Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION OF FIBER OPTIC

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
Fiber-Optic Communications Systems, Third Edition.
Govind P. Agrawal

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Chapter Objectives
Understand and discuss Historical Perspective: Need for Fiber

Optic Communications, Evolution of Lightwave Systems.

Describe Basic Concepts: Analog and Digital Signals, Channel

Multiplexing, Modulation Formats.
Describe Optical Communication Systems
Describe Lightwave System Components: Optical Fibers, Optical
Transmitters, Optical Receivers

Apply the basic knowledge of Optiwave Simulation Software to

determine the quality parameters of Fiber Optic Communication
Systems
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Lecture 1
Introduction to
Fiber Optic Communication Systems (1)
Understand and discuss Historical Perspective: Need for Fiber
Optic Communications, Evolution of Lightwave Systems.
Describe Basic Concepts: Analog and Digital Signals,

Channel Multiplexing, Modulation Formats.

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What is the name of this communication system?

What is the name of this communication system?

What is the name of this communication system?

What is the name of this communication system?

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What is the name of this communication system?

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What is the name of this communication system?

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What is the name of this communication system?

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 The Modern Communication Systems:

Microwave Communication System (Including
Mobilphone System)
Satellite Communication System
Fiber Optic Communication System

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Up to the end of the 18th century, human used mirrors, fire

beacons, smoke signals, signaling lamps, flags, and other
semaphore devices to convey a single piece of information,

The idea was extended further, following a suggestion of

Claude Chappe in 1792, to transmit mechanically coded
messages over long distances (~100 km) by the use of
intermediate relay stations.

The first such optical telegraph was put in service between

Paris and Lille (~ 200 km apart) in July 1794. By 1830, the
network had expanded throughout Europe.

The effective bit rate of such systems: B < 1 b/s

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INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Need for Fiber-Optic Communications
1830s - electrical communications - Morse code (B~10b/s).
Used of intermediate relay stations allowed communication
over long distances (~1000 km)
1866 - transatlantic telegraph cable
1876 - The invention of the telephone

1940 - coaxial-cable system, 3-MHz system, transmitting 300

voice channels
1948 - First microwave system, frequency of 4 GHz (B~100
Mb/s)
1975 - Coaxial system (B~274 Mb/s) repeater spacing (~1 km)
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+ SEA-ME-WE 3 or South-East Asia - Middle East - Western

Europe 3; 39,000 km long; completed: 2000
+ WDM-SDH Technology
+ The cable system itself has two fibre pairs, each carrying 48
wavelengths of 10 Gbit/s, total capacity of 0.96 Tbit/s=960 Gbit/s
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+ To carry telephone, internet, multimedia and various broadband data

applications.
+ 18,800 kilometres long; total capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s.
+ Dense wavelength Division Multiplexing DWDM
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Need for Fiber-Optic Communications

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Need for Fiber-Optic Communications

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USABLE SPECTRUM OF SILICA FIBER

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Attenuation versus Wavelength

Water
spike

2000s

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Need for Fiber-Optic Communications
1970, fiber losses < 20 dB/km in the wavelength region near 1 m.
GaAs LD were demonstrated. The simultaneous availability of
compact optical sources and a low-loss optical fibers led to a
worldwide effort for developing FOCS.

The progress has indeed been rapid as evident from an increase in the
bit rate by a factor of 100,000 over a period of less than 25 years.
Transmission distances have also increased from 10 to 10,000 km over
the same time period.
As a result, the bit ratedistance product of modern lightwave systems
can exceed by a factor of 107 compared with the first-generation
lightwave systems.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Evolution of Lightwave Systems

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Evolution of Lightwave Systems
The first generation operated near 0.8 m and used GaAs
semiconductor lasers, 1980 in commercial. B~45 Mb/s; repeater
spacings of up to 10 km;

The second generation was in the early 1980s; multimode B<100

Mb/s; 1981 demonstrated at 2 Gb/s over 44 km of single-mode
fiber. 1987 in Commercial, B~1.7 Gb/s, repeater spacing of about
50 km. Howerver, the fiber losses~0.5 dB/km in 1.3 m;
The third-generation operated at 1.55 m. 1990 in commercial,
used dispersion-shifted fibers and lasers oscillating in a single
longitudinal mode; B~2.5 Gb/s-10Gb/s; Using electronic repeaters
spaced apart typically by 6070 km;
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Evolution of Lightwave Systems

The fourth generation used optical amplification for increasing
the repeater spacing and of wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM) for enhancing the bit rate before and after 1992; bit rate
of 10Tb/s by 2001.
The fifth generation was concerned with extending the
wavelength range over which a DWDM system can operate
simultaneously

(S/C/L

band).

The

Raman

amplification

technique can be used for signals in all three wavelength bands.

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BASIC CONCEPTS

Analog an Digital Signals

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BASIC CONCEPTS

Analog an Digital Signals

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BASIC CONCEPTS

Channel Multiplexing

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BASIC CONCEPTS

Modulation Formats

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BASIC CONCEPTS

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BASIC CONCEPTS

Modulation Formats
In the case of analog modulation: AM, FM and PM
The same modulation techniques: ASK, FSK and PSK
depending on whether the amplitude, frequency, or phase of
the carrier wave is shifted between the two levels of a binary
digital signal
The simplest technique consists of simply changing the signal
power between two levels, one of which is set to zero: onoff
keying (OOK) (ASK) to reflect the onoff nature of the
resulting optical signal. Most digital lightwave systems employ
OOK in combination with PCM.
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Lecture 2
Introduction to
Fiber Optic Communication Systems (2)
Describe Optical Communication Systems
Describe Lightwave System Components: Optical
Fibers, Optical Transmitters, Optical Receivers
Apply the basic knowledge of Optiwave Simulation
Software to determine the quality parameters of Fiber
Optic Communication Systems

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OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Optical communication systems use high carrier frequencies (200

THz). Microwave systems use smaller carrier frequency (20 GHz).

An increase in the information capacity of optical communication

systems by a factor of up to 10,000 is expected simply because of
such high carrier frequencies used for lightwave systems.

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Typical Fiber Optic communication systems

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Some of typical equipments in FOCS

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LIGHTWAVE SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Optical Fibers as a Communication Channel

o Most lightwave systems use optical fibers as the
communication channel because silica fibers can transmit

light with losses as small as 0.2 dB/km. Optical power

reduces to only 1% after 100 km

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100

Fundamental limits of silica fibers

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Water spike
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O-band
E-band
S-band
C-band
L-band
U-band

Original
Extended
Short
Conventional
Long
Ultra-long

Loss (dB/km)

Band Description Wavelength (nm)

1260-1360
1360-1460
1460-1530
1530-1565
1565-1625
1625-1675

1
0.5
0.1

Rayleigh scattering
Infrared absorption

0.8

1.0 1.2

1.4

1.6 1.8

Wavelength (mm)

C-band: supports early EDFA

C+L-band: support for EDFAs of today
Raman amplifiers can be used over all bands - new
(medium loss) bands are now applicable (as S & U
bands)
New fibers can reduce loss at E & S bands (however,
EDFA does not work here & Raman gain small)
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Inter- and Intra-modal dispersion

Attenuation (Loss)
Non-linear effects

Four-wave mixing (FWM)

Stimulated Raman & Brillouin
scattering (SRS,SBS)
Cross-phase & self-phase modulation (SPM,XPM)

Polarization fluctuations

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ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS

1. Enormous Bandwidths.
2. Low transmission loss .
3. Immunity to cross talk
4. Electrical Isolation
5. Small size and weight
6. Signal security
7. Flexibility
8. Low cost and availability
9. Reliability
The lightwave technology, together with microelectronics, is
believed to be a major factor in the information age.

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ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS

5.

Small size and weight

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ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS

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5. Small size and weight

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Introduction on Optiwave Simulation Software

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Project Structure

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OptiSystem Graphical User Interface

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Placing Components in the Main Layout

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Lab 1 - Determining critical parameters of Fiber

Optic Communication system

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Setting the working parameters for FOCS

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Laser Spectrum

Spectrum at the Laser output and at the PhotoDiode input

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Optical powers at the Modulator output

and at the Photodiode input

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The quality parameters: BER, Q of FOCS

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