it is required. Just asin an electrical system, copper is used to carrythe signals, the laser light is carried in atransparent medium such as a cable made ofglass. Though glass is a hard and brittlesubstance, it was observed that thin (thinnerthan the human hair) strands or fibres ofglass, can be very flexible. If light is injectedinto these fibres, the light will continue totravel inside the fibre; due to total internalreflection of the light in the fibre; even if thefibre is bent. The light will travel in the centreof the core, when the fibre is straight, and willbe reflected off the walls at bends.
A FIBRE OPTIC CABLE
For the light to be injected into the fibreefficiently, it must enter the fibre at an anglegreater than the "Critical Angle ". While it is not necessary to dwell deep into the Physics of theprocess, it is important to bear in mind that a Fibre Optic system need to confirm to some verytightly controlled, critical parameters, both during installation and operation. The connectors ina F.O. system therefore play a very critical role, and need to be fitted with the utmost care. Wewill take a look at that a little later.The Fibre Optic Cable Basically consists of an optically transparent core. This core can bemade of either Glass or plastic. The plastic core has a much higher loss and is not used inlarge, high bandwidth systems, such as those required for CATV applications.
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