Course: BECE308L – Optical Fiber Communications

Dr V R Balaji
Assistant Professor – SENSE
Sigma Block,Room No.32
Email: photonicsdemux@gmail.com
Contact No:7667678242
Module:1 Optical Fiber: Structures, Waveguides 3 hours
Key elements of optical fiber system
Ray optics
Mode theory
Geometrical-Optics Description
Fiber Types - specialty fibers.
 Basic Fiber Optic Link
TRANSMITTER RECIEVER

LIGHT
DRIVER OPTICAL FIBER DETECTOR
SOURCE

MEDIUM FOR
CARRYING LIGHT

• Converts Electrical signal to light

• Driver modifies the information into
a suitable form for conversion into
light
• Source is LED or Laser diode
whose output is modulated.
• Detector accepts light, converts it back to
electrical signal.
• Detector is PIN diode or APD
• Elect. Signal is demodulated to separate out
the information
 Key Elements of Optical Fiber Systems

Transmitter: a light source and signal-formatting circuitry

A cable offering mechanical and environmental protection to the
optical fibers contained inside
A receiver consisting of a photodetector plus amplification and
signal-restoring circuitry
Other components: Optical amplifiers, connectors, splices,
Source:Gerd Kesier couplers, regenerators, and passive and active devices.
Major elements of an optical fiber link
Motivations
• Lifestyle changes from Internet growth and use
• Average phone call lasts 3 minutes
• Average Internet session is 20 minutes
• More and more bandwidth-hungry services are appearing
• Web searching, home shopping, high-definition interactive video,
remote education, telemedicine and e-health, high-resolution editing of
home videos, blogging, and large-scale high-capacity e-science and
Grid computing
• Increase in PC storage capacity and processing power
• 20G hard drives were fine around 2000; now standard is 160G
• Laptops ran at 300 MHz; now the speed is over 3 GHz
• There is an extremely large choice of remotely accessible programs and
information databases
Communication Channel Capacity

Communication Carrier Bandwidth 2 way Voice Channels

Medium Frequen
cy
Copper Cable 1 MHz 100 kHz < 2000

Coaxial Cable 100 MHz 10 MHz 13,000

Optical Fiber 100 –1000 40 THz >3,00,000 or

Cables THz 90,000 Video signals

 Repeater Spacing > 100 km  Data Rates > 10 Gbps

Source: Internet Sources
 Why Fiber Optic Technology?
During past 4-5 decades, remarkable and dramatic changes in
electronic communication industry.
 A phenomenal increase in voice, data and video communication
 demands for larger capacity, higher speed &
more economical communication systems.

 Lightwave Technology: A Technological route for achieving

this ever-increasing goal

 Most cost-effective way to move huge amounts of information (voice,

video, data) quickly and reliably.
Why Optical Transmission ?
Capacity ! Capacity ! and More Capacity !
 A technical
revolution in Communication Industry to explore for
large capacity, high quality & economical systems for
communication at Global level.
Radio-waves and Terrestrial Microwave systems have long
since reached their capacity
Satellite Communication Systems can provide, at best, only a
temporary relief to the ever-increasing demand.
 extremely high initial cost of launching
 The geometry of suitable orbits,
 available microwave frequency allocations and
 if needed repair is nearly impossible
Next option: OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS !
Optical Region
THz Range

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

 Potential of Optical Transmission?
Information carrying capacity of a communications system is
directly proportional to its bandwidth
Signal Carrier
Bandwidth
VHF Radio system; 100 MHz. 10 MHz
Microwave system; 10 GHz 1.0 GHz
Lightwave system; 1015 Hz or 106 GHz 105 GHz

System with light as carrier has excessive bandwidth (100,000

times than achieved with microwave frequencies)
Basics
• Communication
• Information carried by intensity (800 nm- 1675 nm)

800 nm- 1675 nm

λ=c/f
176 THz-375 THz
• It is a method of transmitting information from one place to another
by sending light through an optical fiber
• The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to
carry information
The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves the
following basic steps:
• Creating the optical signal using a transmitter
• Relaying the signal along the fiber, ensuring that the signal does
not become too distorted or weak
• Receiving the optical signal and converting it into an electrical
signal
Optical Windows
850 nm
1310 nm
1550 nm

All Wave Fiber

 Spectrum Band
Name Designation Spectrum

Original Band O 1260 nm-1360 nm

Extended Band E 1360 nm-1460 nm
Short Band S 1460 nm-1530 nm
Conventional Band C 1530 nm -1565 nm

Long Band L 1565 nm-1625 nm

Ultra Long band U 1625nm-1675 nm
Advantages
 Wide Bandwidth  order of Tbps
 Low Loss  0.015 dB/Km
 Free from EMI / RFI  No Crosstalk
 Bit Error Rate  10-12
 Heat resistance / No sparking  Hazardous envir.
 Tapping free  Secure
 Light weight Small size Less Power Satellites
 Abundant natural resource  Silica
 High reliability
 Interference free / Radiation free
 Disadvantages Areas of Application
X Expensive over short distance
Telecommunications
X Requires highly skilled installers Local Area Networks
X Adding additional nodes is difficult Cable TV

X Splicing fiber optic cable is also more difficult

CCTV
Optical Fiber Sensors
The Nature of Light
• Quantum Theory – Light consists of small particles (photons)

• Wave Theory – Light travels as a transverse electromagnetic

wave

• Ray Theory – Light travels along a straight line and obeys laws
of geometrical optics. Ray theory is valid when the objects are
much larger than the wavelength
Spherical and plane wave fronts and their
associated rays

Spherical waves are emitted from a single point source in a spherical

shape.
A plane wave is a constant-frequency wave whose wavefronts (surfaces of
constant phase ) are infinite parallel planes of constant
 Single fiber structure

Source:Gerd Keiser & Internet

Refractive Index
In free space a light wave travels at a speed of 3x108 m/s
Speed is related to frequency and wavelength by c=fλ
A fundamental optical parameter of a material is refractive index (or
index of refraction)
c Velocity of light in Vacuum
n
v Velocity of light in Medium
where ν is speed in the dielectric medium
• Typical values of n are
• 1.00 for air
• 1.33 for water
• 1.45 for silica glass
• 2.42 for diamond Source:Internet
Refraction and Reflection
Refraction and Reflection
• When a light ray encounters a boundary separating two
different media, a part of the ray is reflected back and the
remainder is bent (of refracted) as it enters the second material

• The bending or refraction is result of the difference in the

speed of light in two materials that have different refractive
indices

• At the interface, refractive indices are related by Snell’s law

n1sinΦ1= n2sinΦ2 or equivalently,
n1cosθ1= n2cosθ2
Snell’s Law
n1sinΦ1= n2sinΦ2 or equivalently,
n1cosθ1= n2cosθ2
n1=Index of refraction of first medium
Φ1= angle between the incident ray and normal to the
surface=Angle of incidence
n2=Index of Refraction of Second medium
Φ2= Angle of refraction

n1 Sin2 n2
= Sinc 
n 2 Sin1 n1
n1  n2
Representation of the Critical angle and TIR
at a Glass-Air interface.
Source:Internet
 Light ray in a perfect optical fiber

Angle of Reflection
Light is less than Critical Angle Angle of Incidence
is absorbed in Jacket Light is propagated by Total Internal Reflectio
Definition
Critical angle The minimum angle of incidence at which
a light ray ay strike the interface of two media and result
in an angle of refraction of 90° or greater
Total Internal Reflection Beyond some maxmium
incident angle the ray of light cannot pass through the
boundary of the two materials and the ray is completely
reflected
When the angle of incidence exceeds the maximum angle
or critical angle:TIR:Property:Fiber Optic Communication
to occur
Ray Optics (Meridional)
A meridional ray is a ray that passes through the axis
of an optical fiber.

Acceptance Angle:The maximum angle in which

external light rays may strike the air/glass interface
and still propagate down the fiber.

Numerical Aperature: Light collecting ability of the

Optical fiber
Ray Optics (Meridional)
 Con…
Apply snell's law
n o sinθ 0  n1 sinθ
From diagram
θ  / 2 
n o sinθ 0  n1 sin( / 2   ) Crticle angle
n2
n o sinθ 0  n1 1-sin 2
Sin c 
n1
2
 n2 
n o sinθ 0  n1 1-  
 n1 
n o sinθ 0  n12  n 2 2
 Con…
n o sin θ 0  n12  n 2 2
For air n o  1
sin θ 0  n12  n 2 2  NA
For acceptance angle:
sin θ 0  sin θ A  n12  n 2 2  NA
θ A  sin 1 ( NA)  sin 1 ( n12  n 2 2 ) Relative refractive Index:(Core cladding Index difference)
n1 -n 2
= n1  n1 -n 2
n1
sin θ 0  n12  n 2 2  NA
NA  sin θ 0  (n1  n2 )(n1  n2 )
n1  n2
NA  sin θ 0  n1 (2n1 )  n1 2
Ray Propagation

n1
 Ray Propagation
no

n2 << n1

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1
 Ray Propagation
n2 << n1
no

n1

Maximum
acceptance
angle
Optical Fibers
It is a dielectric waveguide

Normally cylindrical in shape

Confines EM energy at optical frequency in the

form of light within its surface and Guides light
parallel to its axis
Characteristics of Fiber
Transmission properties are said by:
Its structural characteristics which affects the propagation along the
fiber
Structure:
Establishes the capacity
Influence the response of the waveguide to environmental
perturbations

Most widely accepted structure is the single solid dielectric of radius ‘a’
and index of refraction:
core – n1
clad – n2
Structure of a typical optical fiber

Source:Internet & Gerd Keiser

Types of Optical Fibers
Advantages of Cladding
Reduces scattering loss (arise from dielectric discontinuities at the core surface)
Adds mechanical strength
Protects core from absorbing surface contaminants
Variations in material composition of the core give rise to two commonly used fiber
types:
Step index: RI of the core is uniform throughout
Single mode
Multimode
Graded index: RI of the core varies wrt radial distance
Single mode
Multimode
Advantage of Multimode fibers:
Larger core radii ease s power launch & connecting together of similar fibers,
LED can be used, IMD can be reduced by GI profile, so larger BW than SI
multimode
Source:Internet