LOSSES IN FIBER OPTIC

SYSTEM
1

T.JAYAKUMAR
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
NANDHA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, PERUNDURAI 638 052
Email : jayakumar.t@nandhaengg.org

Signal Degradation in the Optical Fiber

Signal Attenuation

- It determines the maximum unamplified or repeater

less distance between transmitter and receiver.
Signal Distortion
- Causes optical pulses broaden.
- Overlapping with neighboring pulses, creating errors
in the receiver output.
- It limits the information carrying capacity of a fiber.

The Basic Attenuation Mechanisms in a Fiber

1. Absorption
.It is related to the fiber material

2. Scattering
.It is associated both with the fiber material

and with the structural imperfections in

the optical waveguide.
3. Radiation losses/ Bending losses:
.It originates from perturbation (both microscopic

and macroscopic) of the fiber geometry.

Absorption
Light travels best in clear substances. Impurities

such as metal particles or moisture in the fiber can

block some of the light energy, it absorb the light and
dissipate it in the form of heat energy, which caused
absorption loss.
The solution is to use ultra-pure glass and dopant
chemicals to minimize impurities, and to eliminate
loss at the peak wavelength during the process of
fiber manufacturing.

Absorption
Absorption is caused by three different mechanisms:
1- Impurities in fiber material - occurs due to electronic transitions
between the energy levels and because of charge transitions from
one ion to another. A major source of attenuation is from transition
of metal impurity ions such as iron, chromium, cobalt, and copper
2- Intrinsic absorption- Intrinsic absorption results from electronic
absorption bands in UV region and from atomic vibration bands in
the near infrared region. Absorption occurs when a photon
interacts with an electronic in the valance band and excites it to a
higher energy level
3- Atomic defects -imperfections in the atomic structure of the fiber
materials such as missing molecules, high density clusters of atom
group.

Absorption

Absorption

Atomic Defects

Extrinsic
(Impurity atoms)

Intrinsic
Absorption

Absorption in
Ultraviolet region

Absorption in
Infrared region

Scattering Loss
Small variation in material density, chemical

composition, and structural inhomogeneity scatter

light in other directions and absorb energy from
guided optical wave.
Scattering losses in glass arise from microscopic
variation in the material density from
1. Compositional fluctuations
2. Inhomogeneities or defects occurring during fiber

manufacture

Rayleigh Scatter
Rayleigh scatter occurs at random when there are

small changes in the refractive index of materials in

which the light signal travels.
In this case, it is the changes in the refractive index
of the core and the cladding of the fiber optic cable.
This loss is caused by the miniscule variation in the
composition and density of the optical glass material
itself, which is related to the fiber manufacturing
process.

Rayleigh Scatter

Diagram-2: Light scattered during transmission

Bending Loss
Bending losses occurs in

two forms macrobending and

microbending. When a
cable is bent and it
disrupts the path of the
light signal. The tighter
the bends of a cable, the
greater it is of the light
loss.

Bending Loss
Radiative losses occur whenever an optical fiber undergoes a bend of

finite radius of curvature.

Macrobending:
Light lost from the optical core due to macroscopic effects such as tight
bends being induced in the fiber itself.
Macrobending losses are normally produced by poor handling of fiber .
Poor reeling and mishandling during installation can create severe
bending of the fiber resulting in small but important localized losses
Microbending:
Light lost from the optical core due to microscopic effects resulting
from deformation and damage to the core cladding interface. Occurs
when a fiber is sheathed within a protective cable. The stresses set up
during the cabling process cause small axial distortions
(microbends)

Microbending loss

Attenuation
Attenuation

Scattering
Losses

Absorption

Intrinsic
Absorption

Extrinsic
(Impurity
atoms)

Absorption
in
Infrared
region

Absorption
in
Ultraviolet
region

Radiative
losses/ Bending
losses

Atomic
Defects

Inhomogeneities Compositional
or defects
fluctuations
in fiber
in material

Microscopic Macroscopic
bends
bends

Signal Distortion in Fibers

Signal Distortion in Fibers

Optical signal weakens from attenuation

mechanisms and broadens due to distortion effects

Eventually these two factors will cause neighboring

pulses to overlap.
After a certain amount of overlap occurs, the

receiver can no longer distinguish the individual

adjacent pulses and error arise when interpreting
the received signal.

Dispersion
Dispersion is the spreading out of a light pulse as it

travels through the fiber.

Attenuation only reduces the amplitude of the output
waveform which does not alter the shape of the signal.
Dispersion distorts both pulse and analog modulation
signals
Three types:

Modal Dispersion
Chromatic Dispersion
Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)

Dispersion

Modal Dispersion
Modal Dispersion

Spreading of a pulse because different modes (paths) through

the fiber take different times
Only happens in multimode fiber
Reduced, but not eliminated, with graded-index fiber

Chromatic Dispersion
Different wavelengths travel at different speeds

through the fiber

This spreads a pulse in an effect named chromatic
dispersion
Chromatic dispersion occurs in both single mode
and multimode fiber

Larger effect with LEDs than with lasers

A far smaller effect than modal dispersion

Polarization Mode Dispersion

Light with different polarization can travel at

different speeds, if the fiber is not perfectly

symmetric at the atomic level
This could come from imperfect circular geometry or
stress on the cable, and there is no easy way to
correct it
It can affect both single mode and multimode fiber

Modal Distribution
In graded-index fiber, the off-axis modes go a longer

distance than the axial mode, but they travel faster,

compensating for dispersion

But because the off-axis modes travel further, they suffer more
attenuation

Insertion Losses
Most important performance indicator of a fiber optic

interconnection. This is the loss of light signal, measured

in decibels (dB), during the insertion of a fiber optic
connector.
Some of the common causes of insertion losses includes:
(i) the misalignment of ferrules during connection,
(ii) the air gap between two mating ferrules, and
(iii) absorption loss from impurities such as scratches
and oil contamination
Insertion loss can be minimized by proper selection of
interconnect materials, good polishing and termination
process of fiber connectors

Types of insertion losses

Coupling Losses
. The connector assembly must maintain stringent

alignment tolerances to ensure low mating losses.

. The losses should be around 2 to 5 percent (0.1 to 0.2
dB) and must not change significantly during
operation and after numerous connects and
disconnects.

Types of insertion losses

Splicing Losses
. Optical power loss at the splicing point of two ends

of optical fiber is known as splice loss.

. It is important to remember that actual splice-loss is
the measured splice-loss in both directions divided
with two.

Types of insertion losses

Connector Loss

- Optical loss at connection points in fiber cables

- Connector losses are associated with the coupling of
the output of one fiber with the input of another
fiber, or couplings with detectors or other
components.

LOSSES CALCULATION
. Total Loss = Lsplice + Lfiber + Lconn. + Lnon-linear

Lsplice = Splice Loss

Lfiber = Fiber Loss
Lconn. = Connector Loss
Lnon-linear= Non-linear Loss
Gain,G = Gainamp + Gnon-linear

Gainamp = Amplifier Gain

Gnon-linear = Non-linear Gain

Formula
COUTION !!!
P

RX

TX

in dBm or dBW
in dBm or dBW

Losses in dB
Total Gain in dB
P
MARGIN in dB
Total

dB = 10 log (Po/Pin)
= 10 log (PRX / PTX)

dBm = 10 log (P/1mW)

P PRX atau PTX

dBm = 10 log (P/1mW)

P PRX atau PTX