Optical Fiber Transmission

Prof. dr hab. Jerzy Siuzdak

dr inż. Konrad Markowski
 History (old)

• Heliograph
• Aldis lamp
• Semaphore lines
• Bell photophone
 Heliograph 1/2
• Reflected sunshine is used for message
transmission
• First recorded: Ajgospotamoj battle 405 BC
(Sparta vs Ateny, Peloponese War)
• Spartans used sunlight reflected from
polished brass shields to summon their fleet
and won the battle
Heliograph (US Army 1898)
(photo: Wikipedia)
 Heliograph 2/2
• More contemporary heliograph versions used by
military (various armies) at the end of XIX and
beginning of XX century
• Two mirrors and shutter used for modulation (light
flashes according to a code, eg. Morse code)
• Range (USA): typical 50 km, maximum recorded
295 km (between mountains in Utah and Colorado
states)
• Observation with field glass
 Aldis lamp
• Night communication in navy
• Focused light source with a shutter
• Morse code for modulation
• Used from the end of XIX century (Royal
Navy) to the end of XX century
Aldis lamp 2/2
(photo: Wikipedia)
 Semaphore lines 1/2
• End of XVIII c. and beginning of XIX c
• Mostly France, but also other counties
• Line of view (a station should be visible
from preceding and following ones)
• Semaphore (Chappe brothers- France): a
rod (4 angles) + two arms (7 positions each)
= 196 symbols
• Code books
Station example
(photo:Wikipedia)
 Semaphore lines 2/2
• The first world communication network
(France)
• 556 stations
• Total length of 4800 km
• Transmission performance: Paris – Lille
line (230 km, 15 stations), delay of 9
minutes, message of 36 symbols-
transmission time 32 minutes
Photophone 1/2
(drawing: assistivelistening.net)
 Photophone 2/2
• Invented by Alexander Bell in 1880
• Transmitter: solar light is focused on a mirror that
oscillates according to the sound generated (light
flux modulation)
• Receiver: parabolic mirror with selenium element
at the focus
• The element resistance depends on its
illumination, which in turn causes the current
changes transferred to the headphones
• Range around 200 m
 History (modern) 1/4
• Around 1840 Colladon and Babinet proved that
light may be guided along water streams (n=1,33),
also in fountains
• 1854 and after, Tyndall – shows of guiding light
along a curved water stream leaking from a tank
• 1880, Wheeler- house illumination by means of
tubes with mirror inner surface and arc lamp
located in the basement
• 1888 Roth & Reuss, 1898 Smith, flexible silica
rods used and patented as medical illuminators
 Colladon show from 1842
• Arc lamp
• Total internal
reflection at the
border between
water and air
• Light guided along
the parabola and
dispersed in the
water
• Sparks at the
turbulence
• Dark in smooth
region
 History (modern) 2/4
• Third decade of the 20th century, ideas of image
transmission by means of a bundle of inside empty
tubes or transparent rods (Baird, Hansell)
• 1930, the first image transmission by means of a
bundle of optical fibers (Lamm- light bulb image)
• 1954, the rediscovery of image transmission
possibility by means of an optical fibres bundle
(van Heel, Hopkins)
• 1954, the first optical fibre with core and cladding
(van Heel)
 History (modern) 3/4
• 1956, the first flexible optical fiber gastroscope
patented
• 1960, the first laser (impulse)
• Around 1965, Kao (Nobel prize) and Hockham
indicated theoretically that optical fibers may be
used in telecommunications (high loss of
contemporary fibers was caused by undesirable
dopants and not by the glass itself)
 History (modern) 4/4
• 1970, Corning Glass – the first SiO2 optical fiber
(doped with titanium), α=17 dB/km @ 633 nm
• 1970, the first continous wave semiconductor laser
• 1972, Corning Glass- the first SiO2 optical fiber
(doped with germanium) α= 4 dB/km @ 850 nm
• 1977, the first optical fiber lines operated (USA,
MM fiber, a few km range, a few Mbit/s
throughputs)
Nature and fundamental
properties of light
 Light nature
• Short wavelength electromagnetic wave
• 0.38...0.74 μm- visible light
• Ultraviolet below (UV)
• Above up to about 1.7 μm- (close) infrared (IR)
used in optical fiber communications
• In some effects (eg. photodetection) more suitable
it is to describe light as a particles: photons
 EM plane wave
• Described by electrical E and magnetic H
fields intensities
• The simplest is the monochromatic TEM
plane wave (Transversal Electro- Magnetic,
with one frequency)
• Mathematical description: the real and
complex representations
 EM wave representations
Real

Complex
 EM wave
• ω – angular frequency; ω=2πf
• β – phase constant (wave number)
• β=2π/λ
• λ - wavelength
• TEM plane wave, propagating along z axis,
linearly polarized along x axis, not
attenuated
 Light polarization
• Defined by E vector behaviour at a given
point of space
• Random vector changes in time: light
(wave) is not polarized
• Regular changes: polarized light
• In between: light is partly polarized
 Polarization types
• Linear (horizontal, vertical, etc.)
• Circular (rotating to the left or right)
• Elliptical (rotating to the left or right)
 Other wave types
• The wave type is defined by a constant
phase surface (eg. plane)
• Other waves types:
-spherical
-divergent beam (eg. head lights in a car)
-Gaussian beam (light intensity of the beam
cross section has the Gaussian distribution)
 Monochromatic light
• Monochromatic light: with a single
frequency; spectrum - one line
• Example: laser light
• Opposite: wide spectrum
• Example: white light (sun light)
Light spectra
 Coherence 1/2
• Light is coherent when knowing the light
wave phase at a given point of space and
moment of time we are able to determine
the phase of this wave:
• At another space point at the same time
(space coherence)
• At the same space point at another time
moment (time coherence)
 Coherence 2/2
• Space coherence defines the interference ability of
light originating from two different points
• Time coherence defines the interference ability of
light that underwent different delays
• Interference is only for coherent light (field
amplitudes are added, therefore phase important)
• Incoherent light = no interferene (powers are
added)
 Time coherence
• Coherence time Δt: the maximum time difference,
when still there is interference
• Coherence length ΔL: the maximum paths
difference, when still there is interference

• The coherence time is reversely proportional to

the width of frequency spectrum Δf :
 Monochromatic and coherent
light
• They are not the same!
• Monochromatic  time coherent
• Coherent light need not be monochromatic
(eg. supercontinuum source)
 Important parameters 1/2
• Phase velocity v: speed of propagation of
constant phase surface in a given medium
• Refraction coefficient n:

• Non-magnetic, isotropic medium

-relative permittivity
 Important parameters 2/2
• Group velocity: speed of energy
(modulation envelope) propagation

• Group delay:
• Dispersive medium: velocities and delays
depend on the frequency (wavelength)
 Optical fibers
• Dielectric fiber or layer of (very) small
diameter/cross section guiding light with (usually)
minimum losses
• Types:
-optical fibers (most important, used for cabling)
-optical waveguides (integrated optics)
-photonic crystal fibers (discrete elements, but
potentially very low attenuation)
Fibers/waveguides cross sections
Main advantages of SiO2 optical
fibers
• Attenuation: <0,2 dB/km, against several
(tens) dB per 100 m (copper coaxial cable
within 1...2 GHz)
• Bandwidth and informational capacity:
througputs in excess of 100 Tbit/s over a
single fiber are possible
• Immune to crosstalk and EM interference
 Classification of optical fibers
• Material used: SiO2, polimers eg. Cytop, PMMA,
mixed
• Count of guided waves types (modes): single
mode, multimode
• Index of refraction profile: step index, graded
index (mostly for MM fibers)
• Diameter: 125 μm- SiO2 (human hair 20...180 μm)
including core 8-10 μm SM, 50 or 62.5 μm MM, 1
mm- polimer SI including core 0.98 mm
 Optical fiber cable
Gel-free loose-tube cable

(drawing from D. Coleman, The ribbon cable option for LANs and data centers,
Cabling Installation & Maintenance, March 2006)
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber: assumptions
• Cylindrical core surrounded by an infinite
cladding
• Materials are homogeneous, linear, isotropic, non
magnetic, lossless
• Step index (SI) refraction profile
• Small difference between core n1 and cladding n2
indices (n1> n2)
• Weak guiding approximation possible: (n1-n2)/n2
<<1
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber: crosssection
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 1/8
• Phase constant β of any wave propagating
in the fiber has to satisfy:

k=2/ - phase number in vacuum (-

wavelength in vacuum)
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 2/8
• The following parameters are defined:

v is the so called normalized frequency, a is

the core radius
 Outline of derivation 1/5
• Wave propagation is described by the so called
vector Helmholtz equation:

• It is equivalent to a set of 3 scalar equations for

the respective field components
• The coordinates are changes to cylindrical (polar)
and the equation is solved for one field component
 Outline of derivation 2/5

• Factorization – the solution sought is

assumed to be a product of 3 different
fuctions of single variables: R(r), Φ(φ), Z(z)
 Outline of derivation 3/5
• The scalar partial differential equation after
factorization turns to a set of 3 ordinary
differential equations:
 Outline of derivation 4/5
• Each of these equations has a single
variable (r, φ, z) and a function sought R(r),
Φ(φ), Z(z)
• The first two equations are linear and
simple to solve (exp and sin/cos functions)
 Outline of derivation 5/5
• The third equation has variable coefficients
and it is the so called Bessel equation,
whose solutions are special functions eg.
Bessel function
• Other field components are related to the
above solution in a simple way and
obtained from it
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 3/8
• It could be shown that field of any wave
propagating in the fiber may be expressed
with the Bessel function Jm in the core and
modified Hankel function Km in the
cladding (m- function order)
• Wave propagating in the fiber = mode
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 4/8
• Under weak guiding approximation the so
called linearly polarized (LP) modes are the
solutions
• LPmp, m order of the Bessel/Hankel
function, p- subsequent mode number
• z field component is negligible
(approximately TEM wave)
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 5/8
• Field intensity of an exemplary LP mode

r – radius vector, φ – angle (polar/

cylindrical coordinates), wave propagating
along z axis (+)
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 6/8
• Two orthogonal polarization states
• Two field distributions for m>0 (either cos
or sin in the formula)
• Single field distribution for m=0
• 4 modes LPmp for m>0
• 2 modes LP0p
 Four LP11modes
(Source: W. van Etten, J. van der Plaats, Fundamentals of Optical Fiber
Communications)
 Exemplary mode field
distributions
(Source: katalog Sistar Optics Inc.)
• LP01 ... LP12 modes
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 7/8
• For now the values of u and w parameters in the
fields expressions are not known because β is not
known
• All fields components must be continous at the
core-cladding border (r=a)
• Continuity leads to the relation between u and w
• This relation is called characteristic equation
Light propagation in a cylindrical
fiber 8/8
• The characteristic equation for LP modes:

• Together with the relation u2 + w2 = v2 both

equation make it possible to determine u
and w for a given v
• Only numerical solutions
 Solution of the characteristic
equation
• For m=0 there is always at least one solution (pair
of u and w values)
• For m>0 there may be no solutions
• For a fixed m the number of solutions increase
when the normalized frequency increases
• Subsequent solutions are denoted with p index
• Each single solution corresponds to a single LPmp
mode
 Solution of the characteristic
equation- conclusions 1/3
• LP01 mode may always propagate in the
fiber (the so called fundamental mode)
• All other modes may propagate only if the
normalized frequency exceeds a certain
value (separately defined for each mode)
• These values are the so called cut-off
frequencies
 Solution of the characteristic
equation- conclusions 2/3
• Normalized cut-off frequencies for initial
modes
Mode LP01 LP11 LP02 LP21 LP31 LP12 LP41 LP03 LP22

Vcut-off 0 2.405 3.83 3.83 5.14 5.52 6.4 7.01 7.01

 Solution of the characteristic
equation- conclusions 3/3
• Below v=2.405 only one mode may
propagate in the optical fiber
• Optical fiber so designed is called Single
Mode (SM) (for a given λ)
• Small v requires narrow core (8...10 μm)
and small difference between core and
cladding indices
 Cut-off wavelength
• Parameter defined for a the SM optical fiber
• For wavelengths above cut-off the fiber is single
mode
• For wavelengths below cut-off the fiber is no
longer SM (the first to propagate is LP11 mode)
• For a step index fiber the cut-off wavelength
corresponds to v=2.405
• Different v for profiles other than SI
• For standard SM fibers cut-off wavelength is
around 1260 nm
 Mode Field Diameter MFD
• Field distribution of LPmp mode depends on its
order (indices mp) and on the normalized
frequency v
• MFD- Mode Field Diameter is the SM fiber
parameter defining approximate fundamental
mode dimensions
• MFD depends on v (λ):

• MFD is used to determine losses when fibers are

connected/spliced as well as light source coupling
efficiency
 Fundamental mode power
density as a function of r and v
(Source: W. van Etten, J. van der Plaats, Fundamentals of Optical Fiber
Communications)
 Multimode optical fibers
• Large core diameter (eg. 50 μm or 62.5 μm
or even 0.98 mm)
• Greater difference between core and
cladding indices
• Hundreds and thousands of modes may
propagate
• Modal description is precise, but
impractical as there are so many of them
 MM fibers analysis
• Possible solutions:
- ray optics (imprecise)
- WKB method (Wentzel, Kramer, Brillouin)
- employment of mode groups
 Mode groups
• Each LPmp mode belongs to a mode group with
index k=2p+m-1
• For regular index profiles modes within a group
have similar transmission parameters (phase
constant, attenuation, delay etc.)
• Then the mode groups are analyzed, which are
fewer than modes (typically ten to a few of tens in
MM SiO2 fibers)
 Mode groups- example
• LP01- first group
• LP11- second group
• LP02 i LP21- third group (similar cut-off
v=3.83)
• LP31 i LP12- fourth group (v=5.14 i 5.52)
• Mode group description is approximate and
is reasonable only for a large mode count
 Number of modes
• Approximate number of modes guided in
the fiber is

• g defines the core index profile (g=1 for

triangle, g=2 for parabolic, for step
profile)
 Multimode fibers
• Index of refraction profile

• Δ- relative difference between core and

cladding profiles
 Numerical aperture NA
• Definition for SI fiber

• Approximately determines the so called

acceptation angle (maximum angle of incidence of
light at the fiber front to be yet guided within the
core)
• Max NA for GI MM SiO2 fibers: 0.2; 0.275
• NA of SI PMMA 1 mm fiber: 0.49
 Multimode fibers
• Approximate number of guided mode groups kc

• Coupling properties of MM fiber (connector/

splices losses, source coupling efficiency etc.) are
determined by: core diameter D, profile parameter
g and numerical aperture NA
 Propagation constant
• Solution of the propagation equation has the
form:
• Ex,y (r,φ)- the transversal field distribution
• γ- propagation constant:
• α- unit attenuation (determines the fiber
loss)
• β- phase constant (determines possible
dispersion distortions)
 Fiber attenuation: factors
• Rayleigh scattering
• Infrared (IR) absorption
• (Unwanted) dopant absorption
• Ultraviolet (UV) absorption
• Microbends
• Macrobends
 Rayleigh scattering
• Absorption on inhomogenities of the
medium with sizes less than λ
• Depends on dopant concentration
• Loss related to the Rayleigh scattering (λ in
μm, A=0.7...1 dB·μm4/km)

• Limits the transmission for shorter

wavelengths (eg. visible light)
 IR absorption
• Thermal oscillations of SiO2 particle
• Resonance near 9 μm (the light is
completely absorbed - maximum loss-
medium is completely opaque)
• Residual attenuation (tail of resonance
curve) above 1.7 μm
• Limits transmission for longer wavelengths
 Absorption on impurities
• Once: metal ions
• Now: mostly water (ions OH- and H+)
• Ion thermal oscillations
• Highest attenuation at 1.38 μm (2nd
harmonic of OH- oscillations)
• Also at 0.95 μm i 1.23 μm
• Solution: the so called dry fiber
 UV absorption
• λ ~ 0.2...0.3 μm
• Impacts of high energy photons transfer
electrons to the conduction band
• Obliterated by Rayleigh scattering
• Negligible for useful wavelengths
 Microbends
• Microbend: abrupt local bend causing local
change of fiber geometry and index profile
• Usual cause: faulty primary coating
• Part of energy is radiated to the cladding
• Loss increases with λ, due to higher depth of light
penetration into cladding
• High order modes are more attenuated
 Remaining factors
• Macrobends: the same mechanism as for
microbends
• Macrobends: another reason – the entire
fiber bending when installing cable
• Core irregularities (diameter changes, core
ellipticity): nowadays less important
α(λ) as a function of wavelength
(source: www.fiber-optics.info)
 Transmission windows
• History related to the evolution/improvement of
fibers, light sources, and photodetectors
• Windows widths > 100 nm
• 3 windows around: 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1550 nm
wavelengths
• In contemporary fibers 1st window and 2nd
window merge; in „dry” fiber practically there are
no windows
 Transmission bands
O (original) 1260-1360 nm
E (extended) 1360-1460 nm
S (short wavelength) 1460-1530 nm
C (conventional) 1530-1565 nm
L (long wavelength) 1565-1625 nm
U (ultra long wavelength) 1625-1675 nm
1st window (for MM 770-910 nm
fibers)
 Plastic optical fibers POF
• So far we discussed SiO2 fibers
• PMMA loss is 10...20 dB/100m
• The least loss for visible green and red light
• CYTOP attenuation around 10 dB/km
• The least attenuation for near IR
 POF fiber attenuation
(source: Y. Koike, M. Asai, The future of plastic optical fiber, 2009
 Chromatic dispersion 1/6
• No distortions only when propagation
constant β is a linear function of ω
• This condition is not satisfied in the fiber
• Thus the impulse shape is distorted
(dispersion distortions)
• Most often the impulse is spread (its length
is greater)
Phase constants of initial modes
against v
 Chromatic dispersion 2/6
• Group delay/velocity depends on frequency
(wavelength)
• Non-zero width of light source line
• Each spectral component travels with
(slightly) different velocity
• At the fiber end the impulse is spread in
time
 Chromatic dispersion 3/6
• Delay of a spectral component in the fiber

• Expanding the above into the Taylor series and

retaining only two first terms

• Δt-time spread of the impulse caused by

dispersion; Δλ linewidth of the light source
 Chromatic dispersion 4/6
• Dispersion coefficient D

• Dispersion slope B

• Values of D and B depend on the index

profile and material properties
 Chromatic dispersion 5/6
• Introducing D and B we have

• Valid for very short input impulses (much shorter

than the spread itself)
• Δt and Δλ are rms values
• Modulation influence on the linewidth is not
included
• Precise only for Gaussian impulses/spectra
• For all others approximation only
 Chromatic dispersion 6/6
• May be divided into:
-material dispersion
-waveguide dispersion
• Material dispersion:
-index of refraction of the medium (eg.
SiO2) depends on λ
-present also in bulk (unlimited) medium
Material dispersion: indices of
refraction as a function of λ
 Waveguide dispersion 1/2
• Present only in the fiber
• Also in the absence of material dispersion
• Cause: the portions of mode power that are
in core and cladding vary when λ changes
 Waveguide dispersion 2/2
• Formula true also for MM fibers
• For large λ (small v) the field deeply
penetrates cladding: effective n close to n 2
(cladding index)
• When frequency increases (λ reduction) the
firld concentrates in core: effective n close
to n1 (core index)
 Waveguide dispersion: β and
mode field distribution against v
 Chromatic dispersion:
conclusions
• Dispersion coefficient D determines the
fiber properties
• Material and waveguide dispersions may
(partly) compensate each other
• Selecting appropriate core diameter and
index profile (waveguide dispersion)
together with dopants one may control the
value of D
D(λ) for various SM fibers
Index profiles for various types
of SM fibers
 Normalized types of SM fibers
• Standard G.652
• DSF (dispersion shifted) G.653
• Cut-off shifted G.654
• NZDSF (non-zero dispersion shifted) G.655
• Wideband with non-zero dispersion (dry fiber)
G.656
• Bending insensitive G.657
• DFF (dispersion flattened) obsolete
• DCF (dispersion compensating)
 Polarization dispersion 1/3
• In SM fiber two orthogonally polarized LP01
modes may propagate (principal modes/states of
polarization)
• They propagation velocities are generally different
• The difference between delays of slow and fast
principal mode: Δτ
• Δτ fluctuates in time due to the instability of
principal modes polarizations and variable
coupling between them
• The mean value of Δτ: DGD (differential group
delay)
 Polarization dispersion 2/3
• Parameter Δτ is random and may be described by
Maxwell probability density function

• The probability that a given value of Δτ will be

exceeded is always non-zero eg. (7,4·10-9 for
Δτ>4DGD)
• DGD is a function of fiber parameters:
Maxwell pdf
(from G.691)
 Polarization dispersion 3/3
• Δτ changes cause random impulse spreading that
vary in time
• Polarization dispersion is important for 10 Gbit/s
and faster systems
• Often there is given a value, ΔτMAX, a system
tolerates it with sensitivity penalty <1 dB (eg. 30
ps for 10 Gbit/s)
• If DGD = 0,1·Tbit, then the probability that
sensitivity penalty is > 1dB = 4,2·10-5
 (Inter)modal dispersion 1/2
• In MM fibers only
• Each mode group travels with slightly
different group velocity
• When light source is coupled to the fiber
many mode groups are usually excited
• Thus the impulse spread at the output –
(inter)modal dispersion
 (Inter)modal dispersion 2/2
• Delay differences between mode groups
depend mostly on the profile parameter g
• The smallest differences are for g close to 2
(near parabolic profile), therefore such a GI
fiber has the greatest bandwidth
• The greatest are for step index profile
therefore SI fiber has the smallest
bandwidth
Group delays dependence on g
parameter (SiO2, D=50 μm)
 Modal bandwidth Bmod 1/2
• Bandwidth of 1 km long MM fiber determined by
(inter)modal dispersion
• Strictly defined fiber excitation (light source
coupling)
• For other fiber lengths L (km) the bandwidth B(L)
is:
• 0.5<η<1 and depends on mode group mixing;
• η=1 no mixing (GI SiO2fibers)
• η=0.5 strong mixing (POF, hybrid fibers)
 Modal bandwidth Bmod 2/2
• SI PMMA fibers: modal bandwidth of a few
tens of MHz per 100 m
• GI SiO2fibers: modal bandwidth of 200...
500 MHz (per 1 km)
• Novel GI MM fiber types (OM3, OM4)
meant for laser sources; modal bandwidth
of a few GHz (per 1 km)
 Parameters relation
• Impulse width Δt and bandwidth B (exact
for Gaussian impulses):

• Total impulse width at the output

 Nonlinear effects- causes
• SM fibers are concerned
• Small core- high power densities
• Effective core area: a few tens up to a
hundred μm2
• Power densities around 100 MW/m2 and
more
• Long interaction distances: tens of
kilometers
 Types of nonlinear effects
• Stimulated scattering: Raman and Brillouin
• Caused by the Kerr effect:
- four wave mixing FWM
- self and cross phase modulation SPM,
XPM

• n2 – nonlinear refraction index (3.2·10-20

m2/W)
 Stimulated Raman Scattering
(SRS) 1/3
• Photon absorption
• Its energy is combined with energy of mechanical
oscillation of SiO2
• Another photon is emitted usually with a smaller
frequency
• For a single channel system SRS to occur requires
rather prohibitively high optical power (~1 W) and
may be neglected
• Most important when signals with various
wavelengths propagate in the fiber
 Stimulated Raman Scattering
(SRS) 2/3
• The longer wavelength signal power increases at
the expense of shorter wavelength signal power
(optical pumping)
• The waves may propagate in the same or opposite
directions
• For multiple wavelengths system the SRS
elimination requires

• This limits the power to +20 dBm

Raman gain coefficient
 Stimulated Raman Scattering
(SRS) 3/3
• Maximum Raman gain is for 12 THz frequency
difference  100 nm in 3rd window
• Interaction along many kilometers
• Used in the so called Raman amplifiers
• Distributed amplifiers (gain obtained in standard
telco fiber) and lumped amplifiers (special fiber)
• Advantage: one may amplify a signal with any λ,
given a suitable high power laser
 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
(SBS) 1/2
• Back scattering of lightwave
• Scattered wave has a greater wavelength
• The frequency difference between incident
and scattered waves is 11.1 GHz
• Very narrow amplification bandwidth
around 20 MHz
 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
(SBS) 2/2
• Low nonlinearity threshold of 6...10 mW
• Important also in single channel systems
• In multiple channel systems each channel
(wavelength) is treated separately
• Combat method – spreading of spectral
line:
- direct modulation
- dithering (shallow laser current
modulation)
 Four Wave Mixing (FWM) 1/3
• Cause: n nonlinearity
• Similar to intermodulation distortions in
radio transmission
• Waves with frequencies f1 and f2 generate
mixing products with frequencies:
2f1-f2 i 2f2-f1
• Number of products L is (N number of
waves):
Four Wave Mixing (FWM) 2/3
 Four Wave Mixing (FWM) 3/3
• Effective process if mixing waves phases
are consistent at long distances
• Mixing efficiency increases when:
-D0
- frequency difference between primary
waves  0
- powers of primary waves increase
Loss of FWM efficiency
Self phase modulation (SPM) 1/2
• Due to n nonlinearity (n2term) wave phase
Φ depends on the light intensity I (L -
distance)

• Light intensity changes cause change of

light impulses frequency
Self phase modulation (SPM) 2/2
• For the impulse leading edge (front) its frequency
decreases
• For the trailing edge – its frequency decreases
• Impulse frequency is modulated = chirp
• Chirp interacts with chromatic dispersion
• D<0 (normal dispersion) SPM increases impulse
spread
• D>0 (anomalous dispersion) SPM decreases
impulse spread (dispersion compensation becomes
more difficult)
 SPM- solitons
• One can adjust impulse shape, its power, and time
duration so that SPM compensates impulse
spreading caused by dispersion
• Such impulses are called solitons
• They propagate in the fiber (D>0) without shape
change (spreading)
• Hyperbolic secant shape (similar to Gaussian
curve)
 Solitons – not practical 1/2
• Good solution when there is no loss
• Fiber attenuation  soliton power
decrease SPM reduction  impulse
spread (SPM does not fully compensate
dispersion)
• One should use optical amplifiers
 Solitons – not practical 2/2
• Amplifier noise causes random impulse phase
modulation
• These fluctuations induce frequency fluctuations
• At the receiver this causes solitons jitter (Gordon-
Haus effect) due to non-zero total dispersion
• Solution: the so called managed dispersion
solitons
• Nobody really wants to design and work with
nonlinear systems!
Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)
1/5
(Photo: SPIE)
 Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)
2/5
• Photonic Crystal Fiber) with solid core
• In the middle, greater refraction index- core
• Outside, smaller effective index because of many
holes- cladding
• Similarly to SI fiber light propagation may be
explained as based on the total internal reflection
 Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)
3/5
• PCF with hollow core
• The core index is less than effective index
of cladding
• The situation is reverse of that in typical
telcom fibers
• Different principle of light propagation
 Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)
4/5
• In certain dielectric 2D periodic structures
optical waves with some wavelengths can
not propagate (optical band gap)
• Such structure reflects light
• If such a structure surrounds a hollow core
the light remains in the core despite the fact
that its refraction index is smaller
 Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF)
5/5
• Attenuation of PCF with a solid core similar to
that of conventional fiber(< 0.2 dB/km)
• Attenuation of PCF with a hollow core is a few
dB/km (potentially much less because the light
propagates in air/vacuum)
• Manufacturing costs are very high so at least for
now they are not going to replace standard telcom
fibers
• Used in some discrete optical elements
 PCF advantages
• Any NA are readily obtained (up to 0.9- SiO2/air)
• Single mode operation over a wide wavelength
range (eg. 0.2...3 μm)
• Wide range of possible efective areas (a few... a
few hundred μm2)
• Either PCF is very linear (for great effective
areas), or it is highly nonlinear (for small effective
areas)
• One may shape dispersion characteristic
 Telcom applications of PCF
• Dispersion compensation (including
dispersion slope)
• Nonlinear impulse compression
• Wavelength conversion (based on FWM)
• Supercontinuum sources (PCF nonlinearity
employed)
 Light sources
• Why not electric bulbs?
• Used light sources:
Light Emitting Diodes
Semiconductor lasers:
- Multiple Longitudinal Modes (MLM)
- Single Longitudinal Mode (SLM)
 LED
• Forward polarized p-n junction
• Electron-hole pairs recombination in the junction
• Radiative recombination: a photon is generated
whose energy equals that of energy gap

• Emitted light wavelength depends on Ep, therefore

on LED material
• Different λs require different materials
 Surface LED
• Surface LED- emision perpendicular to
junction
• Large area and angle of emission
• Light coupling to fiber is difficult
• Low modulation bandwidth, typicaly from a
few to a few tens of MHz
• Used solely with MM fibers
Surface LED
(Burrus type)
source: www.tf.uni-kiel.de
 Edge emitting LED
• Emission paralel to junction
• Much smaller beam divergence over one
dimension
• Much smaller emission area
• Coupling to the fiber (including SM) easier
• Higher modulation bandwidth (up to a few
hundred MHz, RC-LED)
Edge emitting LED
source: www.tf.uni-kiel.de
 LED parameters
• Typical total power a few ... several mW;
much less in the fiber
• Nonlinearity of the optical power- forward
current characteristic
• Incoherent light
• Spectral linewidth typically a few tens of
nm
LED and semiconductor laser:
optical power against current
 Semiconductor laser 1/2
• Emits coherent light
• Light generator = gain + (selective)
feedback
• Light amplification in the active area:
- Flow of a high density current through
highly doped p-n junction
- population inversion stimulated
emission when a threshold current is
exceeded
 Semiconductor laser 2/2
• The simplest feedback: reflection at the
structure ends Fabry-Perot laser

• Positive feedback: on the double of

resonator length, there should be integer
number of wavelengths
 MLM laser
• Positive feedback for various m
• Each m corresponds to different
longitudinal mode (another wavelength)
• MLM laser
• The laser spectrum is a result of both the
active area gain and feedback
• Laser mode versus fiber mode
MLM laser spectrum
 SLM laser
• Selective feedback for a single wavelength
• DFB (Distributed FeedBack) laser (periodic
changes of index of refraction)
• DBR (Distributed Bragg Reflector) laser (selective
Bragg gratings replace mirrors at the structure
ends)
• VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser)
very short resonant cavity- positive feedback only
for one wavewlength
DFB and DBR lasers
 Distributed reflection: Bragg
grating 1/2
• Peridic changes of refraction index along wave
propagation direction, eg.

• Light is slightly reflected at each change

• The back propagating wave is created only when
the waves reflected from every index change sum
up in phase
 Distributed reflection: Bragg
grating 2/2
• In the opposite case all reflected waves have
various phases and they extinct one another- the
grating does not reflect light and the entire wave
travels undisturbed
• The (first order) reflection occurs when the grating
period: Λ=λB/(2n),
λB –reflected wavelength,
n – index of refraction of the medium.
• Application: DFB and DBR lasers, in-fiber
gratings, wavelength (de)multiplexers
 Semiconductor lasers: summary

• Emit coherent polarized light

• Emited wavelength λ depends on the material
(active area gain depends on λ)
• Narrow linewidth: MLM a few nanometers, SLM
much less than 1 nm
• Characteristic P(I) curve with threshold current
• Huge modulation bandwidth up to tens of GHz
• Much easier coupling to a fiber (small emission
erea, narrow beam, typical power  1 mW in the
fiber)
 Photodetectors 1/3
• The simplest: p-n junction biased in reverse
• Photon energy > Energy band gap

• Photon absorption  electron-hole pair

generation  current flow

• R- photodetector responsivity [A/W]

 Photodetectors 2/3
• Quantum efficiency

• Relation between R and η

 Photodetectors 3/3
• Ras a function of λ:
-initial increase with λ
-abrupt decrease when photon energy becomes
less than the energy band gap
• Different materials for different λ: Si for λ<1 μm
(Rmax~0.5 A/W), for longer wavelengths Ge and
composite materilas eg. InGaAs (Rmax~1 A/W)
 Photodetector types 1/3
• p-n photodiode

• p-i-n photodiode

• avalanche photodiode
 Photodetector types 2/3
• p-n diode deficiency: carriers are also
generated outside the junction, and they
move due to diffusion (slow process)
• p-i-n diode: intrisic semiconductor layer is
added, which increases the region where
light is absorbed (important for large λ),
very fast because the carrier movement is
caused by drift (fast process)
 Photodetector types 3/3
• Avalanche photodiode (APD):
-high field intensity
-additional region, where avalanche carrier
multiplication takes place
• Avalanche multiplication factor:
 APD
• Advantage: higher sensitivity
• Disadvantages:
-M depends on voltage and temperature
-very high bias voltages
-special power supplies necessary
-bandwidth B depends on M: M·B=const
(the greater the multiplication factor the less
the bandwidth)
M dependence on reverse voltage
for APD
 Simplest optical fiber
transmission system

• Point to point system

• Transmitter
• Optical fiber (cable)
• Receiver
• Connectors: transmitter/fiber, receiver/fiber
 Transmitter 1/2
• Light source, whose forward current is
modulated (typically on/off for digital
transmission)
• Laser or LED
• Current, I, modulation is transferred to
power, P, modulation
• P(I)  k·I (LED)
• P(I) = k·(I-ITH) (laser)
 Transmitter 2/2
• IC modulator is typical (especially for digital
transmission): few extra elements are needed
• Usually the mean optical power is monitored and
adjusted/stabilized (monitoring photodiode
coupled to the other facet of the laser, no such
thing in LED)
• Sometimes the extinction ratio is stabilized
• Electrical surges prevention
Example of IC transmitter
 Light coupling to the fiber
• In one package:
-light source,
-optical coupling device (difficult to build,
only part of light power is inserted into the
fiber core)
-optical fiber
• Outside: electrical pins, and optical
connector or pigtail only
 Laser package
source: http://ldselection.com
 Connector 1/2
(drawing based on R. Rao, A comparison of connectors for
telecommunications, Lightwave, June 1991)
 Connector 2/2
• All connector of PC (physical contact) type:
physical contact of the fiber core front ends
(avoiding Fresnel reflection)
• Insertion loss <0.5 dB
• Very high precision is necessary:
excentricity for SM < 1 μm
• Different variants depending on the
reflectance level: SPC, UPC, APC
• Reflectance=10 log10(PREFL/PIN) [dB]
 Optical fiber
• Via a connector light is launched into the
fiber
• Long sections of the fiber (cable) are
spliced with one another
• Via receiving connector light is brought to a
photodetector (here the coupling is easier)
 Splices 1/2
(drawing from: W. van Etten, J. van der Plaats, Fundamentals of Optical Fiber
Communications, Prentice Hall 1991)
 Splices 2/2
• Insertion loss < 0.1 dB
• Reflectance <-60 dB
• These parameters are worse when MFDs
differ in spliced fibers or the fibers are not
properly aligned
• Permanent connections
 Receiver 1/2
• Photodetector connected to the initial stage
• Two types of initial stages:
• High impedance: more sensitive (few dBs) but
requires frequency characteristic equalization in
next stages
• Transimpedance: negative feedback widens the
bandwidth, equalization is not necessary, worse
sensitivity
 Initial stages

In both cases the photodiode load resistance is Ro

 Receiver 2/2
• Photocurrent IF = R·P = R·k·I (LED)
• IF=R·k·(I-ITH) (laser)
• Photocurrent in the receiver is proportional
to modulating current at the transmitter
• Is the system linear?
• Transmitter: :
• Receiver:
 Receiver noise: thermal noise
• White noise; source- load resistance and
preamplifier
• Cause: random thermal movement of
electrons
• Mean square current referred to the input:
 Receiver noise: shot noise
• White noise; source- photodiode
• Cause: discrete character of the
photodetection process
• Mean square current referred to the input:
 Receiver noise: avalanche
multiplication noise
• Only for avalanche photodiodes
• White noise
• Cause: random character of the
multiplication process resulting in M
fluctuation
• Mean square current referred to the input
(including the shot noise):
 Digital signals
• Symbol 1 corresponds to the power P(1)
• Symbol 0 corresponds to the power P(0)
• P(1)>>P(0)
• The same for the receiver currents
• P(0)0, because it is not possible to switch the
light source completely off in a short time
• Extinction coefficient EX=10log10[P(1)/P(0)] [dB]
(powers at the moments of sampling)
• Modulation linearity is not so important
 Analog signals
• Examples: CATV and RoF systems
• CATV: multiple TV channels with different
subcarriers and QAM or OFDM
modulations
• Linearity is of paramount importance
(otherwise intermodulation distortions of
2nd and 3rd orders)
• Specially designed lasers with very high
linearity for analog signals transmission
 Energy balance 1/4
• Necessary values:
-transmitted power
-receiver sensitivity
-fiber losses
-margins
• dBm power referred to 1 mW
 Energy balance 2/4
• Transmitted power PT: mean optical power in the
fiber (for digital signals both zeros and ones are
included); max power PTmax and min power PTmin
• Receiver sensitivity PRmin: mean received optical
power required for its correct operation (required
BER for digital and required SNR for analog
systems)
• Optical power at the receiver must not exceed
maximum value, PRmax, othewise the signal is
heavily distorted or even receiver damaged
Sensitivity and maximum power
 Energy balance 3/4
• Losses:
-fiber attenuation αL (depends on λ)
-splices attenuation nAS
-connectors attenuation mAC
-other elements losses (couplers, attenuators, etc.)
AX
• Optical path penalty (OPP) related to the signal
distortion after propagating in the fiber (eg. due to
the dispersion); usually 1 or 2 dB
OPP measurement method
 Energy balance 4/4
• System margin M (elements ageing, future
repairs); usually a few dB or 10% of total
line attenuation
• Both inequalities should be satisfied:
 Dispersion management:
chromatic dispersion 1/4
• Usually, in the system data, the permitted
maximum total chromatic dispersion is given
TDmax [ps/nm]
• Simultanously the OPP corresponding to TDmax is
cited
• The total optical path dispersion is
 Dispersion management:
chromatic dispersion 2/4
• Impluse spreading σ is proportional to the total
D

dispersion
• Parameter ε=σ /T defines the intersymbol
D

interference
• Receiver sensitivity loss depends on ε
(BER=10-12):
ε=0,2—>0,5 dB;
ε=0,3—>1 dB;
ε=0,48—>2 dB.
 Dispersion management:
chromatic dispersion 3/4
Range limits without dispersion compensation

Fiber type/ Standard DSF NZDSF

throughput G.652 G.653 G.655

10 Gbit/s 61 km 333 km 116 km

 

40 Gbit/s 3,8 km 20,8 km 7,3 km

 Dispersion management:
chromatic dispersion 4/4
• If |TD|<TDmax OK.
• If not, we should compensate at least a part of
dispersion including in the path an element with
dispersion of opposite sign
• Dispersion Compensating Fiber (D<0)
• Discrete compensator (eg. Bragg grating)
• Compensating elements introduce loss; one should
take this into account in energetic balance
 Dispersion management:
polarization dispersion 1/3
• Systems 10 Gbit/s and faster
• Usually the permitted maximum value of
instanteneous differential group delay Δτmax
is known (manufacturer data) as well as
corresponding sensitivity loss
• Usually Δτmax is around 30% of bit duration
(30 ps for 10 Gbit/s)
 Dispersion management:
polarization dispersion 2/3
• One should determine the probability of
system unavailability (transmission
impossible)
• Based on this we determine from Maxwell
pdf mean DGD value
• For example, if this probability = 7,4·10-9
DGD= Δτmax/4
 Dispersion management:
polarization dispersion 3/3

• PMD – available in the fiber data

• Dynamic compensation of polarization dispersion
is possible
• Sophisticated polarization controller at the
transmitter with feedback from the receiver
• Impulse spread is minimized when only one
principal polarization state is sent into the fiber
 Dispersion management:
(inter)modal dispersion 1/2
• MM fibers only
• Minimum bandwidth of the fiber is usually
supplied by the manufacturer
• Bandwidth determined by both (inter)modal
and chromatic dispersion
• For lasers modal dispersion is dominant
 Dispersion management:
(inter)modal dispersion 2/2
• Necessary formulas:
 Transmission parameters: SNR
• SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) ratio of the useful
signal power to the noise power measured (most
often) at the receiver
• Values of SNR necessary for correct operation
depend on the modulation type and BER (for
binary transmission around 20 dB)
• Necessary SNR along with noise power determine
receiver sensitivity
 Transmission parameters: CNR
• CNR (Carrier to Noise Ratio) ratio of carrier
power to the noise power
• Used for systems with carrier, mostly analog (eg.
AM-VSB), when the useful signal power varies in
time and the carrier power does not
• Required CNR values depend on modulation type
(for instance for TV AM-VSB CNR>46 dB)
 Transmission parameters: BER
• BER (Bit Error Rate)
• Ratio of errored bits to the total number of bits
• Important: whether pre- or post- FEC (if Forward
Error Correction is applied)
• Very low values admissible in contemporary
systems: BER<10-10 or BER<10-12
• Very long measurement time then
• Other parameters are necessary
 Transmission parameters : Q
parameter
• Very low BERs are difficult to measure
• Alternative method of signal quality assesment: Q
parameter
• Q=[m(1)-m(0)]/[σ(1)+σ(0)]
• All values taken at the moment of sampling
• BER and Q relation:
BER=10-12 corresponds to Q=7
• Exact only for Gaussian pdf of noise
Eye pattern 1/3
Eye pattern 2/3
 Eye pattern 3/3
• Obtained with oscilloscope, which is externally
triggered by the data clock
• At the receiver: vertical opening is a measure of
noise and other interferences level
• At the receiver: horizontal opening is a measure of
jitter, and synchronization errors
• At the transmitter: mask serves as a template to
assess the quality of the transmitted signal
 MER 1/3
• MER (Modulation Error Ratio)
• Measure of the signal quality for multi
value modulations such as QAM (not only
optical)
• Not only noise taken into account but other
distortions (eg. nonlinear) as well
 MER 2/3
• Points with coordinates (I,Q) correspond to ideal
constellation on the I-Q plane
• Due to noise and other distortions the points with
(I,Q) coordinates are actually received
• MER definition: generalized ratio of useful signal
power to the error signal power
 MER 3/3
(Based on National Instruments data)
MER measurement example
(source: Rogers Cable Inc.)
 EVM
• EVM (Error Vector Magnitude)
• Similar to MER (they are related)
• Definition:

• Expressed in %
Optical amplifiers
 Amplifier types

• Definition of amplifier
• Types:
- SOA (semiconductor optical amplifier)
- OFA (optical fiber amplifier)
- Raman amplifiers
 SOA
• Active medium - semiconductor
• Mechanizm of operation: stimulated emision
• Electrical pumping- current
• Highly nonlinear when saturated
• Coupling to fiber not easy
• Gain depends on signal polarization
• Typical parameters: G=10...25 dB, NF=7...9 dB,
bandwidth ~ 40 nm
 OFA
• Active medium – doped fiber
• Mechanizm of operation: stimulated
emision
• Optical pumping
• Very linear
• Easily connected to fiber
• Parameters (EDFA): G ~30 dB, NF= 5...7
dB, bandwidth up to 35 nm
 Raman amplifiers
• Active medium- telcom fiber (distributed
amplifiers)
• Mechanizm of operation: SRS
• Optical pumping: very high power
necessary
• Operating range determined by pump
wavelength
• Relatively low gain G<10 dB, bandwidth
similar to others
EDFA as OFA example 1/3
EDFA as OFA example 2/3
EDFA as OFA example 3/3
 Optical amplifiers application

• Booster
• In-line amplifier
• Preamplifier
• Optical signal distribution in passive
networks
 Advantages
• Independent of protocol and data rate
• Easy link upgrade
• Multi wavelength transmission possible
with one device (WDM)
• Simple design
• Longer fiber spans than with regenerators
 Disadvantages

• No signal regeneration
• All adverse fiber effects are accumulated
along the link (dispersion, nonlinear effects)
• They add their own noise to the signal:
Amplified Spantaneous Emission (ASE)
noise
 EDFA and other amplifier
parameters 1/2
• Operating wavelengths range (1530...1560
nm)
• Input optical power range (depends on the
amplifier type)
• Gain (small signal- 20...30 dB i large
signal- 10 dB)
• Noise factor (5...6 dB)
 EDFA and other amplifier
parameters 2/2
• Polarization Dependent Gain- (fraction of
dB)
• Polarization Mode Dispersion (fraction of
ps)
• Residual pump power at the output/input
• Maximum admissible reflectances of
optical fiber link at the output/input
• ITU G.661 recommendation lists around 70
parameters...
 OSNR
• Definition

• OSNR>14 dB for BER=10-12

• In practice OSNR>20 dB
ASE noise power at the amplifier
output
Formula

• F- noise factor
• G- gain
• h=6,63·10-34 J·s Planck constant
• f- frequency
• Δf- bandwidth
 OSNR at the link end 1/2
• Formula

• Conditions:
-All N sections are identical
-Fiber loss L exactly compensated by
amplifier gain G
-PS- transmitted power
 OSNR at the link end 2/2
• For λ= 1,55 μm, Δλ=0,1 nm
10log10(hfΔf)= -58 dBm
and last term is simplyfied
For another wavelength and bandwidth
another value!!!
 ASE noise after photodetection
• Origin of the noise after photodetection?
• Photodetection is nonlinear (square) process
• ASE noise beats with useful signal with the
same polarization: symbol 1 –higher noise
power, symbol 0 (not extincted) –lower
noise power
• Noise level depends on the bit sent
• ASE noise also beats with itself
 Coherent transmission 1/4
• Coherent light used
• External modulation (not only amplitude/power)
• Optical modulations of phase and frequency are
also possible as well as optical QAM and
multivalue PSK
• Greatest difference: local laser light is added to the
received signal and this sum is photodetected
Coherent transmission 2/4
 Coherent transmission 3/4
• Photocurrent
• Field intensities of the useful signal and
local laser

• When polarizations of both signals are

matched, the photocurrent is:
 Coherent transmission 4/4
• The third term in the I formula contains
every information on amplitude, phase and
frequency of transmitted signal
• |fS – fL| must be stable and within the
electrical bandwidth of the receiver
• After detection signal is processed
electronically
 Coherent transmission:
advantages 1/2
• Improvement of reception sensitivity 5...20
dB: rise of the useful signal power with
local laser power increase
• Max SNR limited by shot noise
 Coherent transmission:
advantages 2/2
• Electronic dispersion compensation is possible
since the optical spectrum is transfered to
electrical domain
• Multivalue/large constellation optical modulations
such as QAM are possible that have high spectral
efficiency (eg. 16 QAM practical efficiency is
around 7 bit/s/Hz)
 Coherent transmission:
disadvantages 1/2
• Sophisticated and costly transmission
system
• External modulation is necessary
• Either signal and LO laser polarizations are
matched (polarization controller) or
polarization diversity reception
 Coherent transmission:
disadvantages 2/2
• Very narrow linewidth lasers are necessary
for phase noise minimization
• Both signal and local laser wavelengths
must be stabilized
• Either both lasers are synchronized or
complex DSP is necessary at the receiver
 External modulation 1/2
• Laser chirp for direct current modulation
• Linewidth increases  chromatic dispersion
influence is greater
• External modulators have smaller (or negligible)
chirp
• Most often the optical power is modulated
• Additional advantage: greater bandwidth than with
the direct modulation
 External modulation 2/2
• Phase modulator: phase shift in LiNbO3
waveguide depends on the intensity of
external electrical field
• Waveguide located between electrodes,
connected to controlling voltage
• Amplitude modulator: two such waveguides
in the Mach-Zehnder configuration
Mach-Zehnder modulator 1/2
 Mach-Zehnder modulator 2/2
• U1=U2 phase modulation only
• U1=-U2 amplitude modulation only
• Vπ =3...5 V (voltage that shifts phase by π)
• U1= -U2 = Vπ/2 (complete power extinction)
• Multivalue/large constellation modulations,
eg. QAM, m-PSK require a few M-Z
modulators properly connected
QPSK modulator
 Electroabsorption modulator
• Franz-Keldysh effect: energy band gap of
semiconductor is reduced when external electric
field is applied
• Transparent semiconductor starts to absorb light if
reverse voltage is applied
• Advantage: easy integration with laser (they are
cheaper than MZ)
• Disadvantage: residual chirp
 Optical couplers/splitters
• Coupling input optical signals to output(s)
• Splitting input optical signal between
outputs
• Different manufacturing methods: planar or
fused tapered
Fused tapered coupler
 Coupled modes – theory 1/3
• If fields of two waves are not orthogonal
over a cross-section (with n(x,y) taken into
account):

• Then these modes are coupled

• They interchange their powers (energies)
 Coupled modes – theory 2/3
• For two modes their complex amplitudes A1 and
A2 are related by:

• This set may be extended for a greater number of

modes (n modes – n equations)
 Coupled modes – theory 3/3
• For two identical SM fibers: β1= β2; |C12|=|C21|=C
• Solution has the form:

• Modes completely interchange their powers

• The stronger the coupling, the smaller the length
of power transfer
• For Cz=π/4 50/50 coupler/splitter
 Parameters of 2x2 couplers
• Power division ratio at the output (eg.
50/50)
• Isolation: -10log10(P2*/P1) [dB]
• Return loss: -10log10(P1*/P1) [dB] (related
parameter: ORL)
• Directivity: -10log10(P2*/P4) [dB]
• Reflectance: 10log10(P1*/P1) [dB] (not only
for couplers)
 Star couplers
• NxN
• Fusing and tapering of N optical fibers or
• Suitable connection of many 2x2 couplers
or
• Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC)- most often
1xN or 2xN
 Wavelength (de)multiplexers
• Wavelength multiplexer: multiplexes (from 2 to
more than 100) separate signals with different
wavelengths into a single multiwavelength signal
• Wavelength demultiplexer separates distinctive
signals with different wavelengths from the
incoming multiwavelength signal (each output has
its assigned wavelength)
• Generally they are reversible, that is the change of
light propagation direction changes multiplexer to
demultiplexer and vice versa
• Various technologies: interference, difraction,
AWG etc.
(De)multiplexer based on
interference filters
(De)multiplexer based on
diffraction
AWG (Arrayed Waveguide
Gratings) 1/2
 AWG 2/2
• Two regions of free propagation in the form of
lenses
• Array of waveguides with different length
• Each wavelength experiences different phase shift
in the waveguide
• Therefore in the second region of free propagation
each wavelength has a phase front with a different
slant (it propagates in a different direction)
• Each wavelength is focused at different fiber
 (De)multiplexer parameters
• Channels count from a few to a few
hundred
• Channel spacing as low as 12.5 GHz (0.1
nm)
• Crosstalk (<-30 dB ... -20 dB)
• Nonuniformity of the transfer charcteristic
(<1 dB)
 Optical switching
• Technologies:
-optical control (lab experiments, no
commercial solutions)
-electrical control (fairly advanced,
commercial solutions available)
 Optical switching: technology
• MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical
Switches)
• Liquid crystals
• Thermo-optical
• Bubble
• Interferometric
• ...
 MEMS
• Moving mirrors (a fraction of mm up to few mm)
on silicon substrate
• Electrical control (most often electrostatic)
• NxN 2D matrix: each mirror has two position, N2
mirrors are necessary, N limited due to the
physical size limitations
• NxN 3D matrix: each mirror has many positions,
2N mirrors are necessary, N may be greater
MEMS 2D
MEMS 3D
MEMS mirror
(source: www.memx.com)
 Optical signals multiplexing
methods
• Multiplexing is a method to use the same
transmission line (eg. optical fiber) for
many independent signals (data streams)
• Time (TDM, OTDM)
• Frequency (SCM, WDM)
• Code
• Space
• Polarization
 TDM
• Each channel has its own time slot
• Channel data are transmitted during the
time slot assigned to this channel
• Used for data transmission
• All the channels occupy the same frequency
band
• Electronic signal processing
 SDH/SONET 1/3
• Transport system
• Ranges without regeneration >160 km
• Synchronous transmission
• Time Division Multiplexing
• Basic throughput 155,52 Mbit/s (STM-1)
• Byte interleaving (4x)
 SDH/SONET 2/3
• Signals:
STM-4 (622 Mbit/s),
STM-16 (2488 Mbit/s),
STM-64 (9,95 Gbit/s),
STM-256 (~40 Gbit/s)
• There are algorithms to map any reasonable
protocol (Ethernet, PDH, ATM, FDDI etc.)
with any bit rate into SDH frames
 SDH/SONET 3/3
• SDH/SONET systems make complex
networks
• Signal processing at the network nodes is
always electronic (O/E and E/O
conversions)
• Opticaly it is equivalent to a point-to-point
system
 SDH advantages
• Transport of signals with various protocols
and bit rates
• One can extract a contributory signal
without the necessity of the demultiplexing
of all signals (Add Drop Mux)
• Modern (software) network management
(configuration, fault, performance …
management)
 OTDM 1/3
• TDM realized in optical domain
• Entirely optical multiplexing and demultiplexing
• Electronics circuits are replaced with optical and
opto-electronic devices, which are faster
• Very short optical impulses (even fs)
• Available throughputs (>1 Tbit/s) can not be
obtained with electronic multiplexing
OTDM multiplekser
Waveforms in OTDM
multiplexer
 OTDM 2/3
• One should generate very short optical
impulses with relatively low repetition rate
• Easy multiplexing
• Demultiplexing and receiver
synchronization very difficult
• Very sophisticated nonlinear optical devices
are necessary at the receiver
 OTDM 3/3
• Impulses much shorter than their time slots
• Necessary: chromatic dispersion
compensation and dispersion slope
compensation
• Problems with polarization dispersion
• Practical difficulties for modulation rates >
20 Gbod
• So far experimental systems only
 Very short optical impulses
generation
• Synchronized semiconductor lasers
• Mode synchronized optical fiber lasers
• Ring lasers
• Supercontinuum sources
 Mode synchronized
semiconductor laser
• Impulse duration from a fraction of ps to few ps
• Repetition rate: few GHz to hundred GHz
• Electrically controlled optical modulator inside the
laser resonant cavity
• When the modulator loss is decreased a single
optical impulse is generated
• Repetition rate controlled by external electrical
signal
 SCM
• SCM (SubCarrier Multiplexing) – a type of
frequency multiplexing
• Multiplexing and demultiplexing in electrical
domain
• A single optical signal is transmitted
• Tributary channels may by analog or digital
• Transmission is always analog
• Application: CATV, RoF
Optical fiber SCM system
 CATV vs digital transmission
• Shorter range (typically around 10 km)
• Smaller power in channel (channel count up to
100 with a single transmitter)
• Higher SNR (CNR) necessary at the receiver
• Additional effects should be taken into account:
-RIN (Relative Intensity Noise)
-Nonlinearities
 RIN 1/2
• Emited optical power fluctuates
• Cause of origin: spontaneous emission
• Formula (white noise)

• Factors increasing RIN level:

modulation, back reflection
 RIN 2/2
Based on: G.P. Agrawal, Fiber-optic communication systems, Wiley, 1992
 CNR at the receiver
• Three noise sources: RIN, thermal noise,
and shot noise

Notation: m modulation index, I0- mean

current, q=1,6 ·10-19 C – electron charge, iT
[pA/Hz1/2] – thermal noise current spectral
density
 Nonlinear distortions 1/4

• Optical power P depends on the modulating

signal x:

• Second and third order distortions are most

important
 Nonlinear distortions 2/4
• Frequencies of distorted signals: fi+fj, fi-fj,
and fi+fj-fk, fi+fj+fk
• CSO and CTB distortions- definitions
 Nonlinear distortions 3/4
• For a given laser CSO and CTB depend on:
-channel count N
-modulation index m
-total power
-channel position
 Nonlinear distortions 4/4
• Practical rule relating N and m

• Otherwise signal clipping (temporary departure

from the linear part of characteristic)
• Random process
• One can only limit the clipping probability
because N·m>100% (eg. 200%)
Examples of CNR, CSO i CTB

Parameter F-P laser, F-P laser, DFB laser

without with isolator with isolator
isolator
CNR 38 dB 52 dB 49...54 dB

CSO -56 dBc -66 dBc -73...-62

dBc
CTB -52 dBc -65 dBc -69...-62
dBc
 Optical transmitters for SCM
• 1310 nm: high power lasers (10 mW and
more) with linearized transfer function,
direct modulation
• 1550 nm: usually external modulation,
greater transmission ranges (even 100 km)
• Optical isolators
 Propagation distortions 1/2
• Interferometric noise:
-phase modulation changes to intensity
modulation due to multiple reflections,
-so elements with very low reflections are
used (eg. <-50 dB),
-multiple Rayleigh scattering,
-so in-line isolators are used
 Propagation distortions 2/2
• Laser chirp interaction with chromatic dispersion
of the fiber
• Frequency modulation causes delay modulation
(due to dispersion), and consequently phase
modulation, and nonlinear distortions (mostly
CSO)
• Very important at 1550 nm
• Means to avoid: dispersion compensation, external
modulation
 DVB SCM transmission
• Standard DVB-C: QAM (constellation up
to 256 points)
• SNR for BER 10-10: 16 QAM = 23 dB, 256
QAM = 36 dB
• Larger constellations  higher SNR
• Despite digital transmission in any channel
the entire SCM signal/transmission is
analog
 Wavelength division
multiplexing (WDM)
• Frequency multiplication realized in optical
domain
• Beginning: 80s of XX century
• WDM (1310/1550 nm)
• Real boom started in the middle of 90s
• Cause: data transmission explosion/optical
network shortages in USA
Point to point WDM system
WDM and TDM comparison
 WDM advantages
• Reduction of fibers number and necessary
equipment (eg. regenerators)
• Throughput increase without modulation
rate rise
• Flexibility: subsequent channels may be
gradually added
 WDM disadvantages
• Not always compatibile with legacy
equipment
• Disadvantages of optical amplifiers (if
used)
• Much higher total optical power in the
fiber: nonlinear phenomena
 Elements used in WDM

• Stabilized lasers (λ depends on temperature

and bias current)
• External modulators: EA and MZ (also used
in single channel systems)
• WDM (de)multiplexers
• Optical amplifiers
• New fiber types (LEAF, NZDSF, dry fiber
eg. AllWave)
 Practical solutions: DWDM and
CWDM
• Differences:
-application: DWDM- core/long range networks,
CWDM- metropolital networks (many nodes,
rather short ranges)
-design: DWDM- stabilized lasers, external
modulation, precise multiplexers, CWDM- no
stabilization, direct modulation, coarse
multiplexing
-equipment cost: DWDM-high, CWDM-lower
• DWDM and CWDM grids
 CWDM (G.695)
• Channel number 4...16 (totally 18)
• 20 nm channel spacing (1271... 1611 nm)
• Maksimum λ deviation = ±6,5 nm
• Channel throughput 0,622...2,67 Gbit/s
• Topology (point to point, bus, ring)
• Connections: simplex and duplex
• Range of transmission 20...90 km
• No optical amplifiers
• BER=10-12
 DWDM parameters 1/2
• Channel number even >100
• ITU grid: 193.1 THz ± n·Δf
• Δf spacing: 12,5; 25; 50; 100, 200... GHz
• Channel throughputs up to 40 Gbit/s
• Architecture evolution towards OTN
• Ranges up to a few hundred km (with
EDFA)
• BER=10-12
 DWDM parameters 2/2
• OSNR (>20...27 dB)
• Crosstalk (<-30 dB)
• Very low Δλ (<0,001 nm)
• Total power up to +20 dBm
• Channel powers depend on channel number
• Differences between channels powers: 2...3 dB
• Frequency deviation: 5% Δf
• Other parameters similar to those of SDH
 Crosstalk 1/2
• Definition
Crosstalk=10 log10 (PZ/PS) [dB]
• Sensitivity loss due to crosstalk depends on: the
type and number of crosstalk signals, eye opening,
EX, detection type
• Interchannel crosstalk (eg. due to nonideal
wavelength demultiplexing)- less dangerous,
because signals are not coherent
• Sensitivity loss of 1 dB for the crosstalk level of >
-12...13 dB
 Crosstalk 2/2
• Intrachannel crosstalk
• Causes: incomplete signal elimination in OADM,
insufficient isolation in OXC, multipath
propagation, etc.
• Coherent beating of optical signals; the resulting
signal is within the receiver bandpass
• Much more dangerous
• Sensitivity loss of 1 dB for intrachannel crosstalk
level of > -30 dB
 Optical fiber networks
• In optical fiber network nodes the signal
processing is generally electronic
• Optically: a set of point-to-point systems
• Exceptions:
-OTN (Optical Transport Network)
-PON (Passive Optical Network)
 OTN
• Large range transport network
• Result of evolution of DWDM systems
• Evolution of network architecture
• Novel network nodes:
-OADM (reconfigurable and not)
-OXC (OFC, WSXC, WIXC)
• Experiments with optical signal
regeneration
Network architecture evolution
OADM
WSXC
 OTN (G.709 and others)
• Goal: transport of data packets and TDM
signals
• Uniting SDH/SONET advantages and
DWDM potential
• 3R regeneration at the subnetworks
interfaces (O/E/O)
• DW (Digital Wrapper) technology:
management and monitoring of channels
without any impact on user data
Digital Wrapping in OTN
(Source: Infinera)

J. Siuzdak 2015
OTN layers
(source ITU: OTN tutorial)

J. Siuzdak 2015
 Overheads
• OPayloadU: client signal identification, bits
related to mapping ...
• ODataU: source and destination of signal,
BIP-8, error indicators, APS ...
• OTransportU: frame phasing, section
monitoring, service communication channel
...
• FEC!
 Forward Error Correction (FEC)
• Error correction, SNR requirements relaxed
• Types:
-in band: SDH- BCH code (4359,4320), bits, triple
errors correction
-out of band: OTN- RS code (255,239), bytes, up
to 8 bytes correction
• Coding gain: 3...4 dB for in band FEC,
5...6 dB for out of band FEC
 Throughput and modulation rate
increase in OTN

• OPU1  OTU1: 2,488  2,67 Gbod

• OPU2  OTU2: 9,95  10,71 Gbod
• OPU3  OTU3: 39,81  43,02 Gbod
• OPU4/OTU4: 100G Ethernet  112 Gbit/s
 Network throughput limits 1/7

• Increase modulation rate and channels

number: eg. 100 Gbod and 1000 channels

But...
 Network throughput limits 2/7

• Increasing modulation rate beyond 40 Gbod is

very difficult (dispersion slope compensation
difficult, polarization dispersion, nonlinear
phenomena etc.)
• Transmission window width is great but
nevertheless limited, thus number of channels is
also limited
 Network throughput limits 3/7
• Solution- increase of spectral efficiency via:
• Optical multivalue modulations (eg. m-
PSK, m-QAM)
• Polarization multiplexing (PolMux)
• Coherent transmission
• All are commercial solutions!!!
 Network throughput limits 4/7
At present throughputs in excess of 100
Tbit/s are available in lab
• Ranges >200 km
• A few hundred WDM channels
• >400 Gbit/s per channel (QAM modulation,
PolMux)
• Bandwidth > 10 THz (EDFA and Raman
amplifiers)
• Digital coherent optical detection (because of
optical multivalue modulation)
Are there any limits?
 Network throughput limits 5/7
• Shannon criterion
C=B log2 (1+SNR) [bit/s]
• One can increase SNR and throughput rises
But...
• Shannon criterion is valid for AWGN
 Network throughput limits 6/7
• High power and many channels  fiber becomes
nonlinear
• Multivalue modulations tolarate well linear
phenomena: chromatic and polarization
dispersions (narrow spectrum)
• Multivalue modulations are prone to nonlinear
effects (especially SPM)
 Network throughput limits 7/7
• There is an optimum value of channel
OSNR that maximizes the throughput
(around 25 dB)
• Throughput limits:
-Smaller OSNR -> noise
-Greater OSNR -> nonlinear effects
 Possible solutions 1/2

• Multicore fibers:
-7,19 SM cores instead of one
-different propagation constant in each core
-then crosstalk < -40 dB
 Possible solutions 2/2
• Few mode fibers
- thicker core: nonlinear effects are less
important
-mode multiplexing
-MIMO systems
• Superchannels
-optically synchronized OFDM
 Example: NTT
(ECOC 2012)

• Optical fiber with 12 cores

• 222 WDM channels
• 456 Gbit/s in each channel:
PolMux, 32 QAM, 45.6 Gbod
• 52 km range
• Spectral efficiency 91.4 bit/s/Hz
• Total throughput 1.01 Petabit/s (milions
Gbit/s)
 PON as an example of optical
access network
• Access network vs LAN
• PON (Passive Optical Network)
• PON architectures (tree, bus, ring)
• Other types of access networks:
- FTTx vs HFC
- active and passive networks
- networks with other media (radio, copper)
PON architectures
 PON (ODN) features
• Passive elements only (with the exception of
OFA)
• Passive couplers/splitters in the network nodes
• Transparent in 2. and 3. transmission window
• SM fiber compatible
• Reversible
• Available network standards
• Easy upgrade
 PON nodes

• Edge nodes only

• All internal nodes are passive
• OLT- Optical Line Termination:
MAN/WAN/exchange interfaces, switching
matrix, optical PON interfaces
• ONU (ONT)- Optical Network Unit/Termination,
from subscriber side, type depends on the network
architecture FTTx (eg. FTTB/FTTH)
 PON classes

Class A B C

Minimum 5 dB 10 dB 15 dB
loss

Maximum 20 dB 25 dB 30 dB
loss
 PON types
• Optical infrastructure the same for all PON
types
• Typical range up to 20 km
• Only transmission protocols vary
• APON/BPON
• EPON (10GEPON)
• GPON (XGPON)
 APON/BPON
• ATM protocol
• Windows: 1260-1360 nm (up), 1480-1580 nm
(down)
• Throughputs: 155 Mbit/s (up), 622 Mbit/s (up &
down); BER<10-10
• Max ONU number: 32
• Downstream: distribution of OLT signal among all
ONUs
• Upstream: TDMA protocol determining round trip
delays and granting transmission slots
• Simplex or diplex transmission
 EPON: Ethernet over PON
• Ethernet protocol (IEEE 802.3ah)
• Symmetrical bit rates: 1 Gbit/s (1,25 Gbod-
8B10B)
• Better suited to IP (variable length packets, no
fragmentation)
• BER<10-12
• ONU number 16 (32)
• Diplex (up 1260-1360 nm, down 1480-1500 nm)
• 1540-1560 nm band is reserved
• No direct communication between ONUs
OLT (EPON)
ONU (EPON)
 GPON: Gigabit capable PON
• GEM/ATM protocol
• Bit rates: symmeterical 622 Mbit/s and 1,244
Gbit/s, asymmetrical 2,488/1,244 Gbit/s
(down/up)- preferable
• Max ONU number:128
• Simplex (1260-1360 nm up/down) or diplex
(1480-1500 down, up- as before)
• Video 1540-1560 nm
• BER<10-10
 Analysis and design of PON
• Statistical approach: m-3σ, m+3σ
• Design parameters:
-maximum and minimum path loss
-maximum loss difference
• Formula

• Exemplary values of means and standard

deviations
Exemplary m and σ
Element type Mean loss[dB] Loss standard deviation
[dB]

Splitter 1:2 3,5 0,2

Splitter 1:4 6,7 0,3

Splitter 1:6 8,7 0,42

Splitter 1:8 9,8 0,55

Splitter 1:16 13,1 0,67

Splitter 1:32 17 0,9

Splitter 1:64 20,8 1,2

WDM element 0,5 0,1

Fiber attenuation 0,35 dB/km 0,1 dB/km

Connector 0,4 0,1

Splice 0,1 0,05

 Optical wireless

• Indoors
• Outdoors:
-line of sight (LOS)
 Advantages
• Huge bandwidth (THz)
• Unlicensed (no permits necessary)
• Low cost
 Indoors communications
• Various configurations: LOS, multipath,
difussion
• Communication based on visible light (VL)
or infrared (IR)
• VL recommended:
-no eye safety problems
-existing lighting may be used (LEDs in
particular)
 Various link configurations
Source: H. Egala, R. Mesleh, H. Haas, IEEE Communications Magazine
 LED communications (indoors)
1/2
• One direction only (downlink)
• Lighting LEDs (white and RGB)
• Limited modulation bandwidth (several
MHz)
• Diode nonlinearity
• Complex modulations used eg.
OFDM/DMT
 LED communications (indoors)
2/2

• Multipath: MIMO transmission may be

used
• Maximum throughputs >1 Gbit/s
• A few meters range
• Problems with reverse channel (IR
realizations, radio etc.)
 Free space communications
(outdoors) 1/2
• Modulated laser transmitters at 850 nm (780, 980
nm), 1550 nm or 10 μm
• Eye safety problems
• Transmitting & receiving lenses (objectives)
• Background radiation high, therefore optical
filters at the receiver (reduction of solar
illumination)
• Difficult alignement (sometimes active optics
used)
 Free space communications
(outdoors) 2/2
• Operation ranges from a few hundred meters to a
few kilometers (eg. between buildings)
• Military: 10...15 km
• Atmospheric influence:
-attenuation: rain, snow, fog,
-signal scintillations: turbulence.
• Fairly high throughputs (commercialy up to 2.7
Gbit/s)
• Application: Wireless connections between LANs
and/or access networks, private networks etc.
CableFree CF1500 2/2
Source: CableFree
 CableFree CF1500 2/2
• Range 1500 m
• Wavelength 780 nm
• Optical power +19 dBm
• Beam divergence 5 mrad
• Bit rate 622 Mbit/s
• APD detector
 End

Thank you