1.

Overview of Optical fiber Communications

 Topics
 Electromagnetic spectrum,
 Optical Spectral bands,
 Evolution of fiber optic system,
 Multiplexing Techniques,
 Elements of an optical fiber transmission link with the functional
description of each block,
 WDM concepts,
 transmission widows,
 advantages of optical fiber link over conventional copper systems,
 applications of fiber optic transmission systems.
 Advantages of optical fibers
(over copper cables)

1. Long Distance transmission

• Low losses compared to fiber
• So distance increases and no. of repeaters decreases
• So decreases cost and complexity
2. Large information capacity
• Fibers have wider BW than copper wires, so capacity over
single physical line increases
• So no. of physical lines decreases
3. Small size and low weight
• Copper wires are heavy, bulky
• Required in aircraft, satellites, ships, military applications
4. Immunity to electrical interference
• Fiber is dielectric material, so does not conduct electricity.
• So immune to electromagnetic interference (like inductive pick
up from other adjacent wires or coupling of electrical noise
5. Enhanced safety
• Fibers do not have ground loops, sparks and potentially high
voltages.
• Precaution taken for preventing eye damage wrt to lasers.
6. Increased signal security
• Optical signal is well confined within fiber and opaque coating
around fiber absorbs any signal emission.
• Whereas in copper wires, electrical signals can be trapped off
easily.
• So applicable in financial, legal, government and military
systems.
 Introduction
 8th Century:
• Earliest optical transmission link: Fire Signal Method
The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance
communication. It is a form of visual communication used
over long distance. In general smoke signals are used to
transmit news, signal danger, or gather people to a common
area.
• Technology Limitations:
Error-prone
Line-of-sight
Atmospheric effect like rain & fog
• Solution: send message by a courier over road n/w

 1978, lightwave communication system started.

• At near infrared region of electromagnetic spectrum
 Motivation for lightwave communication

 Prior to 1980-electrical transmission

 1837-telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse which uses Morse code, letters

& numbers by a coded series of dots and dashes.
• a system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire,
especially one creating signals by making and breaking an
electrical connection.
• Encoded symbols were conveyed by long and short pulses of
electricity over a copper wire at rate of tens of pulses per second.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraphy

 1874, Baudot (more advanced telegraph scheme, with speed 120 bps
but required skilled operators.

 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, to transmit voice signal in analog form

which do not require any expertise to use.
 Above technologies used Baseband transmission, means signal is
transmitted directly over a channel(ex. Twisted pair wire links
running from analog telephone to nearest switching interface
equipment.
• Same baseband method is used in optical communication; light
is turned on & off in response to voltage variation in electrical
signal.
 Requirements/motivations:
1. Low error rate to improve transmission fidelity
2. Increase data rate or channel capacity to send more information
3. Increase Transmission distance between repeater or
amplification stations.

 This led to birth of high capacity, long distance terrestrial and

undersea copper-based wire lines and wireless radio-frequency (RF),
microwave and satellite links.
 Increase in link capacity was done by using a high frequency carrier,
that is sinusoidal electromagnetic wave.
• At Rx, baseband signal is removed from the carrier.
Figure 1.1
 Figure 1.1
 Electromagnetic spectral bands for radio transmission.
 HF,VHF,UHF--107,108,109
 Higher the freq--higher the BW or information capacity
 Optical freqs > electrical freqs
 Optical band—near infrared, 770 to 1675 nm (low-loss region in
silica glass fibers)
 First optical fiber link-1970, for telephony signals at @ 6 Mbps over
10 km.
 In 1980, increased upto hundreds of km without signal fidelity along
the path.
 In 1990, demand for BW hungry services raised, like database
queries, home shopping, high definition interactive video, remote
education, telemedicine & e-health, high resolution editing of home
videos, blogging and large-scale high capacity e-science and Grid
computing.
 So it was necessary to enhance capacity of fiber lines by adding
more-independent signal-carrying wavelengths on individual fibers.
1.2 Optical spectral Bands
 All telecommunication sys use some form of electromagnetic energy
to transmit signals.
• electromagnetic energy is combination of electrical and magnetic
fields and include power, radio waves, infrared light, visible
light, ultraviolet light, x-rays and gamma rays.
• Speed of light in vaccum, c=3×108 m/s
• Speed of light in material s is smaller than c by the refractive
index factor n .
• For silica, n=1.45, s=2×108 m/s

 How to measure physical property of spectrum?

• Length of one period of wave, energy in wave or oscillating freq
of wave.
• Electrical signal use freq.
• Optical signal use wavelength , photon energy or optical power.
 • Speed of light=wavelength times freq, c=λv
• Energy of a photon by plank’s Law, E=hv
• Plank’s constant, h=6.63×10-34 J-s=4.14×10-15 eV
• Energy in electron-volt, E(eV)=1.2406/ λ(µm)

 Fig-1.2 optical spectrum, 5nm in UV region to 1mm in infrared region. In

between these limits 400 nm-700 nm visible band.
• Optical fiber use 770nm-1675 nm.
• ITU (International Telecommu. Union) has designated six spectral
bands for OFC within 1260-1675 nm(long wavelength band) ,based
on attenuation chara. of fibers and amplifiers (like EDFA-Erbium-
doped fiber amplifier).
• Short wavelength band is also discussed in next chapters.
(Fig-1.3 and Table 1.1 )
770-910 nm: short wavelength: for multimode fibers
1260-1675-long wavelength: for single mode fibers
Figure 1.3 & Table 1.1
Windows and spectral bands
Short wavelength o-band c-band
Fig. 1-7: History of attenuation
 Fig shows four key components of fiber link-light source,
photodetector, optical fiber, amplifier.
• Chara of fiber-attenuation is function of wavelength

 First window: in 1970s,

• 770-910 nm , attenuation spike at 1000nmdue to absorption by
water molecules, So @850nm
• Called short wavelength region
• GaAlAs source, Silicon detector,
 second & third window: In 1980s, 1260-1675 nm, by reducing
concentration of hydroxyl ions and metallic impurities, fiber
losses reduced.
• Called long wavelength region
• Still absorption spike at 1400 nm. So two low-loss windows,
called O-band, C-band window, centered at 1310nm and
1550nm, second & third window resp.
• Source-InGaAsP, Detector-InGaAs
• Doping optical fibers with earth-rare elements such as Pr, Th,Er
creats amplifiers (prasceodymium,Thuliam,Erbium)(PDFA,
TDFA,EDFA devices).
• These devices and Raman amplification gives capacity boost to
long wavelength WDM system.
 Special material-purification process can eliminate almost all water
molecules from glass fiber material, so peak at 1400nm is reduced.
This opens E-band (1360-1460nm), provide 100nm more BW.

 Systems operating at 1550nm has lowest attenuation but larger

signal dispersion in silica fiber than 1310 nm.
• Solution: dispersion-shifted fibers for single-wavelength and
then by devising (means Come up with an idea, plan, explanation, theory,
or principle after a mental effort ) (or Arrange by systematic planning and
united effort) non-zero dispersion shifted fiber (NZDSF) for WDM
implementation.
• It is used for high-capacity, long-span terrestrial and under sea
transmission links.
• Links carries traffic at 10Gbps (OC-192/STM-64) over 90km
between amplifiers or repeaters.
• By 2005, links operating at 160Gbps long-distance transmission
systems were tested successfully.
 Fundamental Data Commu. Concepts
 Exchange of information- through signal
 Channel can be wire, radio, microwave, satellite, atmospheric
infrared or optical fiber link.
 Each channel has unique transmission chara that should match the
signal.
 Channel/ medium degrades the fidelity of transmitted signal due to
noise.
 1.3.1 Elementary Commu. Link

Figure 1.4
 Transmitter: couples message onto a transmission channel in form
of time varying signal that matches properties of channel. This
process is called encoding.
 Channel: electrical/optical noise, signal distortion, signal
attenuation
 Receiver: extracts weakened and distorted signal from channel,
amplify it and restore it as close as possible to original signal.
 Signals:
1. Analog
• Frequency, f=no. of cycles per second
• Period, T=1/f, time period of
• Phase=position of waveform relative to time zero.
Measured in degree or radians
(Ex. 1800 or π), (Ex 900 or π/2 radian)
Constructive: A1+A2
Distructive:A1+A2=0
It is important for lasers diodes, thin film filters, optical
couplers.
• Spectrum/frequency spectrum: range of frequencies that it
contains (combination of all individual sine waves of diff.
frequencies).
• Bandwidth B:width of spectrum (KHz,MHz,GHz)
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower
frequencies in a continuous set of frequencies
 Digital
 Figure 1.8
• Binary Waveform (1,0)
• Time slot Tb=bit interval, bit period or bit time.
• Bit rate R= bits per second (kbps,Mbps,Gbps)
• A block of eight bit is used to represent an encoded symbol or
word, called a octet or byte.
Digitization of analog signals
• Nyquist Theorem: Sampling rate ≥ twice the highest freq.
• For n-binary digits, 2n quantization levels.
• Digital signal has high degree of fidelity; digital signal can
undergo a great amount of distortion and still allow information
to be extracted.
• But there are no. of situations in which it is advantageous to send
high speed analog signals in their native form over relatively
short distance. Ex. Microwave signals from satellite dish to a
processing station located less than a km away.
 Channel Capacity
• Max rate at which data can be sent over a channel
• Shannon capacity formula: Ifchannel BW is B (in Hertz), then
max information-trasnsmission capacity C of that channel is
C=B log2 (1+S/N) ,S/N=SNR
Log2 represents base-2 logarithm, S & R are signal and noise
power resp. these powers are measured at Rx.
• For simplicity, log2 x=( log10 x)/(log10 2) =( log10 x)/0.3
SNRdB=10 log (signal power/noise power)=10 log SNR

• In formula, only thermal noise is considered.

• Others are impulse noise, attenuation, distortion, delay distortion
• We can increase the signal level, but it also increases nonlinear
effect, which lead to higher noise power.
• Increasing the BW, decreases SNR since wider the BW, more
noise is introduced into the system.
(SNR)dB=10 log SNR
 Decibel Units
• Reduction or attenuation of signal strength arises from various loss
mechanism in transmission medium.
 EX. Electric power is lost through heat generation as electric
signal flows along a wire.
 Optical power is attenuated through scattering and absorption
processes in a glass fiber or in an atmospheric channel.
• To compensate for these losses, amplifiers are used periodically, along
the path, to boost signal level.

• Figure 1.10
• How to measure attenuation?
 For guided media like fiber optics, signal strength decays
exponentially.
Power ratio in dB =10 log P2/P1
P1,P2 are electrical power
Log is base-10.
 The logarithmic nature of Decibel allows a large ratio to be
expressed in fairly simple manner.
• Decibel gives ratio, no indication
of absolute power level.
• dBm:
• Power level P as logarithmic ratio
to 1 mW.

• 0dBm=1 mW
 1.4 Network Information rates
 Digital signal multiplexing
 Telecom signal Multiplexing

• Time-division –multiplexing (TDM): N independent information

streams, each at data rate R bps, are interleaved electrically into
single information stream at rate N×R bps.
• Digital Transmission Hierarchy: North American Telephone N/w

DS0 DS1 DS2 DS3 DS4

• Voice channels digitized at 64 kbps rate, called DS0.

DS=Digital System
• Fundamental building block, DS1 rate
Framing bits(indicates start & end of information) and control bits
are added-called overhead bits.
 DSx versus Tx:
• DS1,DS2,DS3…
• T1,T2,T3…
• DSx & Tx are used interchangeably but have different meaning.
• DS refer to a service type, ex. A user who want to send
information at rate 1.544 Mbps will subscribe to DS1 service.
• Tx refer to data rate which the Transmission line technology
uses over a physical link, ex. DS1 service is transported over
physical wire or fiber at T1=1.544 Mbps.

 TDM scheme is not restricted to multiplexing voice signals. Any

64 kbps digital signal of appropriate signal can be transmitted.
 Digital Multiplexing levels used in North America, Europe
and Japan
 SONET/SDH Multiplexing Hierarchy
• Standard signal format , that defines synchronous frame structure
for multiplexed signal:
SONET-synchronous optical network, in North America
SDH-Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, in in other parts of
world
• First SONET signal hierarchy, called STS-1 (Synchronous
Transport Signal Level-1), with bit rate 51.84 Mbps.
• Higher rate SONET , are obtained by byte-interleaving N STS-1
frames, which are then scrambled and converted to optical
carrier-Level-N (OC-N).
• OC-N will have line rate exactly N times of OC-1 signal.

 For SDH, fundamental building block is 155.52 Mbps Synchronous

Transport Module-Level-1 (STM-1).
 WDM Concept
 Wavelength Division Multiplexing-WDM offers further boost in
fiber transmission capacity.
• Basis: Multiple sources operating at slightly different
wavelengths to transmit several independent information
streams simultaneously over same fiber.
• Thus WDM work as optical Multiplexer.

• Each stream can be operated at different data rate.

• Each information stream maintains individual data rate after
being multiplexed and still operates at its unique wavelength.
• WDM scheme is same as FDM used in microwave and satellite
systems.
Elements of Fiber Optic System
Optical fiber cable installations
 Source, Detector, Cabled fiber
 cabling: different type of cabling is used depending on whether
cable is to be installed inside a building, under ground in ducts or
through direct-burial methods, outside on poles or under water.
 Cable length:
• installation and/or manufacturing limitations,
• individual cable lengths ranges from meters to kms.
• Practical considerations such as reel size and cable weight
determines actual length of single cable section.
• Shorter segments-for cables through ducts
• Longer lengths-for aerial, direct-burial or underwater application
• Longest length- for transoceanic cable
 Transmitter: LED or LASER
• Dimensionally compatible with core of fiber, associated circuitry
and modulation circuitry.
• Light output is modulated by varying input current at desired
rate.
• The electrical signal can be analog or digital signal.
• Associated electronic control ckt: sets and stabilize source
operating point and output power level.
• For high rate (> 2.5 Gbps), direct modulation of source can lead
to unacceptable signal distortion. So external modulator is used
• For 770-910 nm region , alloys of GaAlAs source is used
• For 1260-1675 nm region, alloys of InGaAsP
 Into the fiber:
• Attenuation and distortion
• Due to Scattering, absorption, dispersion in glass

 Receiver:
• Photodiode: detects weakened and distorted signal and convert
into electrcil signal (called photocurrent).
• For 770-910 nm region , Silicon photodiode is used
• For 1260-1675 nm region, alloys of InGaAs
• Receiver designing is more complex than transmitter
• Figure of merit for Rx, min optical power at desired bit rate to
attain either a given error probability for digital system or a
specified signal-to-noise ratio for analog system.
• Rx ability depends on photodetector type, effect of noise in
system and chara. of successive amplification stages.
Passive optical devices Active optical devices
• They do not require electronic • Requires electronic control
control for their operation. • Light signal modulators
• Controls and guides light • Tunable (wavelength-
signals. selectable) optical filters
• Optical filters- selects only a • Reconfigurable elements for
narrow spectrum of desired adding and dropping
light wavelengths at intermediate
• Optical splitters-divide power nodes
into no. of diff branches • Variable optical attenuators
• Optical MUX-combines signals • Optical switches
from two or more distinct
wavelength onto same fiber.
• Couplers-used to tap off a
certain % of light, usually for
performance monitoring.
 Power budget:
• A s signal travels along a fiber, it becomes greatly weakened due
to power loss. So when setting optical link, engineers formulate
a power budget and adds amplifiers or repeaters when loss
exceeds power margin.
• Amplifier-boost optical signal
• Repeater-restores the signal to its original shape
• Repeater performs photon-to-electron conversion , electrical
amplification, retiming, pulse shaping and then electron-to-
photon conversion.
• Complex for high-speed multiwavelength system. So all-optical
amplifiers are developed, which uses devices based on rare-
earth-doped lengths of fiber and distributed amplification by
means of stimulated Raman scattering effect.
 Measurement
• Fiber parameters
• Chara. of Passive splitters, Connectors, couplers
• chara. of Sources, photodetectors, optical amplifiers
• Bit error rate, timing jitter, SNR
 Limitations of FOC
 Joining cables:
• Fusion splicing :precision and skilled persons are required.
 High initial cost
 Maintenance and repairing cost is high
 Tensile strength: fragile, Bending
 Slow standards development
• Development is happening quickly but worldwide agreement to
a standard is to be done.
 Short links
• Not cost effective to replace every conventional connector(like
between computer & peripherals)
Thank You