ECEN 3413 | Advance Communication Systems

Topic 4: Signal Distortion on Optical Fibers

Instructor: Engr. Gerhard P. Tan

PUBLIC
For Public Use
Learning Outcomes
 Discuss the concept of
signal distortion
 Differentiate Optical
Losses
Topics:
1. Optical Losses
PUBLIC
For Public Use
Overview
One can then say that the distortion of the signal in optical
communication is due to differential delay of the signal riding
over different carriers within the spectral width of the carrier.
The signal pulse then goes on spreading as it travels along the
optical fiber.
Power loss in an optical fiber cable is probably the most
important characteristic of the cable. Power loss is often called
attenuation and results in a reduction in the power of the light
wave as it travels down the cable. Attenuation has several
adverse effects on performance, including reducing the
system’s bandwidth, information transmission rate, efficiency,
and overall system capacity.
 Optical Losses
The useful power available in the receiver depends on transmit power and link losses.
Mathematically, receive power is represented as:
𝑷𝒓 = 𝑷𝒕 − 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔
where: Pr = power received (dBm)
Pt = power transmitted (dBm)
losses = sum of all losses (dB)

𝑷𝒓 𝑷𝒐𝒖𝒕
𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒔 = =
𝑷𝒕 𝑷𝒊𝒏

For convenience, fiber optic loss is typically expressed in terms of decibels (dB) and can be
calculated using:
𝑷𝒐𝒖𝒕
𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈
𝑷𝒊𝒏
Oftentimes, loss in optical fiber is also expressed in terms of decibels per kilometer (dB/km)

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
Examples:

1. A fiber of 100-m length has Pin= 10 µW and Pout = 9 µW. Find the loss in dB/km.
Solution:
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑃𝑖𝑛
9 µ𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
= 10 log ( )
10 µ𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵 = −0.458 𝑑𝐵
Since 100 meters = 0.1 kilometer
−0.458 𝑑𝐵
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝐵 𝑘𝑚 =
0.1 𝑘𝑚
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝐵 𝑘𝑚 = −4.58 𝑑𝐵/𝑘𝑚
Note: The negative sign implies Loss.
PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
2. A communication system uses 10 km of fiber that has a 2.5-dB/km loss characteristic. Find the
output power if the input power is 400 mW.

Solution:
Using the relationship that 𝑦 = 10𝑥 , if x = log y: i. Loss (dB) = 10 km x (-2.5 dB/km)
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 Loss (dB) = -25dB
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 ii. 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑥 10 10
= 𝑙𝑜𝑔
10 𝑃𝑖𝑛 −25𝑑𝐵
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = (400𝑚𝑊) 𝑥 10 10
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
10 10 = 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 1.265 𝑚𝑊
𝑃𝑖𝑛
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑑𝐵
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑥 10 10

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
a. Absorption loss
Absorption losses in optical fibers is analogous to power dissipation in copper cables;
impurities in the fiber absorb the light and convert it to heat. The ultrapure glass used to
manufacture optical fibers is approximately 99.9999% pure. Still, absorption losses between 1
dB/km and 1000 dB/km are typical.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

Essentially, there are three factors that contribute to the absorption losses in optical fibers:
a.1 Ultraviolet Absorption
Ultraviolet absorption is caused by valence electrons in the silica material from which fibers
are manufactured. Light ionizes the valence electrons into conduction. The ionization is
equivalent to a loss in the total light field and, consequently, contributes to the transmission
losses of the fiber.

a.2 Infrared Absorption

Infrared absorption is a result of photons of light that are absorbed by the atoms of the glass
core molecules. The absorbed photons are converted to random mechanical vibrations
typical of heating.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
a.3 Ion Resonance Absorption
Ion resonance absorption is caused by OH- ions in the material. The source of the OH- ions is
water molecules that have been trapped in the glass during the manufacturing process. Iron,
copper, and chromium molecules also cause ion absorption.

The figure shows typical losses in optical fiber cables due

to ultraviolet, infrared, and ion resonance absorption.
PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
b. Material, or Rayleigh, Scattering Losses
During manufacturing, glass is drawn into long fibers of very small diameter. During this process, the
glass is in a plastic state (not liquid and not solid). The tension applied to the glass causes the cooling
glass to develop permanent submicroscopic irregularities. When light rays propagating down a fiber
strike one of these impurities, they are diffracted.

Diffraction causes the light to disperse or spread out in many directions. Some of the diffracted light
continues down the fiber, and some of it escapes through the cladding. The light rays that escape
represent a loss in light power. This is called Rayleigh scattering loss.

PUBLIC
For Public Use Rayleigh scattering loss as a function of wavelength
 Optical Losses
c. Chromatic, or Wavelength, Dispersion
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emit light containing many wavelengths. Each wavelength
within the composite light signal travels at a different velocity when propagating through
glass. Consequently, light rays that are simultaneously emitted from an LED and propagated
down an optical fiber do not arrive at the far end of the fiber at the same time, resulting in an
impairment called chromatic distortion (sometimes called wavelength dispersion).

Chromatic distortion can be eliminated by using a monochromatic light source such as an

injection laser diode (ILD). Chromatic distortion occurs only in fibers with a single mode of
transmission.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
d. Radiation Losses
Radiation losses are caused mainly by small bends and kinks in the fiber. Essentially, there are two
types of bends: microbends and constant-radius bends.

Microbending occurs as a result of differences in the thermal contraction rates between the core and
the cladding material. A microbend is a miniature bend or geometric imperfection along the axis of the
fiber and represents a discontinuity in the fiber where Rayleigh scattering can occur. Microbending
losses generally contribute less than 20% of the total attenuation in a fiber. Constant-radius bends are
caused by excessive pressure and tension and generally occur when fibers are bent during handling or
installation.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
e. Modal Dispersion
Modal dispersion (sometimes called pulse spreading) is caused by the difference in the
propagation times of light rays that take different paths down a fiber. Obviously, modal
dispersion can occur only in multimode fibers. It can be reduced considerably by using
graded index fibers and almost entirely eliminated by using single-mode step-index fibers.

Modal dispersion can cause a pulse of light energy to spread out in time as it propagates
down a fiber. If the pulse spreading is sufficiently severe, one pulse may interfere with
another. In multimode step-index fibers, a light ray propagating straight down the axis of the
fiber takes the least amount of time to travel the length of the fiber. A light ray that strikes the
core/cladding interface at the critical angle will undergo the largest number of internal
reflections and, consequently, take the longest time to travel the length of the cable.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

For multimode propagation, dispersion is often expressed as a bandwidth length product

(BLP) or bandwidth distance product (BDP). BLP indicates what signal frequencies can be
propagated through a given distance of fiber cable and is expressed mathematically as the
product of distance and bandwidth (sometimes called linewidth). Bandwidth length products are
often expressed in MHz-km units. As the length of an optical cable increases, the bandwidth (and
thus the bit rate) decreases in proportion.

Example:
For a 300-meter optical fiber cable with a BLP of 600 MHz-km, determine
the bandwidth.

Solution:
600𝑀𝐻𝑧−𝑘𝑚
B= = 2GHz
0.3 𝑘𝑚
PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
The pictures shows three light rays propagating down a multimode step-index optical fiber.

1. Light propagation down a 2. Light propagation down a

multimode step-index fiber single-mode step-index fiber

PUBLIC 3. Light propagation down a multimode graded-index fiber

For Public Use
 Optical Losses
This is called pulse spreading or pulse-width dispersion and causes errors in digital transmission.
It can also be seen that as light energy from one pulse falls back in time, it will interfere with the
next pulse, causing intersymbol interference.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

Unipolar return-to-zero (UPRZ) vs. Unipolar non return-to-zero (UPNRZ) digital transmission

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
The difference between the absolute delay times of the fastest and slowest rays of light
propagating down a fiber of unit length is called the pulse-spreading constant (Δt) and is
generally expressed in nanoseconds per kilometer (ns/km). The total pulse spread (ΔT) is then
equal to the pulse-spreading constant (Δt) times the total fiber length (L). Mathematically, ΔT is
∆𝑇 𝑛𝑠 = ∆𝑡( 𝑛𝑠 ) 𝑥 𝐿(𝑘𝑚)
𝑘𝑚

For UPRZ transmissions, the maximum data transmission rate in bits per second (bps) is
expressed as:
1
𝑓𝑏(𝑏𝑝𝑠) =
∆𝑡 𝑥 𝐿

and for UPNRZ transmissions, the maximum transmission rate is:

1
𝑓𝑏(𝑏𝑝𝑠) =
2 ∆𝑡 𝑥 𝐿
PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses

Example:
For an optical fiber 10 km long with a pulse-spreading constant of 5 ns/km, determine the
maximum digital transmission rates for:
a. Return-to-zero.
b. Non return-to-zero transmissions.
Solutions:
1 1
a. 𝑓𝑏(𝑏𝑝𝑠) = ∆𝑡 𝑥 𝐿
= 𝑛𝑠 = 20 𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
5 (𝑘𝑚) 𝑥 10𝑘𝑚

1 1
b. 𝑓𝑏(𝑏𝑝𝑠) = 2 ∆𝑡 𝑥 𝐿
=
2 𝑥 5 (𝑛𝑠/𝑘𝑚) 𝑥 10𝑘𝑚
= 10 𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠

Note: The results indicate that the digital transmission rate possible for this optical fiber is
twice as high (20 Mbps versus 10 Mbps) for UPRZ as for UPNRZ transmission.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
f. Coupling losses
Coupling losses are caused by imperfect physical connections. In fiber cables,
coupling losses can occur at any of the following three types of optical
junctions: light source-to-fiber connections, fiber-to-fiber connections, and
fiber-to-photodetector connections. Junction losses are most often caused by
one of the following alignment problems: lateral misalignment, gap
misalignment, angular misalignment, and imperfect surface finishes.

f.1 Lateral displacement

Lateral displacement (misalignment) and is the lateral or axial displacement
between two pieces of adjoining fiber cables. The amount of loss can be from
a couple tenths of a decibel to several decibels. This loss is generally
negligible if the fiber axes are aligned to within 5% of the smaller fiber’s
diameter.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
f.2 Gap displacement (misalignment)
Gap displacement (misalignment) is sometimes called end separation. When splices are
made in optical fibers, the fibers should actually touch. The farther apart the fibers, the
greater the loss of light. If two fibers are joined with a connector, the ends should not touch
because the two ends rubbing against each other in the connector could cause damage to
either or both fibers.

f.3 Angular displacement (misalignment)

Angular displacement (misalignment) is sometimes called angular displacement. If the
angular displacement is less than 2°, the loss will typically be less than 0.5 dB.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Optical Losses
f.4 Imperfect Surface Finish
The ends of the two adjoining fibers should be highly polished and fit together squarely. If
the fiber ends are less than 3° off from perpendicular, the losses will typically be less than
0.5 dB.

PUBLIC
For Public Use
 Thank You

PUBLIC
For Public Use