General Block diagram of Optical Fiber

Communication System

Source of Electrical
Optical Source
information Transmit

Optical fiber
Optical fiber cable ADM Amplifiers cable

Photodetector Electrical stage Destination

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 Advantages of Optical fiber
communication system
• High Bandwidth
• High degree of signal security
• Small size and less weight
• Optical fibers are insulators, so there is no electrical
hazards
• There is a small transmission loss in optical fibers cable
as compared to metallic cable
• No Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
• WDM/DWDM can be implemented to increase the
capacity(a very large number of signals of slightly
different wavelengths can be sent along the same fiber.
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 Disadvantages of Optical fiber
communication system
• Manufacturing cost of optical fiber is high
• Initial cost of installation is high
• Highly skilled manpower is required for the
installation and the maintenance of the
optical fiber communication system
How to connect fiber if it breaks?
• O/E/O conversion is complex

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 Introduction contd..
• How does light travel through the optical
fiber?

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History

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6
Introduction contd..

Fig: Step index optical fiber

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 Introduction contd..
• Optical fiber: hollow or compact??

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• Which portion of light spectrum is used for
optical fiber communication system?

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Transmission Windows

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 Classification of optical fibers
According to the mode of operation:
• Single mode
• Multimode
According to the refractive index profile:
• Stem index (SI) optical fiber
• Graded index (GI) optical fiber
According to the materials used:
• Glass optical fiber
• Plastic optical fiber
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 Optical fiber classification
• According to the mode of operation:
Multi mode
Single mode fiber

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Optical fiber classification contd….

Fig: Step index multimode optical fiber

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Optical fiber classification contd….

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Optical fiber classification contd….
• How do you differentiate between the
Multimode optical fiber (MMF) and Single
mode fiber(SMF)?
From color
Multimode fiber- Orange
Single mode fiber-Yellow

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Optical fiber classification contd….
 From structure
 Core and cladding approximate diameters:
• MMF: Common types for fiber-optic communications
are 50/125 μm and 62.5/125 μm fibers, having a core
diameter of 50 μm or 62.5 μm, respectively, and a
cladding diameter of 125 μm
• SMF: 9/125 μm fibers, having a core diameter of 9 μm
and a cladding diameter of 125 μm.

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Optical fiber classification contd….

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Optical fiber classification contd….
Based on the refractive index profile, optical
fibers are classified as:
• Step index optical fiber
• Graded index optical fiber

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Optical fiber classification contd….

Fig: Step index optical fiber

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Optical fiber classification contd….
• RI Profile of the step index optical fiber

where a is the radius of core and r is the radial distance

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Optical fiber classification contd….

Fig: Step index multimode optical fiber

Do all the modes reach at the receiver at the same time?

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Optical fiber classification contd….
• Drawback of SI fiber
• All the modes travel through the core with a
same speed (V = C/n, where n = R.I. of the
medium) but they have to cover the different
distance. So, all modes don’t reach to the
receiving side at the same time. Zero-order
mode(mode passing through the fiber axis)
reaches to the receiving side first.
• This phenomenon creates the dispersion in
optical fiber communication.
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 Dispersion

Input Pulse
Individual modes

Received Pulse (Pulse

Broadening)

This pulse broadening (pulse spreading) phenomenon is

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known as dispersion in optical fiber communication
 Dispersion contd…
• Width of the received pulse depends
on………………..

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 Dispersion contd…
• What are the effects of dispersion?

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 Dispersion contd…

Original Signal
Signal Strength

Signals Overlapped after travelling certain distance

Distance

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 Dispersion contd…
• What are the possible solutions for the modal
dispersion?

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 Dispersion and Optical fiber
classification contd….
• Graded Index (GI)optical fiber
• Ray propagation through Graded Index
(GI)optical fiber

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 n 1 2 −n 2 2 n 1 −n 2
Inside Core ∆= 2 ≈
= n2 In cladding(constant)
2n 1 n1
α is profile parameter, α = 2 for parabolic profile
a is the radius of core 29
TIR

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31
Derivation for Numerical aperture
contd..
• The angle of incidence
must lie within the
acceptance cone
otherwise the light ray
will escape from the
core cladding interface,
corresponding angle of
incidence is known as
acceptance angle.

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 Derivation for NA contd..
n1 Sin𝛳1 = n2 Sin𝛳2 (from Snell’s Law)
In this case, n2 =n1 and n1 = nair (Light enters to
core of the optical fiber from air medium)
nair Sin𝛳1 = n1 Sin𝛳2
п
From Figure, 𝛳2 = - 𝛳, So,
2

nair Sin𝛳1 = n1 Cosϴ

nair Sin𝛳1 = n1 1 − Sin2 ϴ
Now, if 𝛳1 =ϴmax (maximum acceptance angle),
then ϴ = ϴC
ϴmax = ?? 33
 Derivation for NA contd..
nair Sinϴ1 = n1 1 − Sin2 ϴ
Now, if ϴ1 =ϴmax (maximum acceptance angle),
then ϴ = ϴC
ϴmax = ??

nair Sinϴmax = n1 1 − Sin2 ϴc

n22
Sinϴmax = n2 1 −
n12

Sinϴmax = n1 2 − n2 2 = NA
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Numerical aperture contd..

Sinϴmax = n1 − n2 = NA
2 2

n 1 2 −n 2 2 n 1 −n 2
∆ = 2 ≈
2n 1 n1

NA = n1 2∆ (Expression for NA in terms of ∆)

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 Numerical examples
• A step-index fiber has a core index of
refraction of n1 = 1.425. The cut-off angle for
light entering the fiber from air is found to be
8.50o. (a) What is the numerical aperture of
the fiber? (b) What is the index of refraction
of the cladding of this fiber? (c) If the fiber
were submersed in water, what would be the
new numerical aperture and cut-off angle?

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 Numerical examples answers
• NA = n0 sin θ0max = (1.0003) sin (8.50o) = 0.148.
• n12 - n22 = NA2.
n22 = n12 - NA2 = (1.425)2 - (0.1479)2 = 2.0088
n2 = 1.417.
• sin θ0max = NA/n0
θ0max = sin-1(NA/n0) = sin-1(0.1479/1.33) =
sin-1(0.1112) = 6.38o.

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