FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING

OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

LECTURER: ENG. ANDIMA MOSES.

YEAR 4

SEMESTER TWO

ASSIGNMENT ONE

NAME: TURYAHEBWA VICTOR

REG. NUMBER: BU/UG/2016/98

SIGNATURE: …………………
Question1

a) Acceptance angle and Numerical Aperture for an optical fiber cable.

Acceptance angle (θ a) is the maximum angle with the axis of the optical fiber at which the light
ray can enter into the optical fiber in order to be propagate through the fiber. The angle of
acceptance is twice that given by the numerical aperture.
Total Acceptance angle = 2 θa
Numerical Aperture refers to the light gathering capacity of the fiber as expressed in terms of
maximum acceptance angle. It gives a measure of the amount of light that can be accepted by a
fiber. Numerical Aperture = √ n21−n22
b) Numeral aperture (NA) of a single mode step index fiber.

Let the refractive indices of the core and cladding be n1 and n2 respectively where n1 >n 2.
The light ray reflects at an angle and strikes the core cladding interface at angle θ . If the angle θ
is greater than its critical angle θc , the light ray undergoes total internal reflection at the interface.
Applying Snell’s law at point A
n 0 sin α i=n1 sin α r
From the right-angled triangle ABC
0
α r +θ=90
0
α r=90 −θ
0
n 0 sin α i=n1 sin( 90 −θ)

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n 0 sin α i=n1 cos θ
From sin2 θ+cos 2 θ=1
2 1 /2
n 0 sin α i=n1 (1−sin θ)
When θ=θc , α i=α m=maximum α value
n2
sin θc =
n1
2 1 /2
n 0 sin α m=n 1 (1−sin θc )
2 2 1/ 2
n 0 sin α m=n 1 (n1−n 2)
1 /2
n 0 sin α m=n 1 [ ( n1+ n2 ) (n1 −n2)]
Given Relative refractive index Δ as:
(n 1−n2 )
∆=
n1
Then ∆ n1=( n1−n2 )
1/ 2
n 0 sin α m=n 1 [ ( n1+ n2 ) ∆ n1 ]
As n1 n2, then; we can take n1 +n 2=2 n1
1 /2
Then n 0 sin α m=n 1 [ ( 2 n1 ) ∆ n1 ]
2 1 /2
n 0 sin α m=n 1 [2 ∆ n 1]
n 0 sin α m=n 1 √ 2 ∆
NA =n0 sin α m =n1 √ 2 ∆
For n 0=1,
NA =sin α m =n1 √ 2 ∆
Therefore NA =n1 √ 2 ∆
c) Mean optical power launched into an 8km length of fiber is 120µW, the mean
optical power at the output as 3 µW.
(i) The overall signal attenuation
power output power input
Loss ( dB )=−10 log =10 log
power input power output

120
Loss ( dB )=10 log
3

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Loss ( dB )=16.02 dB

(ii) The signal attenuation per kilometer for the fiber.

powerinput
∝dB / Km L=10 log
power output
∝dB / Km L=16.02 d B
16.02
∝dB /km =
8
∝dB /km =2.002 dB/ Km
(iii) The overall signal attenuation for a 10km link with splices at 1km
intervals.
The link has nine splices (at 1 km intervals) each with an attenuation of 1 dB .
Therefore, the loss due to the splices is 9 ×1 dB=9 dB .
Hence, the overall signal attenuation for the link is:
Overall attenaution , L=∝dB / Km × Length of the link + Splice los s
L=2.002 ×10+ 9
L=29.00 d B
(iv)The input /output ratio in (iii) above.
power input
Loss ( dB )=10 log
power output
power input
29=10 log
power output
29
power input
=10 10
power output
power input
=794.33
power output

TURYAHEBWA VICTOR BU-UG-2016-98

Question 2

a) Requirements for an optical source.

 A size and configuration compatible with launching light into an optical fiber. Ideally, the
light output should be highly directional.
 Must accurately track the electrical input signal to minimize distortion and noise. Ideally,
the source should be linear.
 Should emit light at wavelengths where the fiber has low losses and low dispersion and
where the detectors are efficient.
 Preferably capable of simple signal modulation over a wide bandwidth extending from
audio frequencies to beyond the gigahertz range.
 Must couple sufficient optical power to overcome attenuation in the fiber plus additional
connector losses and leave adequate power to drive the detector.
 Should have a very narrow spectral bandwidth (linewidth) in order to minimize
dispersion in the fiber.
 Must be capable of maintaining a stable optical output which is largely unaffected by
changes in ambient conditions (e.g. temperature).
b) Technical requirements of a good photo detector, why is the photodiode preferred.
Technical requirements
 High sensitivity at the operating wavelengths. A good photo detector should achieve
good sensitivity to be able to detect all optical signals with in the operating band
spectrum of the transmitter.
 High fidelity. To reproduce the received signal waveform with fidelity, for analogy
transmission the response of the photodetector must be linear with regard to the optical
signal over a wide range.
Photodiode has an intrinsic (very lightly doped) semiconductor region sandwiched between a
p-doped and an n-doped region

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The photodiode is reverse-biased. Since the intrinsic (i) region has no free charges, its resistance
is high, so that most of the reverse-biased voltage is applied to this i region.
The i region is usually wide so that incoming photons have a greater probability of absorption in
the i region rather than in the p or n regions.
Since the electric field is high in the i region, any electron-hole pairs generated in this region are
immediately swept away by the field. This gives high sensitivity and large electrical response.
c) In the context of optical fiber communications
(i) Double Heterojunction.

A heterojunction is an interface between two adjoining single crystal semiconductors

with different bandgap.
The double heterojunction is made up by sandwiching a layer of a low bandgap
material with a layer on either side of high bandgap layers. This makes the two
heterojunctions.
The crosshatched regions represent the energy levels of free charge. The two
materials have different bandgap energies and different refractive indices. The
changes in bandgap energies create potential barrier for both holes and electrons. The
free charges can recombine only in narrow, well defined active layer side.
A double heterojunction (DH) structure will confine both hole and electrons to a
narrow active layer. Carrier recombination occurs in small active region so leading to
an efficient device and narrow the output beam.

TURYAHEBWA VICTOR BU-UG-2016-98

(ii) Rise time and fall time.
Rise time is the time the output signal takes to rise from 10% to 90% of the peak
value after the input is turned on instantaneously.

Fall time is the time the output signal takes to drop from 90% to 10% of the peak
value after the input is turned off abruptly.

(iii) Shot noise.

The term shot noise refers to the fluctuations in the stream of electrons majorly due to
random variations in the rate at which charge carriers are generated and recombine
with in a semiconductor device.
(iv)Dark current.
The dark current corresponds to the level of the output photocurrent when there is no
optical signal present. It includes photocurrent generated by background radiation and
the saturation current of the semiconductor junction. Dark current arises from surface
leakage currents as well as generation- recombination currents in the depletion region
in the absence of illumination.

TURYAHEBWA VICTOR BU-UG-2016-98

Question 3

a) Absorption and scattering

Absorption
Absorption loss results in dissipation of some optical power as heat in the fiber cable and is
related to the material composition and fabrication process of fiber. Absorption is caused by
three different mechanisms; Material absorption, Extrinsic absorption and Intrinsic
absorption.
 Material absorption; is a loss mechanism related to both the material composition
and the fabrication process for the fiber (atomic defects). The optical power is lost as
heat in the fiber.
 Extrinsic Absorption; occurs due to electronic transitions between the energy level
and because of charge transitions from one ion to another. A major source of
attenuation is from transition of metal impurity ions such as iron, chromium, cobalt
and copper. The effect of metallic impurities can be reduced by glass refining
techniques. Another major extrinsic loss is caused by absorption due to OH
(Hydroxyl) ions impurities dissolved in glass.
 Intrinsic Absorption; occurs when there is interaction with one or more of the
components of the glass (basic fiber-material properties) when material is in
absolutely pure state, no density variation and inhomogeneities. Intrinsic absorption
manifests in the UV region and infrared region. Intrinsic absorption in the ultraviolet
region is caused by electronic absorption bands. The main cause of intrinsic
absorption in the infrared region is the characteristic vibration frequency of atomic
bonds.
Scattering
Scattering is a process whereby all or some of the optical power in a mode is transferred into
another mode that does not propagate well (also called a leaky or radiation mode).

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 Scattering losses exists in optical fibers because of microscopic variations in the material
density and composition.

Scattering losses are grouped into linear and non-linear;

Linear scattering losses
Linear scattering mechanisms cause the transfer of some or all of the optical power contained
within one propagating mode to be transferred linearly into a different mode. This process tends
to result in attenuation of the transmitted light. Linear scattering may be categorized into two
major types: Rayleigh and Mie scattering.
Rayleigh scattering; results from random inhomogeneities that are small in size compared with
the wavelength. These inhomogeneities exist in the form of refractive index fluctuations which
are frozen into the amorphous glass fiber upon fiber pulling. There are two causes during the
manufacturing of fiber.
The first is due to slight fluctuation in mixing of ingredients. The random changes because of
this are impossible to eliminate completely. The other cause is slight change in density as the
silica cools and solidifies. When light ray strikes such zones, it gets scattered in all directions.
The amount of scatter depends on the size of the discontinuity compared with the wavelength of
the light so the shortest wavelength (highest frequency) suffers most scattering.
Mie scattering; Linear scattering may also occur at inhomogeneities which are comparable in
size with the guided wavelength. These result from the nonperfect cylindrical structure of the
wave-guide and may be caused by fiber imperfections such as irregularities in the core–cladding
interface, core–cladding refractive index differences along the fiber length, diameter fluctuations,
strains and bubbles. The inhomogeneities may be reduced by; removing imperfections due to the
glass manufacturing process, carefully controlled extrusion and coating of the fiber and
increasing the fiber guidance by increasing the relative refractive index difference.
Nonlinear scattering losses
Optical waveguides do not always behave as completely linear channels whose increase in
output optical power is directly proportional to the input optical power. Several nonlinear effects

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occur, which in the case of scattering cause disproportionate attenuation, usually at high optical
power levels. This nonlinear scattering causes the optical power from one mode to be transferred
in either the forward or backward direction to the same, or other modes, at a different frequency.
It depends critically upon the optical power density within the fiber and hence only becomes
significant above threshold power levels .
The most important types are;
 Stimulated Brillouin scattering; may be regarded as the modulation of light through
thermal molecular vibrations within the fiber. The scattered light appears as upper and
lower sidebands which are separated from the incident light by the modulation frequency.
The incident photon in this scattering process produces a phonon of acoustic frequency as
well as a scattered photon. This produces an optical frequency shift which varies with the
scattering angle because the frequency of the sound wave varies with acoustic wave-
length. The frequency shift is a maximum in the backward direction, reducing to zero in
the forward direction, making SBS a mainly backward process.
 Stimulated Raman scattering; is similar to SBS except that a high-frequency optical
phonon rather than an acoustic phonon is generated in the scattering process. Also, SRS
can occur in both the forward and backward directions in an optical fiber, and may have
an optical power threshold of up to three orders of magnitude higher than the Brillouin
threshold in a particular fiber.
b) Core layer of an optical fiber is made from silica with refractive index 1.45 and the
refractive index of the cladding layer is 1% less than of the core.
(i) cladding layer refractive index.
n2 =1.45−(0.01× 1.45)
n2 =1.4355

(ii) Critical angle.

−1 n2
θc =sin
n1
−1 1.4355
θc =sin
1.45
0
θc =81.89

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 (iii) Numerical aperture.
Numerical Aperture = √ n21−n22

Numerical Aperture = √ 1.452−1.44 2

Numerical Aperture = 0.2046

REFERENCES
1. Govind P. Agrawal, Fiber Optic Communications Systems, Third Edition, 2002.
2. John M. Senior, Optical Fiber Communications Principles and Practice, Third Edition,
2009.

TURYAHEBWA VICTOR BU-UG-2016-98