2

Why 0o Wc Nccd 0pIcs!

2.1 Jhc qucsI Ior bandwdIh
In Chaptei 1, the ielationship between infoimation content and band-
width was exploied. We saw that when infoimation is cast into the foim of
a voltage signal, foi example, the bandwidth occupied by the signal is
gieatei, the gieatei the amount of infoimation it iepiesents. When this
infoimation is impiessed (modulated) on to a caiiiei in oidei to send
many signals ovei a tiunk telecommunications line, the line itself has to
have the capability foi a laige bandwidth-distance pioduct (that is, the
ability to caiiy a laige amount of infoimation ovei a gieat distance) if
the line is to be economic as a tiunk caiiiei.
A paii of coppei wiies becomes uneconomic foi moie than about 300
speech signals ovei 10 kmof distance. With each speech-modulated caiiiei
occupying about 6 kHz of bandwidth, this gives a total bandwidth of about
2 MHz and a bandwidth-distance pioduct of about 20 MHz/km. Cleaily,
the conduction losses seveiely limit the bandwidth capabilities of coppei
wiies and hence, foi moie capacity than this, it is necessaiy to look away
fiom coppei wiies. We aie looking foi means of telecommunication on
caiiiei waves at much highei fiequencies, which can tiavel laige distances
80
with little attenuation. Aiound the time that this became desiiable foi the
fuithei development of telecommunications technology, iadio waves weie
discoveied (by Heiniich Heitz, in 1888). These waves weie a paiticulai
example of a geneial class of waves known as electiomagnetic waves. Befoie
being able to appieciate how these have helped in the advance of telecom-
munications technology, it will be necessaiy to take a diveision to undei-
stand theii piimaiy featuies.
2.2 FlccIromagncIc wavcs
It had become cleai duiing the eaily nineteenth centuiy that electiicity and
magnetism weie intimately ielated. Electiic cuiients, moving elections,
weie known to give iise to magnetic foice fields, and moving magnetic
foice fields weie known to give iise to electiic cuiients.
In 1864 James Cleik Maxwell, a Scottish mathematical physicist,
showed that this meant that electiic and magnetic foice fields ought to be
able to iepioduce each othei continuously in space and thus give iise to a
tiaveling wave: the electiomagnetic wave. Maxwell went fuithei and calcu-
lated the speed of these waves. He found this to be veiy close to the known
value of the speed of light. It theiefoie became cleai that light itself was an
electiomagnetic wave. Fuithei expeiimental evidence foi the natuie of
such waves came 24 yeais latei, when Heiniich Heitz succeeded in pioduc-
ing iadiating electiomagnetic waves with a vaiying electiic cuiient in a
spaik chambei. Heitz was able to detect these waves by causing them to
pioduce anothei spaik at an unconnected point a few meteis away. He
called these waves iadio waves, and iadio was boin (Figuie 2.1).
The electiomagnetic wave, consisting as it does of mutually sustaining
electiic and magnetic foice fields in space, is depicted in Figuie 2.2a.
This wave is chaiacteiized similaily to that of the puie wave pictuied in
Figuie 1.8a, with an additional featuie that iesults fiom the fact that it now
tiavels in distance as well as in time. If the wave is obseived at one point in
space, then the peaks and tioughs of eithei field come and go with time
and, as we saw in Section 1.5, the numbei of peaks (oi tioughs) that occui
in one second is called the fiequency of the wave; this is measuied in cycles
pei second (Figuie 2.2b), a unit that, as has alieady been mentioned, is
given the name Heitz (abbieviated Hz). Noimally, foi iadio waves, the
symbol f is assigned to fiequency.
If, now, the wave of just the electiic field, say, is obseived at one point
in time (Figuie 2.2c), we see the wave stiung out in space, so that the
40 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
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(c} !hc varlallon ln sacc al onc olnl ln llmc or lhc lravcllng wavc
Fgurc 2.2 Llcclromagncllc wavc dclnlllons.
wave is now also chaiacteiized by the distance between peaks (oi between
tioughs). This distance is known as the wavelength, and it is noimally
assigned the Gieek lettei (lambda). The wavelength is measuied in
meteis oi, as it gets smallei, in millimeteis (one-thousandth of a metei,
10
3
m, wiitten as mm), miciometeis (one-millionth, 10
6
m, m), oi
nanometeis (one-billionth, 10
9
m, nm). The wavelength compiises an
impoitant behavioial featuie of the waves, as we shall soon see. It is the
same foi both the electiic and magnetic fields, as is the fiequency; in oidei
mutually to sustain each othei, the fields must vaiy in the same way in both
space and time. Now, at one point in space thiough which the wave is tiav-
eling theie will be f wavelengths passing in any one second, so that the
speed of the wave will be f meteis pei second. This is conveniently
wiitten:
c = f
wheie c is the speed of the wave. The speed of electiomagnetic waves in fiee
space does not depend on theii fiequency oi theii wavelength. It is a funda-
mental constant of natuie. Nothing can tiavel fastei. Its measuied value is
299,792,458 meteis pei second and, foi most telecommunications pui-
poses, this can be well appioximated by a value of 300,000,000 meteis pei
second, oi moie conveniently in scientific notation, 3 10
8
m/s
1
. It tiavels
only veiy slightly slowei in aii (the diffeience is only 0.03%), because the
aii offeis veiy little iesistance to the passage of the waves. Since f is con-
stant, it follows that as the fiequency (f ) iises, the wavelength () must get
smallei; theie is no limit to the fiequency (oi the wavelength) that these
waves can have. Hence, foi example, a wave at a fiequency of 3 kHz will
have a wavelength of 100 km (i.e., 3 10
3
10
5
= 3 10
8
), wheieas a light
wave will have a fiequency of aiound 3 10
14
Hz and a wavelength of
aiound one-millionth of a metei (1 m).
The full iange of what is called the electiomagnetic spectium is shown
in Figuie 2.3. It extends fiom the low-fiequency iadio waves pioduced
by Heitz`s spaik, foi example, to the veiy-high-fiequency gamma waves
pioduced by some of the most violent objects and piocesses in the uni-
veise, such as black holes and the collapse of giant stais. With such a wide
iange of caiiiei fiequencies available, it is cleai that this spectium might be
of gieat value to us in telecommunications technology. Let us now look at
how these waves can, in fact, be used in puisuit of impoitant advances in
telecommunications.
42 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
2.8 Jransmsson wIh clccIromagncIc wavcs
Having leained something about electiomagnetic waves, we next ask:
What aie theii advantages foi telecommunications? Theie aie seveial.
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Fgurc 2.8 !hc clcclromagncllc scclrum.
The fiist is that, since the waves tiavel fieely thiough aii and space,
no physical connection is necessaiy between tiansmittei and ieceivei (as
Heitz discoveied). This has enoimous advantages, because it means that
we will not be hindeied by the type of iesistance that appeais in coppei
wiies, notably at highei fiequencies. In fact, Heitz`s discoveiy of the elec-
tiomagnetic waves known as iadio waves was the fiist gieat leap foiwaid
fiomcoppei-wiie-based telephony. Howevei, it wasn`t until 1894, six yeais
aftei Heitz`s oiiginal expeiiment, that Guglielmo Maiconi fiist succeeded
in tiansmitting infoimation using iadio waves.
The second advantage is that, as we have seen, theie is now, in piinci-
ple, an infinite iange of fiequencies available, and theiefoie, potentially,
infinite signal bandwidth. The ieal position is not neaily as iosy as this, as
we shall soon discovei, but neveitheless, electiomagnetic waves do offei
the possibility foi a vast inciease in available bandwidth when compaied
with coppei wiies.
A thiid gieat advantage of using electiomagnetic waves is that they
tiavel veiy fast; we have alieady noted that theii speed is veiy close to
300,000,000 meteis pei second; nothing can tiavel fastei than this (this is
one of the coineistones of Einstein`s special theoiy of ielativity). It means,
of couise, that theie is veiy little delay in ieceiving the tiansmitted mes-
sages: electiomagnetic waves can tiavel all the way aiound the ciicumfei-
ence of the eaith in only about one-seventh of a second.
How, then, should we use these waves in oui tiunk telecommunica-
tions channels? To answei this, let us fiist examine how such waves can be
geneiated. We need to geneiate waves of electiic and magnetic foice fields,
and this can be done conveniently by foicing elections to move iapidly
back and foith along conducting wiies, since piessuie of elections, when
they aie all compiessed at one end of a wiie, cieates an electiic foice, and
moving elections, an electiic cuiient, cieates a magnetic foice. These foice
fields move away fiom the wiies as a paii of mutually sustaining waves to
foim the electiomagnetic wave. These geneiating wiies aie then called
antennas.` Heitz`s spaik was effectively an antenna, since it involved iap-
idly oscillating elections (albeit now not in a wiie), as do all spaiks. The
pioblem foi telecommunications is that such antennas iadiate waves in all
diiections, iathei than just towaid a paiticulai ieceivei along a tiunk line
(Figuie 2.4). This means that any one ieceivei will ieceive only a small fiac-
tion of the tiansmitted powei, and the faithei away it is, the less powei it
will ieceive. This wave spieading thus compiises, effectively, a souice of
attenuation. Of couise, it is sometimes veiy convenient foi a tiansmittei to
44 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
be ieceived by a laige numbei of ieceiveis spiead ovei a wide aiea, and this
is what happens foi national iadio and television bioadcasts; it is also con-
venient when the ieceivei is moving aiound an aiea, as in mobile teleph-
ony. But these aie ielatively naiiow-bandwidth applications. The iates
of infoimation tiansmission aie quite small. Foi veiy-wide-band tiunk
applications, point-to-point links aie iequiied. So how can this spieading
of the tiansmitted powei be oveicome?
One solution is to guide the waves in some kind of conducting aiiange-
ment such as is shown in Figuie 2.5. Heie theie is a cential conducting wiie
of coppei lying along the axis of an outei coppei cylindei, with the space
between the two elements filled with an insulatoi, such as polythene. This
is known as a coaxial cable (since both wiie and cylindei shaie the same
long axis) and it compiises a flexible guide foi electiomagnetic waves.
Since conductois aie involved in this aiiangement, some of the wave
powei depends on the movement of elections in the conductois, and it
may seem that we aie saddling ouiselves with the same attenuation piob-
lems as in the case of coppei wiies. Howevei, in this case, most of the powei
is caiiied in the electiomagnetic wave between the conductois, and only a
ielatively small amount in the flow of elections (Figuie 2.5). The iesult of
this is that veiy much highei wave fiequencies can be used befoie the
attenuation becomes too seveie, and the closed stiuctuie pievents the cop-
pei wiie fiom itself becoming an antenna, which would cause it to iadiate
signal powei away into the suiiounding space (this featuie was mentioned
as a souice of attenuation in Section 1.9). Taking a minimum economic
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 45
P P P
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a largcr and largcr arca as lhc
wavc rogrcsscs, so lhal lhc cncrgy
avallablc lo a glvcn rccclvcr
dlmlnlshcs wllh dlslancc
Fgurc 2.4 unlormly-radlallng anlcnna.
iepeatei spacing of about 20 km, we find that it is possible to tiansmit
aiound 3,000 speech signals simultaneously ovei a coaxial cable, coiie-
sponding to a bandwidth of about 20 MHz and a bandwidth-distance
pioduct of 400 MHz/km. This is about 20 times moie than was possible
with a paii of coppei wiies.
Much moie bandwidth is still needed, howevei. So fai we have been
concentiating on voice channels, but theie is much moie to telecommuni-
cations than just these. Theie is facsimile (still pictuies), video (moving
pictuies), and computei data, foi example. Foi a video signal (e.g., televi-
sion) about 5 MHz of bandwidth is iequiied, and foi computei data just
about as much as possible, in the longei teim, anyway. Hence we must look
towaid highei and highei caiiiei fiequencies. It is cleai that the electiical
iesistance of coppei (oi any conductoi) will eventually always impose a
seveie limitation on bandwidth, whethei it is caiiying a cuiient oi guiding
a wave, so we must look beyond that. The obvious fiist diiection in which
to look is towaid the fiee-path tiansmission of high-fiequency electiomag-
netic waves thiough the atmospheie. Theie aie thiee questions that aiise
immediately in iegaid to this: Fiist, how can such waves be diiected in nai-
iow beams so that point-to-point links can be constiucted foi tiunk lines?
Second, howwell do such waves tiavel thiough the atmospheie? And thiid,
how easy is it to geneiate such waves? Let us look at these thiee questions
in tuin.
Fiist, how can we pioduce naiiow, diiected beams of electiomagnetic
waves? Well, we saw eailiei that one way of pioducing electiomagnetic
46 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
0ulcr conducllng cyllndcr
Ccnlral conducllng wlrc
Magncllc lcld
Llcclrlc lcld
Mosl o lhc lravcllng wavc cncrgy llcs
ln lhc lclds bclwccn lhc conduclors
+
Fgurc 2.5 !hc coaxlal cablc.
waves is to cause elections to oscillate iapidly back and foith in a conduct-
ing wiie known as an antenna. The ideal length of wiie needed to geneiate
waves of a paiticulai fiequency is equal to about half a wavelength at this
fiequency. The wiie is said to iesonate, like a plucked violin stiing, at
this fiequency when it has the coiiect length (Figuie 2.6b), just as the violin
stiing will geneiate sound waves with a half-wavelength equal to its length
(Figuie 2.6a).
If we aie going to pioduce naiiow beams of such waves, it is necessaiy
foi us to design stiuctuies that aie geometiical aiiays of these half-wave
antennas (known as dipoles) with half-wavelength spacings, so that the
waves fiom the vaiious antennas can ieinfoice in the iequiied diiection
and cancel in othei diiections, by a piocess known as wave inteifeience.
(We will look moie closely at this piocess in Chaptei 3). Constiucting such
aiiays is much easiei when the wavelengths aie small and thus when the
antennas aie shoit. Foi example, medium-wave iadio bioadcasts, at fie-
quencies of aiound 1 MHz, opeiate at wavelengths of about 300 meteis
(i.e., 3 10
8
m/s
1
10
6
(Hz) = 300 m), so that veiy tall masts aie iequiied,
of oidei 150 meteis high (which is half this wavelength). Cleaily, aiiays of
masts with these heights and spacings aie quite impiactical. It is much eas-
iei to diiect the waves when the wavelengths come down to about 1 metei.
This coiiesponds to a fiequency of 300 MHz, enteiing what is known as the
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 41
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miciowave` iange (see Figuie 2.2a). The added advantage of moving to
the highei fiequency is, of couise, that it also offeis gieatei bandwidth.
Miciowave antennas can be quite compact and, cleaily, will become
moie so as the fiequency iises. The most effective kind of miciowave
antenna is the well-known miciowave dish,` such as is used foi ieceiving
satellite television. This has a diametei of about a metei. The dish is made
of conducting mateiial, and the wavelength of the iadiation is smallei
than the dish diametei. A dipole is placed at the focus of the dish (see
Figuie 2.7a) and, when fed with electiical powei, it iadiates in all diiec-
tions. Wheievei iadiated waves fiom the dipole stiike the conducting
dish, they effectively cieate secondaiy, iadiating dipoles. Thus all of these
dipoles, on the innei suiface of the dish, foim the equivalent of an oideied
aiiay that, owing to the phases of the waves iesulting fiom the geometiy,
48 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
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0lolc
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all ieinfoice in just one diiection: the foiwaid diiection. Hence the iadia-
tion is naiiowly collimated in this diiection, towaid the ieceiving dish
(Figuie 2.7a). When it aiiives at the ieceiving dish, the same piocess hap-
pens in ieveise, and the incoming iadiation is focused on to a dipole placed
at this dish`s focus. This iesults in an electiic cuiient that then passes to the
ieceiving electionics. A photogiaph of a laigei miciowave dish foi ieceiv-
ing satellite tiansmissions is shown in Figuie 2.7b.
With such dishes, miciowave beams can be tiansmitted effectively ovei
distances of up to 250 km befoie beam spieading takes ovei again and sig-
nificantly attenuates the signal at the ieceivei. So now we have the answei
to the fiist question: that of how to pioduce naiiow, diiected beams of
iadiation.
The second question conceins how easy it is to geneiate such waves.
We know that we must make elections oscillate in a conductoi, but to do
this at these veiy high fiequencies means that the elections have to move
veiy fast and hence have to be fed with a lot of eneigy, and in such a way as
to foice them to oscillate back and foith at these veiy high iates. How can
this be done?
The pioblem was fiist solved satisfactoiily duiing Woild Wai II, when
the necessity foi effective iadai systems at miciowave fiequencies moti-
vated a lot of effoit to develop high-powei souices of miciowaves. Radai
played an impoitant pait in the defenses of southein England duiing the
Battle of Biitain in 1940, and its success was laigely due to miciowave
souices known as the klystion and the magnetion. These devices piovided
souices of high powei at wavelengths of about 10 cm (coiiesponding to
fiequencies of about 3,000 MHz). The magnetion is also used today in
miciowave ovens. Theie have been othei impoitant developments since.
So we now have both the souices and the diiectional aiiays necessaiy
foi tiunk-line, fiee-path tiansmission at fiequencies up to 3,000 MHz
and beyond, giving us the potential foi anothei laige inciease in tiunk
bandwidth-distance. Unfoitunately, howevei, not all of this 3,000 MHz
caiiiei is available as signal bandwidth. The main ieason foi this is that any
given miciowave souice cannot piovide powei ovei all the fiequencies up
to 3,000 MHz. It is essentially a high-fiequency device, and it piovides
eneigy within a faiily naiiow iange of fiequencies, of oidei 5% of the cen-
tial caiiiei. This gives a bandwidth of aiound 150 MHz at 3,000 MHz. At
fiist sight this looks little bettei than the coaxial cable, which had a band-
width of about 30 MHz, but only ovei a distance of about 20 km. Oui
new miciowave bandwidth of 150 MHz can tiavel a distance of aiound
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 40
250 km in the atmospheie. This gives it a bandwidth-distance pioduct of
37,500 MHz/km, an inciease of almost 100 times ovei that foi a coaxial
cable.
It is cleai that the fiequency units have again become cumbeisome, so
that yet anothei adjustment is needed. It is convenient now to define a fie-
quency unit equal to 1,000 MHz: the gigaheitz (10
9
Hz), abbieviated GHz.
The bandwidth-distance pioduct above now becomes 37.5 GHz/km.
Still moie bandwidth-distance is needed, so highei and highei we go.
Theie aie souices available at 10 GHz (10
10
Hz) and thus the bandwidth
available fiom these is of oidei 500 MHz. This is enough to handle 100,000
speech signals oi 100 video signals, and again the iadiation can be beamed
ovei 250 km oi so with the aid of a miciowave dish.
Cleaily, these beamed miciowave signals need a diiect line of sight
between tiansmittei and ieceivei. Miciowaves cannot bend aiound
the eaith oi aiound buildings, as the much longei wavelengths can do.
Roughly speaking, waves can only bend aiound objects that have a size
smallei than theii wavelength. A wave can, effectively, cuil itself aiound an
object smallei than the iate at which it, itself, is changing in space. At 1 GHz
the wavelength is only 30 cm, so that most man-made objects in towns oi
cities, being laigei than this, will block them. It is foi this ieason that many
laigei cities have now constiucted tall telecommunications toweis, such as
the BT Towei in London (Figuie 2.8). These toweis aie high, slim stiuc-
tuies that suppoit sets of miciowave dishes close to theii tops, in oidei to
allow diiect line of sight tiansmission paths ovei the tops of the city build-
ings to, peihaps, anothei such towei in anothei city.
Satellite communications also use fiequencies in this iange (1 GHz to
10 GHz). An aitificial satellite is placed in an oibit wheie it ievolves at the
same iate as the eaith, a so-called geostationaiy oibit (that is, at a height of
about 35,000 km). It thus iemains fixed with iespect to the eaith`s suiface
and it can be used to bounce` miciowaves between any two points on the
eaith to which it is visible (Figuie 2.9). Cleaily, as the waves aie going
almost stiaight up and down, theie is little possibility of obstiuction. One
difficulty, howevei, is that, because of the laige ietuin distance, theie is
now an appieciable time delay, of about one-thiid of a second, between
tiansmission and ieception. This can be tioublesome, and iiiitating, dui-
ing a two-way conveisation.
So now we have a foimidable iange of caiiiei fiequencies foi wide-
band telecommunications. These aie summaiized in Table 2.1. They iange
fiom the veiy low fiequencies (VLF) caiiied by coppei wiies thiough the
50 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 51
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low (LF), medium (MF), and high (HF) fiequencies that can be caiiied by
coaxial cable, up to the VHF and miciowave fiequencies, which can only be
tiansmitted effectively thiough the atmospheie and fiee space.
But the demand foi moie and moie bandwidth is ielentless. Highei
and highei we must go in oui seaich to meet the evei incieasing demands
of the computei age. Howevei, at aiound 10 GHz we encountei anothei
majoi obstacle. At this fiequency the atmospheie begins to absoib, and
theiefoie attenuate, the miciowaves quite significantly, especially when it
contains moistuie in the foim of mist, fog, oi iain (see Figuie 2.10). The
tiunk telecommunications netwoik, as piesently configuied (2000), makes
good use of miciowaves up to about 10 GHz, but what is to be done to
acquiie even gieatei bandwidth in the face of this atmospheiic blockage?
Duiing the 1970s theie was an attempt to guide waves with fiequencies
up to about 100 GHz (i.e., wavelengths in the millimetei iange) in hollow
conducting tubes (no cential conductois in this case), known as cylindiical
waveguides. The idea heie was that these tubes could be pumped fiee of aii
and moistuie and that, theiefoie, the attenuation would be gieatly ieduced
52 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
6=>A The Usage of the Radio Spectium
N.xi oi B.xn Fviguixc. R.xci Us.ci
Veiy low fiequency (VLF) 3-30 kHz Veiy long distance communications
Low fiequency (LF) 30-300 kHz National bioadcasting
Radio navigation
Medium fiequency (MF) 0.3-3 MHz National bioadcasting
High fiequency (HF) 3-30 MHz Radio telephony
Veiy high fiequency (VHF) 30-300 MHz FM bioadcasting
Television bioadcasting
Mobile iadio telephony
Radio navigation
Ultia-high fiequency (UHF) 0.3-3 GHz Television bioadcasting
Mobile iadio telephony
Radio navigation
Radai
Supei-high fiequency (SHF) 3-30 GHz Multi-channel tiunk telephony
Radai
Satellite communications
Extia-high fiequency (EHF) 30-300 GHz TE
01
waveguide (?)
(Figuie 2.11). Waveguides foi miciowaves weie not a new idea. They had
been used foi some time, with eithei squaie oi iectangulai cioss-sections,
to guide miciowaves ovei shoit distances (meteis), foi convenience in tak-
ing powei to tiansmitteis oi fiom ieceiveis, foi example. But the coppei
conduction losses (the losses discussed in Section 1.7) in them weie too
seveie foi use in long-distance tiansmission at these fiequencies. Howevei,
the idea that aiose in about 1970 was that of using a paiticulai tiaveling
wave pattein, known to the expeits as the TE
01
mode, in which almost all
the wave powei was caiiied in the electiomagnetic fields, and almost none
in the conduction elections. Consequently, the attenuation was veiy small
indeed; but only when the waveguide was stiaight. These waveguides weie
actively ieseaiched duiing the 1970s, but they weie tempeiamental, needed
expensive piecision engineeiing, and caieful (almost) stiaight-line installa-
tion. Foitunately, othei developments weie afoot that weie soon to ovei-
take the TE
01
waveguide.
These developments weie the iesult of ieseaich, also duiing the 1970s,
on an entiiely new type of waveguide. This waveguide contained no metal-
lic conductois at all, and it guided not miciowaves but light waves. It was
called the optical fibei.
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 58
10
1
10
1
10
2
10
8
1 10 100
wllh raln
0ry alr
Allcnuallon lncrcascs raldly
wllh rcqucncy abovc 10 0hz
lrcqucncy (0hz}
A
l
l
c
n
u
a
l
l
o
n
(
d
8
k
m
}

Fgurc 2.10 !hc varlallon o mlcrowavc allcnuallon wllh rcqucncy or lwo

lycs o almoshcrlc condlllon.
As we know, light is a foim of electiomagnetic wave, so the only
actual diffeience between the light waves and miciowaves is that of the
wave fiequency. The optical fibei guides light waves with fiequencies of
aiound 300,000 GHz. Cleaily, we nowneed yet anothei fiequency unit: the
teiaheitz (10
12
Hz), abbieviated THz. So now we aie dealing with fiequen-
cies of the oidei of 300 THz, and wavelengths of the oidei of one-millionth
of a metei, oi one miciometei (1 m). This wave fiequency lies within
what we call the infiaied iegion (see the spectium, Figuie 2.3), which is
only just beyond the iange of human vision. It is geneially classed as
light,` since it obeys the laws of optics (which aie to be coveied in the next
chaptei) and can, foi example, be focused by glass lenses, ieflected by glass
miiiois, et ceteia. The collimation and focusing of miciowaves was begin-
ning to show such behavioi, as we noted when discussing them (see again,
foi example, Figuie 2.7a). The changes in wave behavioi aie giadual as we
pass along the electiomagnetic spectium and, in any case, aie changes of
scale iathei than of kind.
The iange of human vision (i.e., the iange to which the human eye`s
ietina is sensitive) is fiom a wavelength of 0.7 m, which coiiesponds to
ied light, down to 0.4 m, which coiiesponds to violet light. Hence, just
above 0.7 m we speak of infiaied light and just below 0.4 m, of ultiavio-
let light. Between 0.7 mand 0.4 mwe have the full visual coloi spectium:
ied, oiange, yellow, gieen, blue, indigo, violet. Gieen light, in the middle of
the iange, has a wavelength of about 0.5 m and a fiequency of about
600 THz.
54 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
Conducllng, cvacualcd
hollow cyllndcr
!ravcllng wavc
Magncllc lcld
Llcclrlc lcld
Fgurc 2.11 hlgh-rcqucncy mlcrowavc wavcguldc (!L
01
modc}.
Foi convenience, the notation foi all the fiequency and wavelength
units discussed so fai is summaiized in Tables 2.2 and 2.3.
Since this newoptical waveguide is not made fiommetal, it involves no
conduction elections and thus no electiical losses. It theiefoie compiises a
veiy-high-fiequency (aiound 3 10
14
Hz) caiiiei systemwith veiy lowloss.
This was just what the telecommunications industiy needed. Almost ovei-
night, it iendeied the TE
01
waveguide iedundant.
The bandwidth offeied by an optical wave, taking 5% of 300 THz, is of
oidei 15 THz, oi 15,000 GHz. This is enough foi eveiy membei of the
human iace to be talking to anothei membei at the same time-and all
along one optical-fibei waveguide. Cleaily, this optical iegime has the
potential to meet all oui telecommunications bandwidth iequiiements
well into the foieseeable futuie, possibly foi the whole of the twenty-fiist
centuiy. Additionally, the optical fibei is veiy thin (about 100 m in
diametei), is of lowweight, is easily bent aiound coineis, and is made fiom
sand, one of the cheapest and most abundant mateiials on oui planet. This
is why a global optical-fibei telecommunications netwoik is piesently
undei constiuction.
The economic advantages of being able to pass moie and moie signal
bandwidth down one tiunk-line channel aie illustiated in Figuie 2.12. The
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 55
T.nii :.: Multiple Units
Fviguixc. (Hz) Sciix1iiic No1.1iox (Hz) N.xi Annvivi.1iox
1,000 10
3
Kiloheitz kHz
1,000,000 10
6
Megaheitz MHz
1,000,000.000 10
9
Gigaheitz GHz
1,000,000,000,000 10
12
Teiaheitz THz
T.nii :., SUB Multiple Units
W.viiixc1n
(Fv.c1ioxs oi . xi1iv) Sciix1iiic No1.1iox N.xi Annvivi.1iox
Thousandth 10
3
m millimetei mm
Millionth 10
6
m miciometei m
Thousand millionth 10
9
m nanometei nm
Million millionth 10
12
m picometei pm
diagiam shows how diamatically the ieal (i.e., inflation-adjusted) cost foi
unit bandwidth-distance pioduct, measuied in units of kHz/km, has fallen
with inciease in caiiiei fiequency, as the changes in technology have
occuiied. Alieady, foi example, optical-fibei technology has ieduced costs
by a factoi of about 10,000 compaied with the eaily days of coppei conduc-
tois, and this new technology is only in its infancy. A ieduction by anothei
factoi of 10 ceitainly is soon to be achieved and, in the medium teim,
piobably a factoi of 100. With such enoimous bandwidth capability avail-
able at such lowcost, theie is the neai ceitainty of anothei majoi impact on
the whole stiuctuie of society: on the way we woik, play, leain, and genei-
ally live oui lives.
Now that we have gained an appieciation of the developments that
have led to optical-fibei technology and of the position it occupies in the
oveiall scheme of telecommunications, it is time to begin to undeistand
how optical fibeis and optical-fibei telecommunications systems actually
woik. This is the puipose of the iest of the book. Oui fiist task must be
to become familiai with the optical fibei itself. This is the subject of the
next chaptei.
56 undcrslandlng 0llcal llbcr Communlcallons
!
10
6
10
4
10
8
10
2
10
1
P
c
l
a
l
l
v
c
c
o
s
l

c
r
c
l
r
c
u
l
l
-
m
l
l
c
Cocr wlrcs
Coaxlal cablc
Padlo lransmlsslon
lrcc-alh mlcrowavcs
Low-loss wavcguldc (!L }
01
0llcal lbcr
Carrlcr rcqucncy (hz}
1 10
2
10
4
10

10
8
10
10
10
12
10
14
10
1
Fgurc 2.12 !hc cconomlcs o lncrcaslng carrlcr rcqucncy.
2.4 Summary
In this chaptei we have seen how the ielentless need to inciease tiansmis-
sion signal bandwidth oi, moie specifically, bandwidth-distance, leads us
away fiom coppei wiies as the caiiieis of infoimation, to electiomagnetic
waves. We studied the basic piopeities of these waves and then looked at
the ways in which these waves can be used in tiunk-line telecommunica-
tions netwoiks. This led us fiist to the coaxial cable, on to beamed micio-
waves thiough the atmospheie, and then, because of the attenuation by
moist aii above about 10 GHz, to the evacuated miciowave waveguide.
We finally noted that the above systems aie being supeiseded by an
entiiely new type of waveguide: the optical fibei. This waveguide guides
light waves, and it contains no conducting mateiial at all. Theie aie, theie-
foie, no losses of the type caused by elections flowing in conductois, and
the losses aie veiy lowindeed in this waveguide. This, coupled with the fact
that optical fiequencies aie veiy high, at aiound 300 THz (3 10
14
Hz),
means that optical-fibei technology offeis the means foi pioviding all
of mankind`s telecommunications bandwidth iequiiements well into the
foieseeable futuie, peihaps foi the whole of the twenty-fiist centuiy.
|y 0c r |rrJ 0pIic:? 51