1.

Digital transmission fundaments

1.1. Analog and digital communication

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Digital transmission is the core technology that enables the integration of services in a network. In
this chapter we present the fundamental concepts regarding the digital transmission. Networks are
driven by applications they support and must be designed to satisfy the requirements imposed by
the information types transmitted. A transmission system makes use of a physical transmission
medium or channel that allows the propagation of energy in the form of pulse or variation in
voltage, current or light intensity. In analog communication the objective is to transmit a waveform,
which is a function that varies continuously with time (figure 1.1). In the case of an analog
transmission all details must be reproduced accurately.

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Fig.1.1. Analog data transmission and reception

For example, if we consider the case of a microphone the electrical signal coming out corresponds
to the variation in air pressure generated by the sound. This function of time must be reproduced
exactly at the output of the analog communication system. In practice, communication channels do
not satisfy this constraint, so some degree of distortion is unavoidable.

In digital communication the objective is to transmit a given symbol selected from a finite set of
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possibilities. For example, in a binary system the objective can be accomplished by transmitting
positive voltage over a certain period of time to convey a 1 or a negative voltage to obtain a 0
(figure 1.2).

Fig.1.2. Digital data transmission and reception

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In this case the positive or negative pulses that were transmitted for the given symbols can undergo
a great degree of distortion. The system can operate correctly as long as the receiver can determine
whether the original voltage was positive or negative.

The cost advantage of digital transmission over analog transmission become evident when the
communication distance is increasing. If we consider a system that uses a pair of copper wire, as the
wire length is growing the signal output is attenuated and the original shape of the signal is
increasingly distorted. In addition, the interference from extraneous sources, such as radiation for
car ignition and power lines, as well as the noise inherent in electronic systems determine the
addition of random noise to the transmitted signal. To transmit over long distances, it is necessary to
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introduce repeaters periodically to regenerate the signal. Such signal regeneration is fundamental
different for analog and digital transmission.

In an analog communication system, the task of the repeater is to regenerate a signal to reassembly

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as closely as possible to the original signal, generated by the source. In this case, the signal applied
as input to the repeater is an attenuated, distorted version of the original transmitted over the
channel and additional has some random noise in its structure. First the repeater deals with the
attenuation by amplifying the received signal with a factor that is reciprocal of the attenuation.
Next, by using an equalizer the system tries to eliminate the distortion. The distortion in the signal
shape has two primary causes. The first case is given by the fact that different frequency
components are attenuated distinctively. In general, high frequency components are attenuated more
than low frequency components. The equalizer compensates this situation by amplifying different
frequency components with distinct amounts. The second cause is determined by different
frequency components that are delayed with random amounts as they propagate to the channel. The

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equalizer tries to provide differential delays to realign the frequency components (figure 1.3). If the
equalizer is perfect then the output of the repeater will consist of the original signal plus a residual
noise.
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Fig.1.3. Recovering an analog signal through repeater

In the case of analog signals, the repeater is limited in what it can do to deal with noise. If it is
known that the original signal does not have components outside a certain frequency band, then the
repeater can remove noise components that are outside the signal band. However, the noise within
the signal band cannot be reduced and consequently the signal that is finally recovered from the
repeater will contain some noise. The repeater then proceeds to send the recovered signal over the
next transmission segment.

Next we consider the same copper wire transmission system for digital communications. The string
of 0s and 1s is conveyed by a sequence of positive and negative voltages. As the length of the pair
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wires increases, the pulses are becoming more and more distorted and the additive noise will also
increase. The sole objective of the repeater is to determine with high probability the original binary
stream. The repeater also uses an equalizer to compensate for the distortion introduced by the
channel. However, the repeater does not need to completely regenerate the original shape of the
transmitted signal. It only needs to determine whether the original pulse was positive or negative.
To do so the repeater is organized as presented in figure 1.4.

A timing recovery circuit keeps track of the intervals that define each pulse. The decision circuit
then samples the signal at the midpoint of each interval to determine the polarity of the pulse. In a
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property designed system, in the absence of noise, the original symbol would be recovered every
time, and consequently the binary stream would be regenerated exactly over any number of
repeaters and hence over arbitrary long distance. However, the noise is unavoidable, which implies
that errors will occur from time to time. An error occurs when the noise signal is sufficient large to

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change the polarity of the original signal at the sampling point. Digital transmission systems are
designed at very low bit error rates (10-7, 10-9 or even 10-12 which correspond to one error in every
trillion bits).

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Fig.1.4. Recovering a digital signal through a repeater

In this case it is almost obvious that the digital transmission has superior performance over analog
transmission. Digital repeaters eliminate the accumulation of noise that takes place in analog
systems and provide a reliable ground for long distance transmission that are nearly independent of
distance. Digital systems can operate with lower signal levels or with greater distance between the
repeaters than the analog systems can. This factor translated into lower overall system cost and was
the original motivation for the introduction of digital transmission.

1.2. Data transmission for telephony

The voice transmission over the telephone channel implies spectral occupancy, regardless of the
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transmission environment: wire, radio, coaxial cable or optical fiber. The spectral content from an
average talker is situated between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Our ear, especially for the young people, is
sensitive to frequencies from about 30 Hz to as high 20 kHz. However, the primary content of a
signal (energy plus emotion) will occupy a much narrower band of frequencies (approximately 100
– 4000 Hz). Considering these and other factors, we say that the nominal voice channel occupies the
band from 0 to 4 kHz. CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee)
defines the voice channel band of frequencies between 300 and 3400 Hz. Bell Laboratories states
that “the optimum trade-off between economics and quality of transmission occurs when the
telephone speech signal is band limited to a range from about 200 to 3200 Hz”.
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There are four major aspects that need to be taken into consideration when regarding the voice
channel:
• Attenuation distortions (frequency response)
• Phase distortion
• Noise
• Level

Level is another important parameter, especially in an analog network. Level must be controlled
because it can surely impact quality of service (QoS).
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 1.2.1. Attenuation distortion

A signal transmitted over the voice channel suffers various forms of distortion. The most important
one is given by the attenuation and is the result of the imperfect amplitude-frequency response.

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Attenuation distortion can be avoided if all frequencies within the pass band have exactly the same
loss (or gain). Whatever the transmission medium, however, some frequencies are attenuated more
than others. For example, on loaded wire-pair systems, higher frequencies are attenuated more than
lower ones. In this case some equipments use band-pass filters on channel units, where the
attenuation increases.

Attenuation across the voice channel is measured against a reference frequency. The CCITT
specifies 800 Hz as a reference, which is universally used in Europe, Africa and parts of Hispanic
America. The North America considers as common reference frequency 1000 Hz. For example, one
European requirement may state that between 600 Hz and 2800 Hz the level will vary no more than

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-1 to +2 dB. Thus, if a signal at -10dBm is placed at the input of the channel we would expect -10
dBm at the output at 800 Hz (if there were no overall loss or gain), but for other frequencies we
could expect a variation between -1 and + 2 dB. For instance, we might measure the level at the
output at 2500 Hz at -11.9 dBm and at 1100 Hz at - 9 dBm.

1.2.2. Phase distortion

A voice channel may be regarded as a band-pass filter. A signal takes a finite time to pass through a
telecommunication network. This time is a function of the velocity propagation, which varies with
the media involved.
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The velocity of propagation also tends to vary with frequency because of the electrical
characteristics associated with the network. Considering the voice channel, the velocity of
propagation tends to increase toward band center and decrease toward band edge. The relative delay
across the voice channel is presented in figure 1.5.
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Fig.1.5. Typical differential delay across a voice channel

The finite time it takes a signal to pass through the total extension of a voice channel or any
network is called delay. Absolute delay is the total time a signal experience while passing through
the channel end-to-end at a reference frequency.
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A modulated signal will not be distorted on passing through the channel if the phase shift changes
uniformly with frequency, whereas if the phase shift is nonlinear with respect to frequency, the
output signal is distorted compared to the input. This phase distortion is often measured by a
parameter called envelope delay distortion (EDD). Mathematically, envelope delay is the derivative

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of the phase shift with respect to frequency.

Observation 1: Absolute delay is minimum around 1700 and 1800 Hz in the voice channel (figure
1.5). It is for this reason that so many data modems use 1700 or 1800 Hz for the characteristic tone
frequency which is modulated by the data.

Observation 2: Phase distortion (or EDD) has little effect on speech communications over the
telecommunication network. However, for data transmission, phase distortion is the greatest
bottleneck for data rate (i.e., number of bits per second that the channel can support).

1.2.3. Noise

generated by different sources as:

• Thermal noise
• Intermodulation noise
• Crosstalk
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Noise, in its general definition, consists of any undesired signal in a communication circuit. The
subject of noise and noise reduction is probably the most important single consideration in analog
transmission engineering. It is the major limiting factor in system performance. The noise can be

• Impulse noise

Thermal noise – occurs in all transmission media and all communication equipment, including
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passive devices. It arises from random electron motion and is characterized by a uniform
distribution energy over the frequency spectrum (with a Gaussian distribution of levels).

Any equipment element and transmission medium generate thermal noise in to a communication
system if the temperature of that element of medium is above the absolute zero. Thermal noise is
the factor that sets the lower limit of sensitivity of a receiving system and is often expressed as
temperature (Kelvin degrees).

Thermal noise is a general expression referring to noise based on thermal agitations. The term
“white noise” refers to the average uniform spectral distribution of noise energy with respect to the
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frequency. Thermal noise is directly proportional to bandwidth and temperature. The amount of
thermal noise to be found in 1 Hz of bandwidth in an actual device is:
𝑊𝑊
𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘∆𝐹𝐹 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 � � (1.1)
𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻
where k is the Boltzmann’s constant, equal to 1,3802 x 10-23 J/K and T is the absolute temperature
(K) of the circuit (device). At room temperature, 𝑇𝑇 = 17 ℃ or 290 K we obtain:

𝑊𝑊 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛 = 4.00 × 10−21 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏ℎ = −204 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏ℎ = −174 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏ℎ

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A dBW or decibel watt is a unit power in decibel scale, referenced to 1 watt (W). The power in
decibel-watts (P dBW ) is equal to the base 10 logarithm of the power in watts (P W ):
𝑃𝑃𝑤𝑤
𝑃𝑃𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙10 � � (1.2)
1𝑊𝑊

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The power expressed in decibel-watts (P dBW ) can be computed using the power in dBm (P dBm )
based on the following relation:
𝑃𝑃𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑃𝑃𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 30 (1.3)
For a band limited system (a system with a specific bandwidth), 𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘(𝑊𝑊), where B referes to
the noise bandwidth in hertz. Thus at 0K we obtain 𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛 = −228.6 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑/𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻 of bandwidth; for a
system with a noise bandwidth measured in hertz (B) and whose noise temperature is T we obtain:
𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛 = −228.6 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 + 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (1.4)

Intermodulation noise – is the result of the presence of different intermodulation (IM) signals. If
two signals with frequencies f 1 and f 2 are passed through a nonlinear device or medium the output

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will contain IM products that are false frequency energy components. These components may be
present either inside and/or outside the band of interest for a particular device.

The IM distortion can be defined also as the amplitude modulation of signals containing two or
more different frequencies in a system with nonlinearities. The intermodulation between each
frequency component will form additional signals at frequencies that are not just at harmonic
frequencies (integer multiples) of either, but also at the sum and difference frequencies of the
original frequencies and at multiples of those sum and difference frequencies.

Intermodulation is rarely desirable in radio or audio processing, as it creates unwanted spurious

emissions, often in the form of sidebands. For radio transmissions this increases the occupied
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bandwidth, leading to adjacent channel interference, which can reduce the audio clarity or increase
spectrum usage. Device passing multiple signal simultaneously, such as multichannel radio
equipment, develop IM products that are so varied that they resemble to white noise. IM noise may
result from a number of causes:
• Improper level setting. If the level of input to a device is too high, the device is driven into
its nonlinear operating region (overdrive).
• Improper alignment causing a device to function nonlinearly.
• Device malfunction.

To summarize, IM noise results from either a nonlinearity or a malfunction that has the effect of
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nonlinearity.

Crosstalk – refers to unwanted coupling between signal paths. There are essentially three causes of
crosstalk: (1) electrical coupling between transmission media, such as between wire pairs on a voice
frequency (VF) cable system, (2) poor control of the frequency response (defective filters or poor
filter design), (3) nonlinear performance in analog frequency division multiplexing systems.

There were identified two types of crosstalk:

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 • Intelligible, where at least four words are intelligible to the listener from extraneous
conversation (s) in a seven seconds period.
• Unintelligible, crosstalk resulting from any other form of disturbing effects of one channel
or another.

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Intelligible crosstalk presents the greatest impact because of its distraction to the listener.
Distraction is considered to be caused either by fear of loss of privacy or primarily by the user of
the primary line consciously or unconsciously trying to understand what is being said on the
secondary of interfering circuits.

Also, we must not lose sight of the fact that the effects of crosstalk are subjective, and other factors
have to be considered when crosstalk impairments are to be measured. Among these factors are: the
type of people using the channel, the sharpness of listeners, traffic loads, and operating practice.

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Impulse noise – is noncontinuous, consisting of irregular pulses or noise “spikes” of short duration,
large spectral density and relatively high amplitude. Impulse noise degrades telephony usually only
marginally, if at all. However, it may seriously degrade data error performance on data or other
digital waveforms.

1.2.4. Level

Level (signal magnitude) is a primary (very important) parameter in the analog network. In the
digital network the signal level has become of secondary importance. The level value is a relative
measure – the output of an amplifier is 20dB higher than the input. But more commonly, we define
the absolute level of power (n mW ) which in telephony is measured in dBm (decibels referenced to 1
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milliwatt). Similarly, the absolute level of tension U denoted with n mU can be computed by
considering a reference tension 𝑈𝑈0 = 0.775𝑉𝑉 . Also, for the electrical current we can define the
absolute level of current, denoted with 𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 , by taking as reference a value for 𝐼𝐼0 = 1.293𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚:
𝑃𝑃 𝑃𝑃
𝑛𝑛𝑊𝑊 = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] → 𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] (1.5)
𝑃𝑃0 1 ∙ 10−3
𝑈𝑈 𝑃𝑃
𝑛𝑛𝑈𝑈 = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] → 𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] (1.6)
𝑈𝑈0 0.775
𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝐼
𝑛𝑛𝐼𝐼 = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] → 𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] (1.7)
𝐼𝐼0 1.293
The power of 1 mW was taken as reference because this is the magnitude level of the voice signal
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through a telephone line. On the other hand, because the first telecommunication wires were made
by bronze or copper, the characteristic impedance module (R 0 ) was measured around 600 Ω.

The absolute level of power is equal with the absolute level of tension only if the load impedance
module is equal with the characteristic impedance module (R c = R 0 = 600 Ω). Otherwise, the
absolute level of power is obtained through a correction applied on the absolute level of tension.
The correction factor can be computed based on the following equation:
𝑃𝑃 𝑈𝑈 2 1 𝑈𝑈 2 600
𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ∙ = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ∙ =
1 ∙ 10−3 𝑅𝑅 1 ∙ 10−3 𝑅𝑅 0.7752
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 𝑈𝑈 600 600
= 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 + 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = 𝑛𝑛𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (1.8)
0.775 𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅

In radio (wireless) systems, we will more likely employ dBW (decibels referenced to 12 watts).

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When dealing with video signals the unit of measure is voltage.

In telecommunication network, if levels are too high, amplifiers become overloaded, resulting in
intermodulation and other types of distortion such as crosstalk. If levels are too low, customer
satisfaction may suffer with a degraded loudness rating.

System levels are important parameters when engineering a telecommunication system. The values
are usually taken from a level chart or a reference system drawing made by a planning group. On
the chart a 0 test level point (TLP) is established. A test-level point is a location in a circuit at which
a specified test-tone level is expected during alignment. A 0 TLP is a point at which a test-tone

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level should be 0 dBm. Here the decibel unit, dBr (decibels at reference) is used. The dBm can be
related to dBr and dBm0 by the following formula:
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑0 + 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
For instance, a value of -32 dBm at a -22 dBr point corresponds to a reference level of -10 dBm0. A
-10 dBm0 signal introduced at the 0 dBr point has an absolute signal level of -10 dBm.

1.2.5. Signal to noise ratio

When dealing with voice and data transmission the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is perhaps more
(1.9)

frequently used than any other criterion when evaluating the system performance. SNR expresses in
decibels the amount by which a signal level exceeds the noise within a specified bandwidth.
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Depending on the material type used for transmission, different SNR need to be imposed in order to
satisfy the customer requirements. Most common we impose a SNR for voice equal with 40 dB and
form data 15 dB.

Figure 1.6 shows a 1000 Hz signal with a nominal bandwidth of 4 kHz and a SNR of 10 dB. The
level of noise is +5dBm and the signal level is +15dBm. Thus:
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑) − 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 (𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑) (1.10)
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Fig.1.6. Signal to noise ratio

SNR in PSTN has really limited applicability in charactering the speech transmission because of the
human voice spectrum. We can appreciate that the individual talker signal power can fluctuate
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widely so the SNR is far from constant from telephone call to telephone call. Instead of the actual
voice, we can use a test tone to measure level and SNR, which has a constant amplitude and no
silent intervals.

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1.3. Two-wire and four-wire transmission

1.3.1. Two-wire transmission

A telephone conversation inherently requires transmission in both directions. When both directions
are carried on the same pair of wires, it is called two-wire transmission. The telephones in our home
and offices are connected to a local switching center (exchange) by means of two-wire circuits. A
more proper definition of a two-wire operation is: the transmission and switching between
oppositely signals, coming from a single conversation, over the same transmission channel or path.

1.3.2. Four-wire transmission

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Carrier and radio systems require that oppositely directed portions of a single conversation to be
separated over the transmission channels or path. Thus we have two wires for the transmission path
and two wires for the receiving path, or a total of four wires for a full-duplex telephony
conversation. For almost all telephone systems, the end instrument (the telephone subset) is
connected to its local serving exchange on a two wire basis.

In fairly well developed nation, the output of the local serving exchange, looking toward the rest of
the network is four-wire. In many less developed nation the two-wire to four-wire conversion does
not take place until the output of a toll connecting exchange.
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In figure 1.7 we illustrate a typical PSTN network showing a two-wire to four-wire conversion from
the calling subscriber end, and the reciprocal conversion from the four-wire to two-wire at the
called subscriber end. Schematically, the four-wire interconnection is shown as if it were a single
channel wire-line system with amplifiers. The conversion from two-wire operation to four-wire is
carried out by the differential system (SD) which contains a four port balanced transformer or, less
commonly, a resistive network.

4W

M R
2W 2W
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SD SD SD SD
R
M

Fig.1.7. The conversion from 4 wires to 2 wires

1.3.3. Hybrid transmission

A hybrid in terms of telephony is a transformer. For a simplified description a hybrid may be

viewed as a power splitter with four sets of wire-pair connections. A functional block diagram of a
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hybrid device is presented in figure 1.8. Two of the wire-pair connections belong to the four wire
path, which consists of a transmission pair and a receiver pair. The third pair is the connection to the
two-wire link that is eventually connected to the subscriber set via one or more switches. The last
wire pair of the four connects the hybrid to a resistance-capacitance balancing network, which

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electrically balances the hybrid with the two-wire connection to the subscriber set over the
frequency range (of the network).

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Fig.1.8. Transmission using hybrid architecture

2. Wire transmission mediums

In the area of wire telecommunications we include also the systems that use for information
transport the guided electromagnetic waves. The guiding properties are directly influenced by the
connection of different mediums (as: metal – dielectric) characterized by various parameters. Thus,
the guide role of electromagnetic waves can be full field either by the metallic or dielectric lines
(optical fiber OF). Any line containing conductors constitute an electrical circuit with distributed
parameters. Unlike common electrical circuits, with concentrated parameters, that allows
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equivalents schemes with ideal circuit elements R, L, C strictly localized in resistors, the
telecommunications lines have distribute parameters (each portion of the line has an inductance, a
capacity and a conductance) along the line. R and L are considered longitudinal parameters, which
characterize the resistive lost and the energy afferent to the magnetic field, generated by the
electrical current. C and G are transversal parameters that characterize the energy concentrated in
the electrical field and the dielectric lost due to the conductor electrical tension.

The electrical circuits with concentrated parameters are characterized by small sizes compared with
the oscillating wavelength. The telecommunication lines can be included in the category of long
transmission lines in the sense that their length is comparable or even higher than the information
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carrier wavelength.

For example, an electrical energy transport line with an average length of 100 km is considered a
short line because for a frequency of 50 Hz, the average wavelength is:
108
𝜆𝜆 = 𝑣𝑣⁄𝑓𝑓 ≈ 3 ∙ ≈ 6000 𝑘𝑘𝑚𝑚 (2.1)
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However, a wire telecommunication line, with a length of 1 km, working at a frequency of 500 kHz
(𝜆𝜆 ≈ 600 𝑚𝑚) is considered a long electrical line. Therefore, in the telecommunication the processes
should be studied as a function of time and space.

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2.1. Symmetric lines

2.1.1. The primary parameters of the ideal symmetrical line

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The electrical behavior of a telecommunication line is determined by the R, L, C and G
(conductance) parameter values, distributed on the length unity, usually fixed at 1 km, and denoted
as primary parameters or line parameters.

An ideal symmetrical line consists of two identical conductors, parallel, with the length l, isolated in
space, with the distance D between the conductors much greater than the conductor diameter d,
having 𝑙𝑙 ≫ 𝐷𝐷 and the distance ‘h’, between the plane containing the two conductors and the Earth
(of zero potential) ℎ ≫ 𝐷𝐷. These conditions are almost satisfied by the aerial lines, having D = 300
mm, d = 3-4 mm, h = 4-5 mm.

In the following part we will present a way of computing the primary line parameters for the aerial

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lines, by considering a stationary regime even for low frequencies.

1. The line resistance (R): It is defined as the total resistance of two conductors that form a
line section with a length 𝑙𝑙 = 1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘, mounted in a shot circuit connection, at the opposite
end from the one performing the measurements. The line resistance varies with the
modification of frequency and temperature, and can be computed based on the following
equation:
𝑅𝑅 = 𝐾𝐾1 𝑅𝑅𝑡𝑡 = 𝐾𝐾1 𝑅𝑅0 [1 + 𝛼𝛼(𝑡𝑡 − 20℃)] (2.2)
𝜌𝜌∙𝑙𝑙 8000
where 𝑅𝑅0 = = 𝜌𝜌 [Ω]/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘, 𝐾𝐾1 is a coefficient establish depending on the working
𝑆𝑆 𝜋𝜋𝑑𝑑 2
frequency, 𝛼𝛼 is the resistivity thermal coefficient, 𝑡𝑡 is the ambient temperature expressed in
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℃, 𝜌𝜌 is the conductor material resistivity [Ω ∙ mm2 ]/𝑚𝑚 and 𝑑𝑑 is the conductor diameter.

In table 2.1 we present various characteristic values for each electrical parameter selected
for some common materials used in constructing symmetrical communication lines.

Table 2.1. Characteristic values for the line electrical parameters

Material 𝝆𝝆[𝛀𝛀 ∙ 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐 ]/𝒎𝒎 𝜶𝜶[/℃] 𝝁𝝁
Copper 0,01754 0,0039 1
Aluminum 0,02778 0,004 1
Bronze - Phosphor 0,115 0,004 1
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Steel 0,139 0,006 140

At high frequencies, due to the skin effect the line resistance will increase. The skin effect is
the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed within a
conductor such that the current density is largest near the surface of the conductor, and
decreases with greater depths in the conductor. The electric current flows mainly at the
"skin" of the conductor, between the outer surface and a level called the skin depth
(figure 2.1). The resistance multiplication factor 𝐾𝐾1 = 𝐾𝐾1 (𝑥𝑥) in DC can be determined
using the Table 2.2, based on parameter x:

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 𝑓𝑓[𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻]𝜇𝜇𝑟𝑟
𝑥𝑥 = 0.0709 ∙ � (2.3)
𝑅𝑅𝑡𝑡 [Ω]

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Fig.2.1 Distribution of current flow in a cylindrical conductor, shown in cross section

Table 2.2. The multiplication factor in DC

x K1 K2 x K1 K2
0,0 1,000 1,000 8 3,094 0,351
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
5,0
1,000
1,005
1,026
1,078
1,175
1,318
1,492
1,678
1,863
2,043
TS 1,000
0,997
0,997
0,961
0,913
0,845
0,736
0,688
0,616
0,556
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20
25
30
3,446
3,799
4,151
4,504
4,856
5,209
5,562
7,328
9,094
10,861
0,313
0,282
0,256
0,235
0,217
0,202
0,188
0,141
0,113
0,094
5,5 2,219 0,507 40 14,395 0,071
6,0 2,394 0,465 50 17,939 0,057
7,0 2,743 0,400
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For an aerial line realized with copper conductors and a diameter of 3 mm, at low
frequencies, we obtain a value for the resistance (as order of magnitude) equal with:
𝑅𝑅 ≅ 5 [Ω]⁄𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘.

2. The line inductance: If we consider two parallel conductors, of length 𝑙𝑙 ≫ 𝐷𝐷and 𝐷𝐷 ≫ 𝑑𝑑 =

2𝑎𝑎 the external inductance L ext is defined as the ratio between the magnetic flux Φ𝑆𝑆 through
a surface S, sustained by the two conductors and the electrical current i which determine the
Φ 𝑆𝑆
magnetic flux: 𝐿𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝑖𝑖
.
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The magnetic flux created by the electrical current i, passing through the first conductor is:
𝐷𝐷−𝑎𝑎 𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝐷−𝑎𝑎

Φ1 = � 𝐵𝐵 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � � 𝜇𝜇 ∙ 𝐻𝐻 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝜇𝜇 ∙ 𝑙𝑙 � 𝐻𝐻 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑆𝑆 𝑎𝑎 0 𝑎𝑎
where B is the magnetic flux inductance [Wb/m ], H is the magnetic flux strength [A/m] and 𝜇𝜇
2

is the permeability of the material through which the field passes.

Based on the Ampere theorem where: ∮Γ 𝐻𝐻 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝜃𝜃𝑟𝑟 we can write that 𝐻𝐻 ∙ ∮Γ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝐻𝐻 ∙ 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 =
𝑖𝑖 In this case the equation 2.4 can be rewritten as:
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 𝜇𝜇 𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑖 𝐷𝐷−𝑎𝑎 1 𝜇𝜇 𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑖 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎
Φ1 = � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (2.5)
2 𝜋𝜋 𝑎𝑎 𝑟𝑟 2 𝜋𝜋 𝑎𝑎
Because the electrical current i which passes through the second conductor has an opposite
direction, Φ2 is added to Φ1 and Φ𝑆𝑆 = 2Φ1 . The external inductance, in this case, is given by

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the following equation:
𝜇𝜇𝑟𝑟 ∙ 𝜇𝜇0 ∙ 𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎
𝐿𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (2.6)
𝜋𝜋 𝑎𝑎
for the aerial line 𝜇𝜇𝑟𝑟 = 1.
i i
Conductor 1
dr
Conductor 2
S

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2a
r

D
H

Fig.2.2. The external inductance of two conductors



On a first approximation if we neglect the contribution of the internal inductance 𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , than the
line inductance is given by the following equation:
𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎
1 ∙ 4𝜋𝜋 ∙ 10−7 [𝐻𝐻/𝑚𝑚] ∙ 103 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑎 [𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚]
𝐿𝐿 ≈ 𝐿𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = 0.4 ∙ (2.7)
𝜋𝜋 𝑎𝑎 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
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The internal inductance (𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ) determined by the magnetic flux inside the conductors, has the
maximum value in DC given by the relation:
𝜇𝜇 ∙ 𝑙𝑙 𝜇𝜇𝑟𝑟 [𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚]
𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = = 0.1 ∙ (2.8)
4𝜋𝜋 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
At high frequencies, 𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 value is decreasing depending on 𝐾𝐾2 = 𝐾𝐾2 (𝑥𝑥) through the x parameter
(see Table 2.2).

3. The line capacity – Any system consisting of two homogenous conductors, with equal
loads and of opposite signs, separated through a dielectric, form a condenser. By definition,
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its capacity is given by the ratio between the load of one conductor and the potential
difference between both conductors. Let us consider two parallel conductors, of length l,
with a load q and -q, respectively, situated at distance D much bigger than the conductors
diameter d = 2a and suspended at a height h above the ground h >> D.

According to the low of electric flux (Gauss), the electrical flow through a closed surface Σ
is equal with the electrical load situated inside that surface.

� ∙ ����
� 𝐷𝐷 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑞𝑞Σ (2.9)
Σ

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 Given the radial direction of the electrical flux lines, which show a cylindrical symmetry we
consider the first conductor closed in a cylinder of radius r. Through the cylinder covers the
electrical flux is null because the field lines and the surface normal are perpendicular. Based
on this assumption equation 2.9 becomes:

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1 𝑞𝑞
𝜀𝜀 ∙ 𝐸𝐸 ∙ 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 = 𝑞𝑞 → 𝐸𝐸 = ∙ (2.10)
2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑙𝑙
If we compute the potential in a point P situated at distance r 1, and respectively r 2 , relative
to the two conductors and if we displace the position of point P on the surface of first
conductor and second conductor, respectively we can determine the electrical tension
between the two conductors:
1 𝑞𝑞 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎
𝑈𝑈1−2 = ∙ ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (2.11)
𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑎
Based on these considerations, the line capacity can be computed as:
𝑞𝑞 𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝜋𝜋𝜀𝜀0 𝜀𝜀𝑟𝑟 𝑙𝑙
𝐶𝐶 = = = (2.12)

TS 𝑈𝑈1−2 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎

For 𝜀𝜀𝑟𝑟 = 1; 𝜀𝜀0 = 10−9⁄36𝜋𝜋 [F/m] and 𝑙𝑙 = 1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 we obtain:

𝐶𝐶 =
10−6
36 ∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑎𝑎

𝐷𝐷 − 𝑎𝑎
𝑎𝑎
� �
𝐹𝐹
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑎𝑎

In the case of an aerial line the typical value for the capacity is 𝐶𝐶 = 6 [𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛]/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘.

4. The line conductance can be determined based on the following equation:

(2.13)

𝑆𝑆
𝐺𝐺 = 𝐺𝐺0 + 𝜈𝜈𝜈𝜈 � � (2.14)
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
where 𝐺𝐺0 is the conductance determined in DC, 𝜈𝜈 is the loss coefficient and f is the
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frequency expressed in Hz.

For the aerial lines usual values for the conductance are:
• for dry weather: 𝐺𝐺0 ≅ 0.1 ∙ 10−6 𝑚𝑚Ω−1 /𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 and 𝜈𝜈 = 0.05 ∙ 10−9
• for wet weather: 𝐺𝐺0 ≅ 0.5 ∙ 10−6 𝑚𝑚Ω−1 /𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 and 𝜈𝜈 = 0.25 ∙ 10−9
The inverse of conductance 𝐺𝐺0 is represented by the line isolator resistance:
1
𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = [Ω] ∙ 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 (2.15)
𝐺𝐺0

2.1.2. Twisted pair cables

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Twisted-pair cable is a type of cabling that is used for telephone communications and most modern
Ethernet networks. A pair of wires forms a circuit that can transmit data. The pairs are twisted to
provide protection against crosstalk, the noise generated by adjacent pairs. When electrical current
flows through a wire, it creates a small, circular magnetic field around the wire. When two wires in
an electrical circuit are placed close together, their magnetic fields are the exact opposite of each
other. Thus, the two magnetic fields cancel each other out. They also cancel out any outside
magnetic fields. Twisting the wires can enhance this cancellation effect. Using cancellation together
with twisting the wires, cable designers can effectively provide self-shielding for wire pairs within

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the network media. Two basic types of twisted-pair cable exist: unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and
shielded twisted pair (STP). The following part we will discuss the UTP and STP cable in more
detail.

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Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) - The UTP cables are found in many Ethernet networks and
telephone systems. For indoor telephone applications, UTP is often grouped into sets of 25 pairs
according to a standard 25-pair color code originally developed by AT&T Corporation. A typical
subset of these colors (white/blue, blue/white, white/orange, orange/white) shows up in most UTP
cables. The cables are typically made with copper wires with the colored insulation typically made
from an insulator such as polyurethane and the total package covered in a polyurethane jacket
(figure 2.3).

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Fig.2.3. A section of an unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

UTP cable relies solely on the cancellation effect produced by the twisted wire pairs to limit signal
degradation caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI).
To further reduce crosstalk between the pairs in UTP cable, the number of twists in the wire pairs
varies. UTP cable must follow precise specifications governing how many twists or braids are
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permitted per meter of cable (figure 2.4).

Fig.2.4. UTP cable with different twisting rates

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For urban outdoor telephone cables containing hundreds or thousands of pairs, the cable is divided
into smaller but identical bundles (manunchi). Each bundle consists of twisted pairs that have
different twist rates. The bundles are twisted together to make up the cable. Pairs having the same
twist rate within the cable can still experience some degree of crosstalk. Wire pairs are selected
carefully to minimize crosstalk within a large cable.

UTP cable is also the most common cable used in computer networking. Modern Ethernet, the most
common data networking standard, can use UTP cables. Twisted pair cabling is often used in data
networks for short and medium length connections because of its relatively lower costs compared to

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optical fiber and coaxial cable. UTP is also finding increasing use in video applications, primarily in
security cameras. Many cameras include a UTP output with screw terminals; UTP cable bandwidth
has improved to match the baseband of television signals.

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UTP cable often is installed using a Registered Jack 45 (RJ-45) connector (figure 2.5). The RJ-45 is
an eight-wire connector used commonly to connect computers onto a local-area network (LAN),
especially Ethernets.

TS Fig.2.5. RJ-45 connector

When used as a networking medium, UTP cable has four pairs of either 22 or 24 copper wires. UTP
used as a networking medium has an impedance of 100 ohms; this differentiates it from other types
of twisted-pair wiring such as that used for telephone wiring, which has impedance of 600 ohms.

UTP cable offers many advantages. Because UTP has an external diameter of approximately 0.43
cm its small size can be advantageous during installation. Because it has such a small external
diameter, UTP does not fill up wiring ducts as rapidly as other types of cable. This can be an
extremely important factor to consider, particularly when installing a network in an older building.
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UTP cable is easy to install and is less expensive than other types of networking media. In fact,
UTP costs less per meter than any other type of LAN cabling. And because UTP can be used with
most of the major networking architectures, it continues to grow in popularity.

Disadvantages also are involved in using twisted-pair cabling, however. UTP cable is more
sensitive to electrical noise and interference than other types of networking media, and the distance
between signal boosts is shorter for UTP than it is for coaxial and fiber-optic cables.

Although UTP was once considered to be slower at transmitting data than other types of cable, this
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is no longer true. In fact, UTP is considered the fastest copper-based medium today. The following
summarizes the features of UTP cable:
• Speed and throughput - 10 to 1000 Mbps
• Average cost per node - Least expensive
• Media and connector size - Small
• Maximum cable length - 100 m (short)

UTP cables were invented for voice applications. Voice UTP cables only needed to carry analog
signals which are very robust and not easily corrupted by electrical noise or EMI. However, as UTP
cables were used for different systems, higher quality UTP cables were required to support data
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systems that used digital signaling. As the applications evolved, different categories or grades of
UTP cables were created along these years. Higher category UTP cables are referred to as data
grade UTP cables, and low category UTP cables are referred to as voice grade UTP cables. In
Table 2.3 shows different category of UTP cables, their business applications and corresponding

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performance specification.

Table 2.3. UTP cable development

Name Bandwidth Application Notes
Level 1 0.4 MHz Telephones and modem lines Not described in the standard
recommendation
Level 2 4 MHz Old terminal systems Not described in the standard
IBM3270 recommendation
Category 3 16 MHz 10BASE-T and 100BASE- Unsuitable for speeds above 16 Mbps. Now
T4 Ethernet mainly for telephone cables
Category 4 20 MHz 16 Mbps Token Ring Not commonly used
Category 5 100 MHz 100BASE-TX & 1000BASE- Common in most current LANs

Category 5e

Category 6

Category 6e
100 MHz

250 MHz

500 MHz
TS T Ethernet
100BASE-TX & 1000BASE-
T Ethernet
10GBASE-T Ethernet

10GBASE-T Ethernet
Enhanced Cat5. Same construction as Cat5,
but with better testing standards
Most commonly installed cable in Finland
according to the 2002.
Developed in 2002 as enhanced Cat6

Shielded twisted pair (STP) – The STP cable combines the techniques of shielding, cancellation,
and wire twisting. Each pair of wires is wrapped in a metallic foil (figure 2.6 STP cable in section
and figure 2.7 present a regular STP cable). The four pairs of wires then are wrapped in an overall
metallic braiding (impletitura) or foil, usually 150 ohm cable. As specified for use in Ethernet
network installations, STP reduces electrical noise both within the cable (pair to pair coupling, or
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crosstalk) and from outside the cable (EMI and RFI). STP usually is installed with STP data
connector, which is created especially for the STP cable. However, STP cabling also can use the
same RJ connectors that UTP uses.
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Fig.2.6. Shielded twisted pair cable in section

Fig.2.7. STP cable

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Although STP prevents interference better than UTP, it is more expensive and difficult to install. In
addition, the metallic shielding must be grounded at both ends. If it is improperly grounded, the
shield acts like an antenna and picks up unwanted signals. Because of its cost and difficulty with
termination, STP is rarely used in Ethernet networks.

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The following summarizes the features of STP cable:
• Speed and throughput - 10 to 100 Mbps
• Average cost per node - Moderately expensive
• Media and connector size - Medium to large
• Maximum cable length - 100 m (short)

When comparing UTP and STP, keep the following points in mind:
• The speed of both types of cable is usually satisfactory for local-area distances.
• These are the least-expensive media for data communication. UTP is less expensive than
STP.

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• Because most buildings are already wired with UTP, many transmission standards are
adapted to use it, to avoid costly rewiring with an alternative cable type.

Disadvantage of twisted pair cable transmission system:

1. Twisted pair’s susceptibility to electromagnetic interference greatly depends on the pair twisting
schemes (usually patented by the manufacturers) staying intact during the installation. As a result,
twisted pair cables usually have stringent requirements for maximum pulling tension as well as
minimum bend radius. This relative fragility of twisted pair cables makes the installation practices
an important part of ensuring the cable’s performance.
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2. In video applications that send information across multiple parallel signal wires, twisted pair
cabling can introduce signaling delays known as skew (lines that do not intersect and are not
parallel) which results in subtle color defects and ghosting due to the image components not
aligning correctly when recombined in the display device. The skew occurs because twisted pairs
within the same cable often use a different number of twists per meter so as to prevent crosstalk
between pairs with identical numbers of twists. The skew can be compensated by varying the length
of pairs in the termination box, so as to introduce delay lines that take up the slack between shorter
and longer pairs, though the precise lengths required are difficult to calculate and vary depending on
the overall cable length.
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2.2. Coaxial lines

In telecommunication lines made of symmetrical cable, at frequencies that overpass 600 kHz, the
crosstalk noise becomes prohibitive even after applying a balancing operation. The necessity of
realizing a multiplex transmission system with a high number of communication ways has led to
development of some transmission lines on which the crosstalk phenomenon and the attenuation are
almost negligible for a large frequencies spectrum. In this manner in the XX century there were
developed the first coaxial lines.

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 2.2.1. Constitutive elements of the coaxial line

The coaxial line usually consists of two concentric conductors (figure 2.8) with the diameter d and
D, respectively. The central conductor, presenting a cylindrical form, is compact and it is made of

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copper. The external conductor, with the thickness 𝛿𝛿 = 0.2 ÷ 0.3 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 is constructed as a tub, using
copper of aluminum. The internal conductor it is maintained on the axis of the tub using a dielectric
material. The dielectric can occupy the entire volume between the two conductors (figure 2.9), or it
can be place at integer intervals using some spheres.

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Fig. 2.8. Schematic representation of a coaxial line

The diameter d and D can fluctuate in a large rage of values. UIT-T has normalized three types of
dimensions for the coaxial lines in the interurban cable construction (in an interurban cable it can
exist either coaxial lines or/and symmetric lines). So, we have:
• The normal pair (Thicknet): 𝑑𝑑⁄𝐷𝐷 = 2.6⁄9.5 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚;
• The small diameter pair (Thinnet): 𝑑𝑑⁄𝐷𝐷 = 1.2⁄4.4 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚;
• The micro-coaxial pair: 𝑑𝑑⁄𝐷𝐷 = 0.7⁄2.9 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚.
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Fig.2.9. Coaxial cable

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The coaxial cable is defined as any cable with the following properties: a center conductor; an
insulation covering the center conductor, called "dielectric", an optional foil shield, a braided shield
surrounding the dielectric and an outer jacket.

Each of these components plays a specific role:

• Center Conductor: At the heart of a coaxial cable is a center conductor. Typically

constructed of either pure copper (in higher-end cables) or copper-coated steel or aluminum
(in less-expensive cables), the center conductor is responsible for transmitting the cable's
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 signal. As such, it must meet certain electrical properties (such as wire resistance). The rest
of the cable construction is primarily designed to help the center conductor maintain its
electrical integrity.

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• Dielectric Insulator: The dielectric insulator's purpose is two-fold; first, it acts as an
insulator between the center conductor and the outer braided / foil shielding. Second, it helps
physically hold the center conductor in the center of the cable. This is important, as signal
loss can occur if the center conductor strays too close to the outer area of the cable. Various
materials are commonly used for the dielectric. A few of the more common materials, in
order of quality (from best to worst), are below: Foamed (spuma) Polyethylene (FPE),
Teflon, Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinylchloride (PVC).
When reading specifications on coaxial cables, you may see references to the dielectric constant.
The closer this number is to 1.0, the better. Foamed Polyethylene (FPE), for example, generally has
a dielectric constant somewhere around 1.5, while PVC's dielectric constant is around 3.0 to 4.0.

•
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(Foamed PE basically uses gas, often nitrogen, to create gas bubbles in the material to lower the
dielectric constant. Marketing literature that refers to "gas-injected dielectric" usually indicates the
use of FPE. It is one of the best dielectric materials in common use).

Braided Shield: Long copper cables have a tendency to act like antennas, picking up various
signals from the environment. These unwanted signals, known as "interference", disrupt the
signal that the cable is supposed to be carrying. Interference tends to come in two different
flavors: electromagnetic interference (known as EMI) and radio frequency interference
(RFI). EMI interference is often caused by heavy power lines, cell phone signals etc. A
braided shield protects the signal from EMI interference. When looking at cable
specifications, the braided shield will often is expressed in a percent coverage, which often
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ranges anywhere from 30% to 95% coverage. The higher the coverage, the better the
protection is.

• Foil Shield: Although not always present on coaxial cables, the foil shield serves to protect
from RFI interference. Foil shields are almost always made out of aluminum foil, and
simply wrap around the inner parts of the cable. Unlike braided shields, which have a
percent coverage, foil shields always cover 100%.

• Outer Jacket: The outer jacket is generally made out of flexible PVC (polyvinylchloride)
and serves primarily to hold the cable together and protect it from the elements.
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Many consumers, when they think of "coaxial cable", tend to think it refers only to the cabling used
by cable and satellite companies for cable TV. However, this is only one example of coaxial cable
which can be used in a wide range of applications as: carrying Ethernet signals.

There are many different connectors that can terminate a coaxial cable.
• RCA: The RCA connector (figure 2.10) was developed in the early 1940s by the Radio
Corporation of America to connect record players to amplifiers. The same basic connector is
still in wide use today, and it represents a large portion of the connectors used for home
theater cables. The fact that they are so easy to connect and disconnect makes RCA
20
 connectors a popular choice for home theater applications. RCA cables can be used for
audio, video and digital audio. The biggest drawback with RCA devices is that each signal is
sent on a different cable. For example, a single RCA-terminated coaxial cable only carries
the left audio channel, or only the right etc. Three RCA cables are needed for high-definition

TM
video, along with two more for the audio. This makes for a mess of cables behind your
equipment. This is one reason that has made HDMI cables so popular.

•
TS
Fig.2.10. Standard composite cables for hooking up video equipment
(Yellow is video, red and white are for stereo sound)

BNC: The BNC connector (figure 2.11) has two bumps on the female side that slide into
corresponding grooves on the male side. The connector is then rotated a quarter turn to lock
into place. BNC connectors are widely used in commercial applications such as closed
circuit television systems, where its ability to lock in place (unlike the slip-on RCA) makes
BNC cables a perfect fit.
RS

Fig.2.11. Types of BNC connectors

• F-Pin: The F-pin connector (figure 2.12) is probably the most recognized of the coaxial
connectors as it's been in use with televisions and VCRs for decades. The familiar threaded
connector makes for a secure connection that will not easily slip out of a device.
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Fig.2.12. F-pin connector

This connector is also one of the easiest to attach to a coax cable as it does not require any
soldering. Many manufacturers are doing away with the F-pin connector on their TVs. This
21
 is because that little F-pin connector is actually part of a device called a tuner. The tuner is
what sifts through the signal coming through the cable and separates all of the TV channels.
Since so many people change channels using a cable box or satellite receiver, these tuners
are becoming obsolete.

TM
2.2.2. The primary parameters of the coaxial line

1. The line resistance

If we take into account the skin effect, for a conductor of diameter d, the internal resistance is
computed based on the following equation:

𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇

𝑟𝑟 = = = 𝑙𝑙� , 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑 > 4𝜃𝜃 (2.15)
𝑆𝑆 𝜃𝜃𝜃𝜃𝜃𝜃 𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋
67
where 𝜃𝜃 = �𝜌𝜌/𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 is the depth penetration. In the case of a copper conductor 𝜃𝜃[𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚] = .

TS
If we assume that both conductors are constructed from the same material we obtain:

𝑅𝑅 = 𝑅𝑅𝑑𝑑 + 𝑅𝑅𝐷𝐷 = 𝐾𝐾(1⁄𝑑𝑑 + 1⁄𝐷𝐷 )�𝑓𝑓

where the frequency f is expressed in Hz while the diameters d and D in mm.

For copper 𝐾𝐾 = 0.0835 and for aluminum 𝐾𝐾 = 0.1078.

[Ω]
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
�𝑓𝑓[𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻]

(2.16)

2. The line inductance

If we apply the Ampere theorem over a line of magnetic field (the curve Γ in figure 2.13), at
RS
distance r from the conductor center we can write:
𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑 𝐷𝐷
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 ≤
𝐻𝐻 = �2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 2 2 (2.17)
𝐷𝐷
0, 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑟𝑟 >
2

d D r D
E
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H
θ
Fig.2.13 Fundamental parameters for the coaxial cable

Based on equation 2.17 we can affirm that only the internal conductor generate the magnetic flux.
In this case, the extern inductance is computed as:

22
 𝐷𝐷 [𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚]
𝐿𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 0.2𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (2.18)
𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
The internal inductance 𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is determined:
1 1 [𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚]

TM
𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 13.33 � + ���𝑓𝑓 (2.19)
𝑑𝑑 𝐷𝐷 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
depending on the frequency f[Hz] and the diameters d[mm] and D[mm].

As a consequence the line inductance for the coaxial pair can be determined as:
𝐿𝐿 = 𝐿𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 + 𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 (2.20)
and has as order of magnitude: 𝐿𝐿 ≈ 0.25[𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚]/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘.

3. The line capacity

Due to the cylindrical symmetry, the electrical field lines have a radial direction. If we consider that
the inner conductor is charged with +q load and the exterior with –q, from the magnetic flux low

determine the electrical flux E as:

TS
through a cylindrical surface Σ of radius r and length l, concentric with the inner conductor we can

can determine the capacity of a coaxial line as:

𝐶𝐶 =
𝑞𝑞
𝐸𝐸 = ∙ 𝜋𝜋 ∙ 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
2

𝜀𝜀𝑟𝑟
18
∙ 𝑙𝑙𝑛𝑛
𝐷𝐷 [𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇]
𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
(2.21)
For r > D/2 the electrical flux is null. Using similar principles as in the case of twisted pair lines we

(2.22)
where 𝜀𝜀𝑟𝑟 is the dielectric permittivity of the material separating the two conductors. As order of
magnitude: 𝐶𝐶 ≈ 50[𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛]/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘.
RS
4. The line conductance

As for the symmetrical line in cable the conductance can be computed as:
𝐺𝐺 = 𝐺𝐺0 + 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 ≈ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 (2.23)
where the loss angle tangent in dielectric is: 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 = (1 ÷ 3) ∙ 10−4 .

2.3. Secondary parameters of the symmetric and coaxial line

The practical interest of the principal parameters in a telecommunication line is quite reduced
especially from the point of view of an end user. In this case the line is completely characterized in
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the sinusoidal permanent regime, at a specific frequency, by the secondary parameters, directly
measurable even for a very long line.

Let we consider a line of length l, divided in infinite small intervals denoted dx. Each interval can
be regarded as a quadrupole with concentrated constants (figure 2.14), where R, L, C and G are the
line primary parameters.

Let us compute the characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 and the transfer exponent 𝑔𝑔 for one of elementary
quadrupole. We first determine 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 and 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 :

23
 L dx R dx

TM
C dx G dx

dx

Fig.2.14 The symmetric/coaxial line regarded as a chain of elementary quadrupoles

𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = (𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2.24)
2
1 1 + (𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)(𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 = (𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + = (2.25)
(𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
For 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 → 0 the complex characteristic impedance is given by:
𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = �𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 ≈ � = 𝑅𝑅𝑐𝑐 + 𝑗𝑗𝑋𝑋𝑐𝑐 = 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗 𝜑𝜑 𝑐𝑐 (2.26)
𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗

mathematic expression:

TS
The absolute value of this measure is denoted as scalar characteristic impedance with the following

1
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = �

𝜑𝜑𝑐𝑐 = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 �𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 � = �𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎

4

𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔
𝑅𝑅 2 + 𝜔𝜔 2 𝐿𝐿2
𝐺𝐺 2 + 𝜔𝜔 2 𝐶𝐶 2
and the argument of this measure defines the characteristic phase shift:

− 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔
>0

1
� = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝐿𝐿 𝐶𝐶
𝜔𝜔 �𝑅𝑅 − 𝐺𝐺 �
(2.27)

(2.28)
2 𝑅𝑅 𝐺𝐺 2 𝜔𝜔 2 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿
1+
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
The transfer exponent is computed as:
RS
𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑔𝑔 = � ≈ �(𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)(𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗) 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2.29)
𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔
For a communication line of length 𝑙𝑙 = 1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘, the transfer exponent will be noted with 𝛾𝛾[1/km] and
will represent the propagation constant, defined as:
𝑔𝑔 = 𝛾𝛾 ∙ 𝑙𝑙 (2.30)
So, when 𝑙𝑙 = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 the relation 2.29 becomes:
𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑔𝑔 = 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝛾𝛾 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ≈ 𝛾𝛾 ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2.31)
resulting that:
𝛾𝛾 = �(𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)(𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗) = 𝛼𝛼 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 (2.32)
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where 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅{𝛾𝛾} = 𝛼𝛼[𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘] is the attenuation constant, and 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼{𝛾𝛾} = 𝛽𝛽[𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘] is the phase shift
constant.

Phase velocity and propagation delay:

In a temporal interval ∆𝑇𝑇, the phase of a sine wave varies with the pulsation 𝜔𝜔 as:
∆𝜑𝜑 = 𝜔𝜔 ∙ ∆𝑇𝑇[𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟] (2.33)
The same phase shift can be obtained even for a distance ∆𝑥𝑥:

24
 ∆𝜑𝜑 𝜔𝜔∆𝑇𝑇
∆𝜑𝜑 = 𝛽𝛽 ∙ ∆𝑥𝑥 → ∆𝑥𝑥 = = (2.34)
𝛽𝛽 𝛽𝛽
The propagation speed of a sine wave or the phase velocity 𝑣𝑣𝜑𝜑 is computed as the ratio:
∆𝑥𝑥 𝜔𝜔 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

TM
𝑣𝑣𝜑𝜑 = = � � (2.35)
∆𝑇𝑇 𝛽𝛽 𝑠𝑠
The inverse of phase velocity is the phase propagation time 𝜏𝜏𝜑𝜑 :
𝛽𝛽
𝜏𝜏𝜑𝜑 = [𝑠𝑠/𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘] (2.36)
𝜔𝜔
Because, in most of the cases (for linear phase distortion), 𝛽𝛽 is not proportionally with 𝜔𝜔 we define
a novel measure called the group propagation time 𝜏𝜏𝑔𝑔 :
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑠𝑠
𝜏𝜏𝑔𝑔 = � � (2.37)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

2.3.1. Secondary parameter analysis for the symmetrical lines

TS
For zero and infinite frequency the characteristic impedance Z c has a purely resistive behavior:

𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐0 = �

Any homogenous line satisfies the following conditions:

𝐶𝐶 𝐿𝐿
𝑅𝑅
𝐺𝐺
𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐∞ = �

> 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝐺𝐺 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔

𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅
𝐿𝐿
𝐶𝐶

(2.39)
(2.38)

In this case we can affirm that 𝜑𝜑𝑐𝑐 < 0 and that the characteristic impedance presents a capacitive
behavior for frequencies greater than zero. The characteristic phase shift reaches the minimum
𝜋𝜋
value of − 4 at the frequency:
RS
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝜔𝜔𝑐𝑐 = � (2.40)
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿
1) At frequencies for which 𝑅𝑅 ≫ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 and 𝐺𝐺 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 we obtain:

𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅 −𝑗𝑗 𝜋𝜋 𝑅𝑅 −𝑗𝑗 𝜋𝜋 𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅

𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = � ≈� =� 𝑒𝑒 2 = � 𝑒𝑒 4 = � − 𝑗𝑗� = 𝑅𝑅𝑐𝑐 − 𝑗𝑗𝑋𝑋𝑐𝑐 (2.41)
𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 2𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 2𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔

which means that the characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 is complex and varies proportional with 1⁄�𝑓𝑓 .

In the same conditions:

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𝜋𝜋 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔
𝛾𝛾 ≈ �𝑅𝑅 ∙ 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 = √𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 ∙ 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗 4 = � + 𝑗𝑗� (2.42)
2 2
which implies that:

𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟

𝛼𝛼 = � � � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽 = � � � (2.43)
2 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 2 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
Both attenuation and phase shift are proportional with �𝑓𝑓 , therefore the communication line
introduce distortion in terms of attenuation of phase shift.

25
2) At frequencies for which 𝑅𝑅 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 and 𝐺𝐺 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 we obtain:

𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝐿𝐿
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = � =≈ � = 𝑅𝑅𝐶𝐶′ (2.44)
𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝐶𝐶

TM
𝑅𝑅 𝐺𝐺
𝛾𝛾 = �(𝑅𝑅 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗)(𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗) = 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗√𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 ∙ ��1 + � ∙ �1 + �
𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗

𝑅𝑅 𝐺𝐺 𝑅𝑅 𝐶𝐶 𝐺𝐺 𝐿𝐿
≈ 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗√𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 ∙ �1 + � ∙ �1 + � ≈ � + � + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗√𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 (2.45)
2𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 2𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 2 𝐿𝐿 2 𝐶𝐶
Knowing that:

𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅 𝑅𝑅 2 𝑅𝑅 2
�1 + ≈ �1 + 2 + 2 2 2 = ��1 + � (2.46)
𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 2𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 4𝑗𝑗 𝜔𝜔 𝐿𝐿 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗

So:

TS
𝛼𝛼 =

In conclusion, when 𝑅𝑅 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 we have:

𝑅𝑅 𝐶𝐶 𝐺𝐺 𝐿𝐿 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁
� + � � � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽 = 𝜔𝜔√𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 �
2 𝐿𝐿 2 𝐶𝐶 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
�

• The characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 is real and independent on the frequency variation;
• The phase shift 𝛽𝛽 increase linearly with the frequency, so the line doesn’t introduce any
phase distortion;
(2.47)

• The attenuation 𝛼𝛼 is proportional with R and varies with the frequency over the same low as
R.
RS
2.3.2. Secondary parameter analysis for coaxial lines

At high frequencies, that satisfy the conditions 𝑅𝑅 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 and 𝐺𝐺 ≪ 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 we can write:
𝐿𝐿
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ≈ � = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐. (2.48)
𝐶𝐶
If we replace the primary line parameters L and C we obtain:
𝐷𝐷
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = 60𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 [Ω] (2.49)
𝑑𝑑 √𝜀𝜀𝑟𝑟
𝑅𝑅 𝐶𝐶 𝐺𝐺 𝐿𝐿
𝛾𝛾 ≈ � + � + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗√𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝛼𝛼𝑅𝑅 + 𝛼𝛼𝐺𝐺 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 (2.50)
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2 𝐿𝐿 2 𝐶𝐶
with 𝛼𝛼𝑅𝑅 ≫ 𝛼𝛼𝐺𝐺 .

2.4. The attenuation introduced by the telecommunication line

2.4.1. Mismatch loss (reflection) attenuation

The average power of a telephone signal is around tenths of milliwatts, and because of that the
elements over long transmission lines need to work in an adaptation regime, in order to exclude the
apparition of inverse waves.
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In order to realize the adaptation between different parts of the line section and to between the
load/signal source and the line impedance (figure 2.15) is important to determine the line
characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 .

TM
Zg Zc
Zs
Zc
E

Fig.2.15. Schematic representation of line parameters

In general 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ≠ 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 and 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ≠ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 , therefore there are reflection, signifying that a part of the energy
returns to the generator. If 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 = 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 = 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 the reflection is null and the load receives the maximum
apparent power, equal with:
𝐸𝐸 2

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𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
2 𝑃𝑃2
∗ 2
𝑃𝑃1 = �𝑈𝑈 ∙ 𝐼𝐼 � = �𝐼𝐼 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 � = �

If 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ≠ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 than the received (by the load) apparent power is:

2
𝑃𝑃2 = �𝐼𝐼 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 � = ��
𝐸𝐸
4𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐

𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠
By definition the reflection attenuation is given by the following equation:
1 𝑃𝑃1
[𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁] 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
�

2
� ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 �

𝑃𝑃1
𝑃𝑃2
[𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑]
(2.51)

(2.52)

(2.53)

We can differentiate:
• the output reflection attenuation;
• the input refection attenuation;
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• the reflection attenuation at both ends.

The output reflection attenuation:

1 𝐸𝐸 2 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 2 1 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠
𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟2 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � ∙� � ∙ � = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � [𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁] = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] (2.54)
2 4𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 𝐸𝐸 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 2�𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 2�𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠
The input reflection attenuation:
𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔
𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟1 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � [𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁] = 20𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � [𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑] (2.55)
2�𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 2�𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔
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2.4.2. Return loss (ecou) attenuation

By definition the return loss attenuation is computed as:

1 𝑃𝑃1
𝑎𝑎𝑒𝑒 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (2.56)
2 𝑃𝑃𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
were 𝑃𝑃1 is the power received by the load when the line is adapted (equation 2.51) and 𝑃𝑃𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 is the
difference between the power that should by absorbed by the load when the line is adapted and the
actual power received.

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 2
𝐸𝐸 2 𝐸𝐸 2 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 𝐸𝐸 2 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 − 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠
𝑃𝑃𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = − = � � (2.57)
4𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 �𝑍𝑍 + 𝑍𝑍 �2 4𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠
𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑐
Therefore:

TM
2
1 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 + 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 1
𝑎𝑎𝑒𝑒 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � [𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁] (2.58)
2 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 − 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 − 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑟
𝑍𝑍 +𝑍𝑍
where 𝑟𝑟 = 𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 −𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 is called the reflection coefficient.
𝑐𝑐 𝑠𝑠

2.4.3. The compose (work) attenuation

The work attenuation is defined as total sum of signal attenuations over the line:
𝑎𝑎 = 𝛼𝛼 ∙ 𝑙𝑙 + 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟1 + 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟2 + 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟12 (2.59)
where 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟12 is the interaction attenuation caused by multiple reflections at the ends of the lines:
𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟12 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙�1 − 𝑒𝑒 −2𝛾𝛾𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑟1 ∙ 𝑟𝑟2 � (2.60)

𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟12 = 0.

2.5. Optical fiber

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with the reflection coefficients 𝑟𝑟1 = 𝑍𝑍
𝑍𝑍𝑔𝑔 −𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐
𝑔𝑔 +𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐
𝑍𝑍 −𝑍𝑍
and 𝑟𝑟2 = 𝑍𝑍𝑠𝑠 +𝑍𝑍𝑐𝑐 . If at least one end is adaptive, then
𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑐

An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of glass (silica) or plastic, slightly thicker than
a human hair. It functions as a waveguide is to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber.
Optical fibers are widely used in communications, which permits transmission over longer distances
and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of medium. Fibers are used instead of metal
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wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are also immune to electromagnetic
interference.

The optical fibers used in communications have a very simple0 structure. They consist of two
sections: the glass core – used to transmit the light, the cladding layer (invelis) – used to keep the
core clean and the primary buffer – used for mechanical protection (figure 2.16).

core cladding primary

buffer
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Fig. 2.16 Optical fiber structure

The core and cladding have different refractive indices, with the core having a refractive index, n 1 ,
which is slightly higher than that of the cladding, n 2 . It is this difference in refractive indices that
enables the fiber to guide the light. Because of this guiding property, the fiber is also referred to as
an “optical waveguide.”

The basics of light propagation can be discussed with the use of geometric optics. The law of light
guidance is Snell’s law is defined based on figure 2.17 (a). Consider two dielectric media with
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different refractive indices and with n 1 > n 2 and that are in perfect contact, as shown in figure 2.16.
At the interface between the two dielectrics, the incident and refracted rays satisfy Snell’s law of
refraction, that is:
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙1 𝑛𝑛2

TM
𝑛𝑛1 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙1 = 𝑛𝑛2 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙2 𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑟 = (2.61)
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙2 𝑛𝑛1
In addition to the refracted ray there is a small amount of reflected light in the medium with
refractive index n 1 . Because n 1 > n 2 then always 𝜙𝜙2 > 𝜙𝜙1 . As the angle of the incident ray increases
there is an angle at which the refracted ray emerges parallel to the interface between the two
dielectrics (figure 2.17(b)).

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Fig.2.17. Snell’s reflection low (a) Normal case, (b) Particular case

This angle is referred to as the critical angle, 𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 and from Snell’s law is given by:
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 =
𝑛𝑛2
(2.62)
𝑛𝑛1
If the angle of the incident ray is greater than the critical angle, the ray is reflected back into the
medium with refractive index n 1 . This basic idea can be used to propagate a light ray in a structure
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with n 1 > n 2 , and Figure 2.18 illustrates this idea.

Fig.2.18. Light guidance using Snell’s law

The light ray incident at an angle greater than the critical angle can propagate down the waveguide
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through a series of total reflections at the interface between the two dielectrics. The ray shown in
Figure 5.3 is referred to as a “meridional ray” because it passes through the axis of the fiber.

For a ray to be launched into the fiber and propagated it must arrive at the interface between the two
media (with different refractive indices) at an angle that is at minimum equal to𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 and in general
less than that. Figure 2.19 illustrates the geometry for the derivation of the acceptance angle. To
satisfy the condition for total internal reflection, the ray arriving at the interface, between the fiber
and outside medium, say air, must have an angle of incidence less than 𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 , otherwise the internal
angle will not satisfy the condition for total reflection, and the energy of the ray will be lost in the

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cladding. Consider that a ray with an incident angle less than the 𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 say 𝜃𝜃1 , enters the fiber at the
interface of the core (n 1 ) and the outside medium, say air (n 0 ), and the ray lies in the meridional
plane. From Snell’s law at the interface we obtain:
𝑛𝑛0 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃1 = 𝑛𝑛1 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃2 (2.63)

TM
Fig.2.19. Geometry for the derivation of the acceptance angle

TS
From the right triangle ABC (figure 2.19), the angle 𝜙𝜙 is given by:
𝜋𝜋
𝜑𝜑 = − 𝜃𝜃2
2
where the angle 𝜙𝜙 is greater than the critical angle. If we substitute equation 2.64 in equation 2.63
we obtain:
𝑛𝑛0 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃1 = 𝑛𝑛1 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
In the limit, as the incident angle 𝜃𝜃1 , approaches 𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 , the internal angle approaches the critical
(2.64)

(2.65)

angle for total reflection 𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 . Then, by introducing the trigonometric relation 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠2 𝜑𝜑 + 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 2 𝜑𝜑 = 1
in equation 2.63, we obtain:
𝑛𝑛2 2
𝑛𝑛0 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃1 = 𝑛𝑛1 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = �𝑛𝑛1 (1 − 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠2 𝜑𝜑) = 𝑛𝑛1 ��1 − � � � = �𝑛𝑛12 − 𝑛𝑛22 (2.66)
𝑛𝑛1
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This equation defines the angle within which the fiber can accept and propagate light and is referred
to as the “Numerical Aperture” (NA).

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑛𝑛0 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = �𝑛𝑛12 − 𝑛𝑛22 (2.67)

When the medium with the reflective index 𝑛𝑛0 is air, the equation NA of the glass fiber simplifies
to:

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = �𝑛𝑛12 − 𝑛𝑛22 (2.68)

This equation states that for all angles of incident where the inequity 0 ≤ 𝜃𝜃1 ≤ 𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 is satisfied the
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incident ray will propagate within the fiber.

Example: To appreciate the numbers involved, consider a fiber made of silica glass whose core
refractive index is 1.5 and that of the cladding is 1.46. The 𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 and the NA of the fiber are
calculated to be:
𝑛𝑛2 1.46
𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 � � = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 � � = 76.73° (2.69)
𝑛𝑛1 1.50

𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴 = �𝑛𝑛12 − 𝑛𝑛22 = �(1.52 − 1.462 ) = √2.25 − 2.13 = 0.346 (2.70)

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 𝜃𝜃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎0.346 = 20.24° (2.71)

2.5.1. Material characteristics of fibers—losses

TM
The basic material used in the manufacture of optical fiber for optical transmission is silica glass. A
large number of glasses have been developed and studied with the objective of improving fiber
transmission properties. There are two parameters of glass that have a substantial impact on its
performance: the losses and the changes of refractive index with wavelength. The basic material
used in the manufacture of optical fibers is silica dioxide SiO 2 but to achieve the proprieties
required from a fiber, various dopants are also used: Al 2 O 3 , B 2 O 3 , GeO 2 and P 2 O 5 . Initially the
fiber losses were high, but through improvements in the quality of the materials and the actual
production process, the losses have been reduced so as to be close to the theoretical expected losses.

2.5.2. Material characteristics of fibers—dispersion

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The variation of refractive index of a material with wavelength is known in optics as dispersion,
and it is responsible for resolution of white light into its constituent colors. In the context of fiber
light propagation, the dispersion can be divided into two parts. The first part is the dispersion
induced on the light by the material used in the waveguide, and this is known as material dispersion.
The second part is the impact of the actual waveguide structure, and it is known as waveguide
dispersion. This section will address material dispersion only.

The speed of propagation of monochromatic light in an optical fiber is given by the simple
equation:
𝑐𝑐
𝑢𝑢𝑝𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = (2.72)
𝑛𝑛1 (𝜆𝜆)
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This speed is the phase velocity of the light wave, and it is different for each wavelength.

In transmitting a pulse of light through the fiber, the pulse can be expressed as the summation of a
number of sine and cosine functions, which is known as the spectrum of the pulse. If the spectrum is
centered on a frequency 𝜔𝜔 , and has a small spectral width around 𝜔𝜔 then a velocity can be
associated with this group of frequencies, also known as group velocity, defined as:
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐
𝑢𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 = = (2.73)
𝑑𝑑𝑛𝑛
𝑛𝑛1 − 𝜆𝜆 � 1 � 𝑁𝑁
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑛𝑛
where the group index N, of the material is defined as: 𝑛𝑛1 − 𝜆𝜆 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑1
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The packet of frequencies corresponding to the pulse will arrive at the output of the fiber sometime
after the pulse is launched. This delay is the group delay, and it is defined as:
𝐿𝐿 𝑑𝑑𝑛𝑛1 𝐿𝐿
𝜏𝜏𝑔𝑔 = �𝑛𝑛1 − 𝜆𝜆 �= ∙N (2.74)
𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑐𝑐
where L is the fiber length.

Figure 2.20 shows the refractive index and the group index of the SiO 2 glass fiber. For any material,
the zero group dispersion is the wavelength at which the curve of the refractive index has an
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inflection point. For silica this wavelength is at 1300 nm, and it is known as 𝜆𝜆0 . In figure 2.20 one
can distinguish two regions associated with the group index curve. The first region is the region
with wavelengths less than𝜆𝜆0 . In this region the group index decreases as the wavelength increases.
This means that the spectral components of longer wavelength of the pulse travel faster than

TM
spectral components of shorter wavelengths. This regime is identified as the normal group
dispersion regime. For wavelengths greater than 𝜆𝜆0 the opposite behavior is observed and the region
is identified as the anomalous group dispersion regime.

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Fig.2.20. Refractive index and group index for SiO 2 glass

When measurements of these parameters are considered, it is useful to define a new parameter
known as the material dispersion parameter, D m (𝜆𝜆):
𝑑𝑑�𝜏𝜏𝑔𝑔 ⁄𝐿𝐿� 1 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐷𝐷𝑚𝑚 (𝜆𝜆) = = ∙ (2.78)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
where 𝐷𝐷𝑚𝑚 (𝜆𝜆) is expressed as picoseconds per nanometer of source bandwidth per kilometer of
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distance (ps/nm-km).

2.5.3. Multimode fibers

All the rays with a reflection angle less that the critical angle can propagate through the fiber and
because of that it is expected that a number of rays to propagate when launched into the fiber. The
class of fiber that can support the simultaneous propagation of a number of rays is known as
multimode fiber. Each of these modes carries the signal imposed on the optical wave. When the
modes arrive at the receiver, they create a multi-image of the pulse launched in the waveguide. This
multi-image can force the receiver to make a wrong decision regarding the transmitted bit of
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information.

Light propagating in a multimode fiber is subject to the material dispersion. However, there is
another form of dispersion that is specific to multimode fibers. Consider a step index multimode
fiber with two propagating modes (figure 2.21).

The first is the axial mode that propagates along the geometric axis of the fiber. The time taken by
this mode to reach the end of the fiber is the minimum possible and the output is delayed with the
following time:

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 𝐿𝐿
𝜏𝜏𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 𝑛𝑛1 (2.79)
𝑐𝑐

TM
Fig.2.20. Optical paths of meridional and axial mode

Now the extreme meridional mode will reach the output of the fiber after a delay that in this
particular geometric arrangement will be the maximum and given by:

From the Snell’s law we have:

TS 𝜏𝜏𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 =

When substituting into equation 2.80 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 we obtain:

𝜏𝜏𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 =
𝑛𝑛1 𝐿𝐿
∙
𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐

𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝜙𝜙𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 =

𝑛𝑛1 𝐿𝐿
𝑐𝑐
∙ 𝑛𝑛 =
2
𝑛𝑛2
𝑛𝑛1

𝑛𝑛12 𝐿𝐿
∙
𝑛𝑛2 𝑐𝑐
(2.80)

(2.81)

(2.82)
𝑛𝑛1
The difference in the delay between the two modes is given by:
𝐿𝐿
∆𝜏𝜏𝑠𝑠 ≈ 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁2 ∙ (2.83)
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2𝑐𝑐𝑛𝑛1
where NA is the numerical aperture.

To appreciate the impact of this differential delay, let us assume that a pulse of nominal width T is
launched into the fiber. If the differential delay is equal to the pulse width, the output consists of
two pulses occupying a total width of 2T. This is illustrated in figure 2.21.
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Fig.2.21. The impact of the multimode fiber delay on the pulse output
for a delay equal to the pulse width

The receiver will therefore detect two pulses when only one was sent. This effect is called the
intermodal dispersion of the fiber, and it is an additional dispersion imparted on the pulse.

In a given piece of fiber, there are only a set number of possible modes. This is because each mode
is a pattern of electric and magnetic fields having a physical size. The dimensions of the core
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determine how many modes or patterns can exist in the core – the larger the core, the more modes.
The number of modes is always an integer; we cannot have incomplete field patterns. The number
of modes can be computed based on the formula:
𝜋𝜋 2

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�𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ∙ 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 ∙ �
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝜆𝜆 (2.84)
2
Example: In an optical fiber with n core = 1.484, n cladding = 1.470 and the core diameter = 50 µs enters
a wavelength of 850 nm. How many modes are in the core?

We start by computing the numeric aperture NA given by:

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = �(1.484)2 − (1.470)2 = 0.203 (2.85)
If we insert the parameters into the formula we obtain:
𝜋𝜋 2
�50 ∙ 10−6 ∙ 0.203 ∙ −9 �
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 850 ∙ 10 = 703.66 (2.86)
2

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The calculator gave 703.66 but we cannot have part of a mode so we have to round it down. Always
round down as even 703.99 would be large enough for 704 modes to exist. Each of the 703 modes
could be represented by a ray being propagated at its own characteristic angle. Every mode is
therefore traveling at a different speed along the fiber and gives rise to the dispersion which we
called intermodal dispersion.

Graded index fiber: This design of fiber eliminates about 99% of intermodal dispersion. The
essence of the problem is that the ray that arrives late has taken a longer route. We can compensate
for this by making the ray that takes the longer route move faster. If the speed and distance of each
route is carefully balanced, then all the rays can be made to arrive at the same time – hence no
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dispersion figure 2.22.

Fig.2.22. Optical waves arriving at the same time at destination

The formula of computing the wave speed is presented in equation 2.87:

𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙ℎ𝑡𝑡 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙ℎ𝑡𝑡 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = (2.87)
𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
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The solution to above problem is to change the refractive index progressively from the center of the
core to the outside. If the core center has the highest refractive index and the outer edge has the
least, the ray will increase in speed as it moves away from the center.

The rate at which the refractive index changes is critical and is the result of intensive research. A
parabolic profile is often employed but there are many others available in specialized fibers. The GI
(graded index) and the SI (step index) profiles are shown in figure 2.23. Step index fibers are the
basic type in which the core has a set value of refractive index and is surrounded by the cladding,

34
with its lower value. This results in the characteristic step in the value of the refractive index as we
move from the core to the cladding.

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a

TS b
Fig.2.22. Types of optical fibers (a). Step index fiber; (b). Graded index fiber

We can see that, in the GI fiber, the rays each follow a curved path. This is one of the results of the
change in refractive index as we move away from the center of the core. We can consider the core
to be made of a whole series of discrete changes in refractive index as shown in figure 2.23. At each
boundary there is a change in refractive index and the light ray is refracted slightly. Every time the
ray is refracted the angle of incidence increases. Eventually the ray will approach a layer at an angle
greater than the critical angle and reflection occurs.
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Fig.2.23. The ray reflection in a changing index medium

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This process will be repeated as it crosses the fiber and the light will be made to follow a curved
path along the core. Notice how some rays (modes) are restricted to the center (low speed) area of
the core and some extend further out into the faster regions.

It is important to appreciate that, in a real GI fiber, change in the refractive index is smooth and
continuous. It is not really arranged in layers as is suggested by the diagram. The result is that the
light suffers an infinite number of small refractions and has the effect of making the light bend in
the smooth curves as we see in figure 2.22.

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 2.5.4. Single mode fibers

For single-mode fiber we can use the idea that only the axial mode propagates in the fiber. The
bandwidth of single-mode fiber is so large compared to that of the multimode one that single-mode

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fiber is used in all long-haul communications today, terrestrial and submarine.

If we analyze the formula presented in equation 2.84 regarding the total number of modes supported
by an optical fiber we can see that we can decrees the number of modes by increasing the
wavelength on the light. However, this alone cannot result in reducing the number of modes to one.
Changing from 850 nm wave length to 1550 nm wave length will only reduce the number of modes
by a factor of 3 or 4 which is not enough on its own. Similarly, a change in the numerical aperture
can help but in only makes a marginal improvement.

The parameter that influence the most the number of propagation waves is the core diameter. The

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smaller the core, the fewer are the modes. When the core is reduced sufficiently, the number of
modes can be reduced to one. The core of a single more SM fiber is between 5 µm and 10 µm.
Figure 2.24 shows a multimode and a single mode fiber drawn to scale.
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a. b.
Fig.2.24. Difference in size between optical fibers: (a). Multimode (MM), (b). Singlemode (SM)

We know that light of different wavelengths is refracted by differing amounts. We are really saying
that the refractive index, and hence the speed of the light, is determined to some extent by its
wavelength. A laser is said to produce light of a single wavelength, in fact it produces a range of
wavelengths even though it is far fewer than is the ones generated by the LED. This is unfortunate
as each component wavelength travels at a slightly different speed in the fiber. This causes the light
pulse to spread out as it travels along the fiber – and hence causes dispersion. The effect is called
chromatic dispersion. Actually, chromatic dispersion is the combined effect of two other
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dispersions – material dispersion and waveguide dispersion. Both result in a change in

transmission speed; the first is due to the atomic structure of the material and the second is due to
the propagation characteristics of the fiber.

2.5.5. Real cables

There are two distinctly different methods used to protect the optic fibers. They are referred to as
loose tube and tight buffer designs. There is a tendency for tight-buffer cables to find employment
within buildings and loose-tube designs to be used externally. This is not a ‘golden rule’, just a
observation from the experimental evaluation.
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Loose tube construction

A loose tube is defined as an empty polymer tube surrounds the optic fiber as presented in
figure 2.25. The internal diameter of this tube is much greater than the diameter of the optic fibers

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that simply lie inside it. There is room for more than one fiber and as many as twenty-four optic
fibers can run through the same tube.

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Fig.2.25. Loose-tube construction

The main advantage of this cable is given by the freeness of the optic fiber to move about as it
wishes. The main benefit is its natural springiness allowing the optic fiber to take the path of least
strain and allowing it to expand and contract with changes of temperature.

Under normal, non-stress conditions the optic fiber tend to twist inside the buffer tube and this
results in the optic fiber itself being slightly (about 1%) longer than the buffer tube. This has the
further advantage that the cable can be stretched by about 1% during installation without stressing
the optic fiber. Since they do not use gel, the connectors can be terminated directly onto the fiber
without difficult to use breakout kits (figure 2.26). This provides an easy and overall less expensive
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installation and accepts a variation in temperature between -40ºC to +85ºC.
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Fig.2.26. Lose tube fiber example

Tight buffer construction

In the case of tight buffer construction, a jacket is fitted snugly around the optic fiber in the same
way that electrical cables are coated in plastic. This provides protection while allowing flexibility.
This form of construction (shown in figure 2.27) is normally, but again not exclusively, used for
indoor installations. Tight-jacketed cables come in a variety of forms to suit the installation
requirements and may be single mode or multimode.

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 TM
Fig.2.27. Tight buffer construction

A small selection of tight buffer fibers is shown in figures 2.28 – 2.30.

a.
TS b.
Fig.2.28. Tight jacketed cables simplex transmission: (a). Transversal section, (b). Real cable
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a. b.
Fig.2.29. Tight jacketed cables duplex transmission: (a). Transversal section, (b). Real cable

a. b.
Fig.2.30. Tight jacketed cables multiple ways transmission: (a). Transversal section, (b). Real cable
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Plastic optic fiber cable is always tight buffered. There are three options regarding the strength
members. They can be placed immediately under the outer jacket or added around each individual
optic fiber within their own jacket, sometimes referred to as a sub-jacket.

Breakout cable

The breakout cable has the advantage that the outer jacket can be stripped off leaving us with
individual cables, each with its own strength members. The main cable is installed, perhaps as far as
an office space via ceiling ducts and then, by stripping off the outer jacket, the individual cables can
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be fed to each point of use (figure 2.31). This style of cable however is seen as expensive and is not
that popular anymore.

TM
Fig.2.31. The breakout cable

For use within buildings, the outer sheath of any optical fiber cable is usually made of PVC
(polyvinyl chloride) the same plastic coating that is used for electrical wiring.

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2.5.6. Connecting optical fibers

There were identified three major problems in connecting the optical fibers:
• the fibers must be of compatible type;
• the ends of the fiber must be brought together in close proximity;
• they must be aligned;

Core diameters

Multimode fibers come in a wide variety of core sizes between 7 µm and 3 mm, of which the most
usual are 50 µm, 62.5 µm, 100 µm and 200 µm. The industry standard for data communication is
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now 50/125 and 62.5/125 µm (core / cladding diameter) multimode using silica fiber with a slow
but steady growth of the single mode. Telecommunications uses exclusively single mode. Similarly,
the all-plastic fibers range from 0.25 mm to 3 mm of which 1 mm is the most common.

Single mode fibers are restricted to a size very close to 8 µm, so core size problems are not common
when connecting SM fiber but the very small sizes involved bring their own problems of tight-
tolerance engineering when trying to align such small cores together. If we connect a multimode
fiber with a large core to one with a smaller core, as shown in Figure 2.32, only some of the light
emitted by the larger core will enter the smaller core, due to the reduced area of overlap, and a
power loss will occur. If, however, the light traveled from the smaller core to the larger, the entire
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active core is overlapped and no losses will occur.

Fig.2.23. Loss due to unequal core sizes

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The size of the loss can be calculated using the formula:
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 2
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = −10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2.88)
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ℎ
Remember that this formula only applies when the diameter of the launch fiber is greater than that

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of the receiving fiber otherwise there are no losses.

Numerical apertures

A similar effect (with the one produce by the variation of the core size) can be encountered when
changing the numerical apertures. If the receiving fiber has a numerical aperture which is equal to,
or greater than the launch fiber, no losses will occur. The reasoning behind this is that the numerical
aperture determines the cone of acceptance.

Let us assume a typical fiber with a numerical aperture of 0.2, resulting in a cone of acceptance of

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11.5° is connected to a fiber with NA = 0.25, with a cone of acceptance of 14.5° (figure 2.24).
Using this direction of transmission, all of the ray angles would be accepted by the other fiber and
no losses would occur. If, however, we transmitted light in the other direction, the light rays with
angles between 11.5° and 14.5°, which are outside the cone of acceptance of the receiving fiber,
would not be accepted and would result in a loss.
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Fig.2.24. Loss in the numerical aperture

The loss in this case can be computed based on the following formula:
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 2
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = −10𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 � � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2.89)
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ℎ
Example: What loss would result from connecting a fiber with a core size of 62.5µm and NA of
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0.275 to a fiber of core size 50µm and NA of 0.2?

From the equation 2.88 and 2.89 we obtain a loss due to core size of 1.9 dB and a NA loss of
2.8 dB. The total loss will be: 1.9 + 2.8 = 4.7 dB.

Gap loss

As the ends of the fiber are separated, the light from the core spreads out because less light will
strike the core area of the receiving fiber and a loss will occur. The degree of loss is not severe, with
a value of less than 0.5 dB when the ends of the fiber are separated by a distance equal to a core

40
diameter. The loss is reduced even further by the use of index matching gel which is added in the
joint to make the fiber core appear continuous. Index matching gel has a refractive index similar to
the core of an optic fiber and is used to fill the gap between the fibers to make the light path appear
to be continuous.

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Alignment problems

1) The lateral misalignment is similar with the loss caused differences in core sizes. As the fibers
are moved the area of overlap between the two cores is reduced and hence less light transfer occurs
(figure 2.25 (a)). This alignment is quite critical, much more so than gap loss, because a
misalignment of one quarter of a core diameter will cause a loss of 1.5 dB. Thereafter the loss
increases rapidly in a non-linear manner.

2) Core alignment problems appear when the core is not positioned exactly in the center of the fiber

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(figure 2.25 (b)). When optic fibers are connected, they are normally aligned by reference to the
outside of the cladding. If the core is not placed centrally within the fiber the result will be
misalignment of the core, giving results similar to those caused by lateral misalignment.

3) Angular alignment causes the light from one core to progressively miss out the other (figure 2.25
(c)). With an air gap, angles of misalignment up to three or four degrees cause losses of less than 1
dB. At increased angles, the losses increase at faster rates in a non-linear fashion. The use of index
matching gel actually makes the situation worse as it prevents the spreading effect of the cone of
acceptance which would normally occur in an air gap.
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a. b. c.
Fig.2.25 Alignment problems:
(a). Lateral misalignment, (b). Core alignment, (c). Angular alignment

2.5.7. Optical fiber connectors

The connectors and adaptors allow the data to be re-routed and equipment to be connected to
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existing systems. Connectors are inherently very difficult to design due to the added requirement of
being able to be taken apart and replaced repeatedly. If two fibers are to be joined, each fiber has a
connector attached and each is then plugged into an adapter. An adapter is basically a tube into
which the two connectors are inserted. It holds them in alignment and the connectors are fixed onto
the adapter to provide mechanical support (figure 2.26).

The main connectors encountered in multimode installations are the ST, SC, LC and MT-RJ. Single
mode equipment is commonly fitted with the FC-PC, amongst others. Optical connectors are shown
in figures 2.27 – 2.31.

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 TM
a. b.
Fig.2.26. Optical adaptors: (a). Schematic representation, (b), Real products

Apart from the connector style itself, one must also consider whether it is the single mode or
multimode version. Outwardly they look identical but a single mode connector and its associated
adapter will be made to a tighter tolerance reflecting the very small core diameters of single mode
fibers and the need for absolute accuracy when connecting them. Multimode fibers would be very
happy in connectors designated as single mode, but putting single mode fibers into multimode

The straight tip (ST) connector

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connecting equipment would be inviting high losses.

The ST (figure 2.27) was the main choice of connector in the data communications world for many
years before being slowly replaced by the SC connector.
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a. b.
Fig 2.27. ST connector: (a). Schematic representation, (b). Real connector

The subscriber connector (SC)

This connector was designed for high performance telecommunication and cable television
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networks but is now the mainstay of data communications networks. It has low losses, small size
and rectangular shape. It plugs into the adapter with a very positive click action, telling us it’s
definitely engaged (figure 2.28).

The LC connector

The LC connector is one of the new generation of optical connectors that attempts to fit a duplex
(i.e. two fibers) into roughly the same space as taken up by a copper RJ45 data connector. The LC
connector looks very similar to a duplex SC connector but scaled down by about 50% (figure 2.29).
42
 TM
a. b.
Fig 2.28. SC connector: (a). Schematic representation, (b). Real connector

The MT-RJ connector

TS Fig 2.29. LC connector

The MT connector is based on the original NTT MT or mass termination ferrule (fier de metal)
specifically for ribbon (cablurile) fiber cables. The MT-RJ only accommodates two fibers but the
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rectangular ferrule it is based on could have had 4, 8, 12 or even 16 fibers terminated within it. Two
alignment pins sit at either end of the ferrule giving this connector, unusually for fiber connectors,
female and male versions, i.e. depending upon which ferrule gets the pins (figure 2.30).

a. b.
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Fig 2.30. MT-RJ connector: (a). Female version, (b). Male version

The fiber connect, physical contact connector (FC-PC connector)

The FC-PC is a high quality connector designed for long-haul single mode systems and has very
low losses. It can also be used for high quality multimode work if required and is often found on
test equipment. The ferrule can be steel or ceramic inset in steel and is spring loaded or floating.

43
 TM
a. b.
Fig 2.28. FC-PC connector: (a). Schematic representation, (b). Real connector

TS
RS
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