EC2402 - OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

AND NETWORKING

GENERAL COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM

OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

GOOD COMMUNICATION NEEDS

(1)Bandwidh (BW)
[Bandwidth of a system is more or less proportional to the
frequency of operation, use of higher frequency facilitates
larger BW]
(2)Good signal to noise ratio (SNR) i.e. low loss.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION SYLLABUS

Introduction
Ray theory transmission

Total internal reflection

Acceptance angle
Numerical aperture
Skew rays
Phase and group velocity

cylindrical fibers

SM fibers

INTRODUCTION

Optical Communication is the most modern mode of

wired communication.
Optical communication is also the youngest mode of
communication. However its capabilities supersede all
other modes of communication.
Before optical communication, the most of the
communication was in radio and microwave domain
which has lower frequency range than the optical.

ELECTRO MAGNETIC
SPECTRUM

TRANSMISSION MEDIA ALTERNATIVE TO THE

OPTICAL COMMUNICATION
There are various wired and wireless media used for
long and short distance communication.
Their broad characteristics are summarized in the
following.

The first two media have a very limited bandwidth.

Microwave links and Satellite communication has

comparable bandwidths as in principle their mode of
operation is same but the spatial reach of satellite is
far greater.
Before Fiber optic communication became viable,
satellite communication was the only choice for long
distance communication.

Medium / Link

Carrier

Information Capacity

Copper Cable
(short distance)

1 MHz

1 Mbps

Coaxial Cable
100 MHz
(Repeater every 4.5 km)

140 Mbps (BSNL)

UHF Link

2 GHz

8 Mbps (BSNL), 2 Mbps (Rly.)

MW Link
(Repeater every 40 km)

7 GHz

140 Mbps (BSNL), 34 Mbps (Rly.)

1550 nm

Frequency Vs Attenuation
In Various Types of Cable
More
information
carrying
capacity
fibbers can
handle much
higher data
rates than
copper. More
information
can be sent in
a second

ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL FIBRE

Thinner
Less

Expensive
Higher Carrying Capacity
Less Signal Degradation&
Digital Signals
Light Signals
Non-Flammable
Light Weight

ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

Much Higher Bandwidth (Gbps) - Thousands of

channels can be multiplexed together over one strand
of fiber

Immunity to Noise - Immune to electromagnetic

interference (EMI).

Safety - Doesnt transmit electrical signals, making it

safe in environments like a gas pipeline.

High Security - Impossible to tap into.

ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

Less Loss - Repeaters can be spaced 75 miles

apart (fibers can be made to have only 0.2 dB/km of
attenuation)
Reliability - More resilient than copper in extreme
environmental conditions.
Size - Lighter and more compact than copper.
Flexibility - Unlike impure, brittle glass, fiber is
physically very flexible.

FIBER OPTIC ADVANTAGES

greater

capacity

(bandwidth up to 2 Gbps,
or more)
smaller

size and lighter

weight
lower

attenuation

immunity

to environmental

interference
highly

secure due to tap

difficulty and lack of signal

radiation

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DISADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

Disadvantages include
the cost of interfacing
equipment necessary to
convert electrical
signals to optical
signals. (optical
transmitters, receivers)
Splicing fiber optic
cable is also more
difficult.

FIBER OPTIC DISADVANTAGES

expensive
requires
adding

over short distance

highly skilled installers

additional nodes is difficult

20

AREAS OF APPLICATION

Telecommunications
Local Area Networks
Cable TV
CCTV
Optical Fiber Sensors

ATTENUATION
HISTORY

FIRST WINDOW

Initially in early 1970s due to technology

limitation, the optical fiber had a low loss window
around 800nm.
Also the semiconductor optical sources were
made of GaAs which emitted light at 800nm.
Due to compatibility of the medium properties
and the sources, the optical communication
started in 800nm band so called the First
window.

SECOND WINDOW

As the glass purification technology improved, the

true silica loss profile emerged in 1980s.
The loss profile shows two low loss windows, one
around 1300nm and other around1550nm.
In 1980s the optical communication shifted to
1300nm band , so called the Second
Window' .
Support the highest data rate due to lowest
dispersion.

THIRD WINDOW

In 1990s the communication was shifted to

1550nm window, so called Third Window' due
to invention of the Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier
(EDFA).
The EDFA can amplify light only in a narrow band
around 1550nm. Also this window has intrinsically
lowest loss of about 0.2 dB/Km .
This band has higher dispersion, meaning lower
bandwidth.
However, this problem has been solved by use of
so called dispersion shifted fibers'.

BASICS OF LIGHT
I

Characteristics of light are

Intensity (Power per unit solid angle)

Wavelength (Color)

Spectral width ( purity of color)

Polarization
- Linear
- Circular
- Elliptical
The first three parameters are scalar characteristics of light
whereas the last parameter, polarization, describes the vector
nature of light.

PHYSICS OF LIGHT

Photons (light particles)

light represented by tiny bundles of energy (or quanta),
following straight line paths along the rays.

PHYSICS OF LIGHT
PLANCKS LAW

Ep =hf
Where,
Ep energy of the photon (joules)
h = Plancks constant = 6.625 x 10 -34 J-s
f frequency o f light (photon) emitted (hertz)

INDEX OF REFRACTION

SNELLS LAW

When light travels from one medium to other, it

gets refracted.
The relation between the angle of incidence and
the angle of refraction is given by the Snell's
law.

SNELLS LAW

EXAMPLE:

Let medium 1 be glass ( n1 = 1.5 ) and medium 2 by

ethyl alcohol (n2 = 1.36 ). For an angle of incidence of
30, determine the angle of refraction.

Answer: 33.47

SNELLS LAW

OPTICAL FIBER

Optical fiber consists of a core, cladding and a

protective outer coating, which guides light along the
core by total internal reflection.

OPTICAL FIBER CONSTRUCTION

Core thin glass center of
the fiber where light travels.
Cladding outer optical
material surrounding the
core
Buffer Coating plastic
coating that protects
the fiber.

OPTICAL FIBER

The core, and the lower- refractive index cladding, are

typically made of high-quality silica glass, though they
can both be made of plastic as well.

FIBER OPTIC LAYERS

consists of three concentric sections

plastic jacket

glass or plastic
cladding

fiber core

37

FIBER OPTIC CABLE

38

FIBER-OPTIC CABLE

Contains one or
several
glass
fibers
at
its

core

Surrounding
the
fibers is a layer of
glass
called

cladding

3 TYPES OF OPTICAL
FIBER

3 TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

1.

Plastic core and cladding

2.

Glass

core

with

plastic

cladding ( called PCS fiberPlastic Clad Silica )

3.

Glass

core

and

glass

cladding ( called SCS

Silica Clad Silica )

PROPAGATION OF
LIGHT IN AN OPTICAL
FIBER
1. Optical fiber is basically a solid
glass rod. The diameter of rod is
so small that it looks like a fiber.
2.Optical fiber is a dielectric
waveguide. The light travels like
an electromagnetic wave inside

3. In a metallic waveguide, there

is a complete shielding of
electromagnetic radiation but in
an optical fiber the
electromagnetic radiation is not
just confined inside the fiber but
also extends outside the fiber.
4. The light gets guided inside the

WORKING PRINCIPLE
Total Internal Reflection
When a ray of light travels from a denser to a
rarer medium such that the angle of incidence
is greater than the critical angle, the ray
reflects back into the same medium this
phenomena is called total internal reflection.
In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated
total number of reflections until it emerges out
of the other end of the fiber, even if the fiber is
bent.r is bent.f the fiber is bent.r is bent.

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION IN

FIBER

CRITICAL ANGLE, C

The minimum angle of incidence at which a light ray ay

strike the interface of two media and result in an angle
of refraction of 90 or greater.

ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALFANGLE

The maximum angle in which external light rays may

strike the air/glass interface and still propagate down the
fiber.

ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALFANGLE

ACCEPTANCE ANGLE /CONE HALFANGLE

in (max) = sin-1
Where,
in (max) acceptance angle (degrees)
n1 refractive index of glass fiber core (1.5)
n2 refractive index of quartz fiber cladding ( 1.46 )

NUMERICAL APERTURE (NA)

Used to describe the light-gathering or light-collecting

ability of an optical fiber.

In optics, the numerical aperture (NA) of an optical

system is a dimensionless number that characterizes
the range of angles over which the system can accept
or emit light

NUMERICAL APERTURE (NA)

The numerical aperture in

respect to a point P depends on
the half-angle of the maximum
cone of light that can enter or
exit the lens.

CLASSIFICATION OF OPTICAL
FIBER
Optical fiber is classified into two
categories based on :1) The number of modes, and
2) The refractive index

On the basis of number of

modes
1.Single mode fiber (SMF)

2.Multi-mode fiber (MMF)

SINGLE-MODE FIBERS

In single mode fiber only one mode can

propagate through the fiber.
This type of fiber has small core diameter(5um)
and high cladding diameter(70um) and the
difference between the refractive index of core
and cladding is very small.
There is no dispersion i.e. no degradation of
signal during travelling through the fiber.
The light is passed through the single mode
fiber through laser diode.

MULTI-MODE FIBER

Multi mode fiber allows a large number

of modes for the light ray travelling
through it.
The core diameter is (40um) and that of
cladding is(70um)

MULTI-MODE FIBER

The relative refractive index difference is

also larger than single mode fiber.
There is signal degradation due to
multimode dispersion.
They are not suitable for long distance
communication due to large dispersion
and attenuation of the signal.

REFRACTION
Refraction is the changing direction of light
when it goes into a material of different
density.

On the basis of Refractive

index
There are two types of optical fiber:(i) Step-index optical fiber
(ii) Graded-index optical fiber

STEP INDEX FIBER

The refractive index of core is constant
The refractive index of cladding is also
constant
The light rays propagate through it in the form
of meridiognal rays which cross the fiber axis
during every reflection at the core cladding
boundary.

GRADED INDEX FIBER

In this type of fiber core has a non uniform
refractive index that gradually decrease from
the centre towards the core cladding
interface.
The cladding has a uniform refractive index.
The light rays propagate through it in the form
of skew rays or helical rays. They do not cross
the fiber axis at any time.

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Second level
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Optical Fiber Communication

System

FIBER-OPTIC COMMUNICATION
The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves
the following basic steps:
Creating the optical signal using a transmitter,
relaying the signal along the fiber, ensuring that the signal
does not become too distorted or weak,
and receiving the optical signal and converting it into an
electrical signal.

 Information source- data

Electrical transmitter- converts data
to electrical signal
Optical source- converts electrical
signal to optical signal. It may be a
semiconductor laser or an LED.

 Optical cable: It serves as transmission

medium.
Receiver : Optical detector - optical to
electrical conversion of data and hence
responsible for demodulation of the
optical carrier. It may be a photodiodes,
phototransistor, and photoconductors.

Electrical receiver: It is used for

electrical interfacing at the receiver end
of the optical link and to perform the
signal processing electrically.
Destination: It is the final point at which
we receive the information in the form of
electrical signal.

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