FIBER OPTICS

ENGR. MICHAEL G. CALAMBA, MEP-ECE

 Outline

Introduction

Historical Perspective

Block Diagram

Advantage of Optical Fiber

Nature of Light
2
Snell’s Law

Propagation of Light in a Fiber

Mode of Propagation

Optical Fiber Configuration

Losses in Optical Fiber

3
Light Sources and Detector

Optical Fiber System Design

Code Division Multiple Access

Test Your Knowledge

Take Home Study Guide

4
 Introduction
Optics
A branch of physical science that deals with
the propagation and behavior of light.

Fiber Optics
The technology of transferring information
using modulated (1014 - 1015) light waves.

Optical Fiber
A cylindrical low-loss dielectric waveguides
used to guide light waves.
5
Optical Fiber Construction

6
 Historical Perspective
1840s
Claude Chappe (French doctor) developed the
optical telegraph.

1850
Electric Morse Telegraph was invented, which
eventually replaced the visuall telegraph.

1870s
John Tyndall (English inventor) demonstrated
that light could made to travel through a bent
7
water jet.
1880
Alexander Graham Bell experimented with an
apparatus he called Photophone. transmission
distance is 200m.

1930
John L. Baird (English) & C.W. Hansell
(American) received patents for scanning and
transmitting TV signals through uncoated fibers.

1951
ACS Van Heel, H.H. Hopkins & N.S. Kapany
experimented with light transmission through
bundles of fiber that led to the development of
the fiberscope. 8
1956
N.S. Kapany coined the term “fiber optics”.

1958
Charles H. Townes (American) & Arthur L.
Schawlow (Canadian) wrote a technical paper
about LASER and MASER.

1960
Theodore Maiman built the first optical MASER.

9
1962
The semiconductor LASER was invented.

1967
K.C. Kao & G.A. Bockham of England proposed
a cladded fiber cables.

1970
Kapron, Keck, & Maurer of Corning Glass Works
in USA developed an optical fiber with losses
less than 2 dB/km.

To date, Fiber Optic Cable (FOC) loss is less

than 0.2 dB/km. 10
 Elements of FOC System

A basic Fiber Optic Communication system

consist of the following:

 Transmitter - LED or LASER

 Channel - Optical fiber that carries light
signal from transmitter to
receiver

 Receiver - PIN or Photo diode detector

that process the received
light signal 11
 Types of FOC

 Plastic Core and Cladding

 Glass Core Plastic Cladding

Plastic-Clad-Silica (PCS)

 Glass Core Glass Cladding

Silica-Clad-Silica (SCS)

12
 FOC BD

Transmitter

BBin Light
MUX Coder Driver
Source

FO cable

BBout Optical
DEMUX Decoder Amp
Detector

Receiver
13
Advantages of Optical Fiber

1. Extremely Wide BW

2. Secure Communications

3. Immunity to Electromagnetic
Interference

14
4. Lower Signal Attenuation

5. Light Weight and Smaller Size

6. Lower Cost

7. Conservation of the Earth’s

Resources

8. Safety
15
 The Nature of Light
Infrared light
Light whose wavelengths are too short for
the human eye to see.

Visible light
Light whose wavelengths are just right for
the human eye to see.

Ultraviolet light
Light whose wavelengths are too long for the
human eye to see.
16
 Light maybe divided into the following:

Monochromatic light
Light that consist of one wavelength only.

Composite light
Light that is composed of several
wavelengths.

17
The Light Spectrum

18
FOC Spectrum

19
Infrared Windows used in Fiber Optics

20
Physics of Light
In 1860, James Clerk Maxwell theorized that
electromagnetic radiation contained a series of
oscillating waves comprised of E and H fields.
In 1905, Albert Einstein and Max Planck
showed that when light is emitted and absorbed,
it behaves like an EMW and also like a particle,
called photon, which possesses energy
proportional to its frequency, known as Planck’s
Law. It states that “When visible light or high-
frequency electromagnetic radiation illuminates
a metallic surface, electrons are emitted.”
21
Particle Nature of Light
Light behaves as though it were made up of
a very small particles called photons.

Energy of a Photon (Ep)

Ep = hf, Joules Where:

h = Planck’s constant
= 6.625 x 10-34 J-s
1.241
Ep  , Ev f = Frequency (Hz)
 λ = Light wavelength (μm)

22
Example
Find the number of photons incident
on a detector in 1 sec if the optic
power is 1 µW and the wavelength is
0.8 µm.

23
Optical Power

24
Optical Power

25
Wave Properties of Light

» Reflection
- Specular

- Diffuse

» Refraction
» Diffraction
» Absorption
» Dispersion 26
Reflection
 Phenomenon of wave motion, in which a wave is
returned after impinging on a surface (smooth or
semi-rough). When energy, such as light, travelling
from one medium encounters a different medium,
part of the energy usually passes on while part is
reflected.
 Types:
a. Specular reflection
b. Diffuse reflection
Note: Rayleigh criterion states that if the cosine of the angle of
incidence is greater than the ratio of the signal wavelength with
respect to eight times the height irregularities will result to
specular reflection
27
Diffraction
 The bending out of waves as they pass around the
edge of an obstacle or through a narrow aperture.

Absorption
 The reduction in the intensity of radiated energy
within a medium caused by converting some or all of
the energy into another form

Dispersion
 The separation of visible light or other
electromagnetic waves into different wavelengths
28
Refraction
 The change in direction that
occurs when a wave of
energy such as light passes
from one medium to another
of a different density, for
example, from air to water.
 Prismatic Refraction is the
spectral separation of white
light. It is the phenomenon
that causes rainbows, where
water droplets in the
atmosphere act as small
prisms that split the white
sunlight into the various
wavelengths, creating a
visible spectrum of color.
29
Refractive Index (n)

30
Typical Indexes of Refraction

31
 Snell’s Law
Predicts that refraction will takes place when light
will travel in mediums of different density. It is named
after the Dutch mathematician, Willebrord Snell.
(Towards normal)
Normal Refracted ray (n1 < n2)

Un-refracted ray (n1 = n2)

θ2
θ2 Refracted ray (n1 > n2)
Medium 2
(Away from normal)
n2
n1
Medium 1
θ1

Incident ray
32
 Snell’s Law

Where:
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2 n1 = index of refraction, medium1
n2 = index of refraction, medium2
θ1 = Angle of incident
θ2 = Angle of refraction

n1 sin  2 V2 k1 V1 = Velocity of incident wave

   V2 = Velocity of refracted wave
n2 sin  1 V1 k2 k1 = Dielectric of medium 1
k2 = Dielectric of medium 2

33
Example 1:

For a glass (n = 1.5) / quartz (n = 1.38)

interface and an angle of incidence of 380,
determine the angle of refraction.
Example 2:

34
Critical Angle
It is the minimum critical angle of incidence at which
light ray may strike the interface of two media and
results in an angle of refraction of 90o or greater. Note
that the light must be traveling from a medium of higher
refractive index to a medium of a lower refractive index.
Hence, light cannot penetrate to the less dense material

35
Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
The continuous reflection of signal off the boundary
of the two media. It occurs if the light approaches the
boundary at an angle greater than the critical angle, the
light is actually reflected from the boundary region back
into the first material.

36
Angle of Reflection and Refraction

37
Does the Ray go to A or B?

38
 Propagation of Light in Fiber

Light propagates down a fiber via refraction

or reflection provided the angle of incidence is
equal or greater than the critical angle.

lost
Cladding
Acceptance
Core
Cone

Cladding
lost

39
Numerical Aperture

 The figure of merit used to describe the light

gathering or light-collecting ability of an optical
fiber

-
where: n1 = index of the 1st medium
n2 = index of the 2nd medium

40
Acceptance Angle or Acceptance Cone
Half-Angle

 The maximum angle in which external light

rays may strike the air/glass interface and still
propagate down the fiber

-
where: NA = numerical aperture
n1 = index of the 1st medium
n2 = index of the 2nd medium
41
 N
Cladding

Source-to-fiber interface
θin
Air Core Core

θ2
N
θin(max) Cladding

42
Acceptance Angle or Acceptance Cone Half-Angle

43
What happens to the light which
approaches the fiber outside of the cone
of acceptance?

Let’s have this example:

44
Let’s change the angle of acceptance to greater
than 14.12o. Note that 14.12o is the max external
angle of incidence for the given FOC.

Solve for refracted angle on the core:

45
Now, there are two problems:

46
It approaches the clad:

Checking for the critical angle:

Since, it is less than the critical angle, therefore it

penetrates the clad.

47
Next, it enters the air (Will it escape into the air or
will it be reflected back into the fiber?)

Checking for the critical angle:

Since, it is greater than the critical angle, therefore it

reflects

48
PROBLEM

49
Example 2b:

What striking angle in the fiber surface is needed to

produce a minimum angle of incidence (critical angle)
between the core-clad boundary that will effectively
confine the light signals within the fiber if n1 = 1.55 and
n2 = 1.45?
Example 2c:
Find the maximum external angle of incidence.

50
Fractional Index Difference

The normalized difference between the

index of core and cladding.

n1  n2

n1

Where:
n1 = index of medium 1
n2 = index of medium 2

51
Problem 3
A glass – clad fiber is made with a core
glass of refractive index of 1.500, and the
cladding is doped to give a fractional index
difference of 0.0005. Find;
a. the cladding index
b. the critical internal reflection angle
c. the external critical acceptance angle
d. the numerical aperture
52
Problem 4
Core glass of index 1.6200 is to be
used to make a step index fiber with an
acceptance cone angle of 100.
a. What will the internal critical reflection
angle be?
b. What should the cladding index be?
c. What fractional index difference does
this give?
53
 Mode of Propagation
Mode of propagation means the number of
path the light will follow inside a fiber.

Type of Mode
Single mode – has only one path for light to travel

Multimode – has more than one path

54
Maximum Radius for SM Propagation
Light will propagate single mode inside a
fiber if its wavelength is longer than the fiber’s
cut-off wavelength.

2 an1 2  0.383 
c  rmax 
2 .405 NA
Where:
a = Core radius (μm)
n1 = Core index
Δ = Fractional index difference
NA = Numerical aperture
55
Example
Find the maximum core radius to
support single mode operation for a fiber
with a NA of 0.15 and λ = 0.82 µm.

56
Number of Mode a Fiber Supports
Refers to the number of path the light will take
in propagating down the fiber.

  dNA 
2
1 2
M  f n  0 .5 
2   

Where:
M = Number of modes NA = Numerical aperture
λ = Light wavelength d = Fiber core diameter
fN = normalized frequency or also called as V-parameter
57
Number of Mode a Fiber Supports

For V >> 2.045 - Multimode

 2 an1 
2 2
V
M    
2   

Where:
M = Number of modes n1 = Index of core
V = V – parameter
a = Fiber core radius Δ = Fractional Index
λ = Light wavelength difference
58
The normalized frequency (V-parameter):

2 a 2a
fn  n1  n2 fn  n1 2 
2 2

 
d
fn  NA

Where:
n1 = Index of core NA = Numerical aperture
n2 = Index of cladding fn = V – parameter
a = Fiber core radius Δ = Fractional Index
λ = Light wavelength difference
59
Problem 5a
The fiber has numerical aperture of
0.343 and has a core diameter of 60 μm
and is used at a median light wavelength
of 85 μm. Find its V – number and how
many modes will this fiber supports?
Problem 5b
Compute the number of modes for a
fiber whose core diameter is 50 µm.
Assume that n1 = 1.48, n2 = 1.46 and λ =
0.82 µm.
60
 Optical Fiber Configuration
A fiber configuration refers to the fiber’s
index profile, which is a representation of the
fiber’s core refractive index.
The index profile maybe:

Step index
The core index is uniform from the
inside out of the core.

Grade index (Unclad)

The core index gradually decreases
61
from the center to the outer surface.
Types of Fiber

62
 Losses in Fiber

Absorption loss
Due to the impurities inside the fiber that absorbs
the light and convert it to heat

Material or Rayleigh Scattering loss

Results when light hits the impurities inside the fiber
and disperse or spread and eventually exits the core
clad interface of the fiber.

Chromatic or Wavelength Dispersion

The composite light travels inside the fiber travels at
different velocity because they have different
wavelengths, resulting to different time of arrival of light
at the fiber end. 63
 Losses in Fiber

Radiation loss
Caused by small bends in the fiber

Modal Dispersion or Pulse Spreading

Caused by the difference in propagation times of
light rays that take different paths down the fiber

Coupling Loss
Lateral Misalignment
Gap Misalignment
Angular Misalignment
Imperfect Finish 64
Absorption

 is caused by three different mechanisms:

1. Absorption by atomic defects in the glass
composition
2. Extrinsic absorption by impurity in the glass
material
3. Intrinsic absorption by the basic constituent
atoms of the fiber material

65
Absorption

Material Absorption:
 are those due to the molecules of the basic
material either glass or plastic that can be
overcome only by changing the fiber material.

Ultraviolet Absorption:
 Caused by valence electrons in the silica
material from which fibers are manufactured

66
Absorption

Infrared Absorption:
 Result of photons of light that are absorbed by
the atoms of the glass core molecule

Ion Resonance Absorption:

 Caused by the OH- ions in the material that
has been trapped in the glass during
manufacturing process which can be
minimized by drying the glass in chlorine gas to
leach out the water vapor
67
Absorption

Hydrogen Effects:
 The hydrogen either can interact with the
glass to produce hydroxyl ions and their losses
or it can infiltrate the fiber and produce its own
loss. The solution is to eliminate the hydrogen-
producing source or to add coating to the fiber
that is impermeable to hydrogen

68
Scattering Losses

 Occurs when a wave interact with a particle in

a way that removes energy in the directional
propagating wave and transfer it to other
directions.

69
Linear Scattering

I. Linear Scattering:
 Primarily characterized by having no change in
frequency in the scattered wave
a. Rayleigh Scattering
 results from light interacting with the
inhomogeneities (submicroscopic irregularities) in the
medium that are much smaller than the wavelength of
the light
Where:
λ = wavelength in µm

70
Linear Scattering

b. Mie Scattering
 occurs at inhomogeneities that are
comparable in size to a wavelength and can be
reduced carefully controlling the quality and
cleanliness of the manufacturing process

Example:
Calculate the Rayleigh scattering loss in dB for a
50/125 step-index fiber operating at 1200 nm.
Also, compute for the attenuation in Neper/km.
71
Non-linear Scattering

II. Non-linear Scattering:

High values of electric field within the fiber lead
to the presence of non-linear scattering
interactions that causes significant power to be
scattered in the forward, backward or sideways
directions

72
Non-linear Scattering

II. Non-linear Scattering:

a. Brillouin Scattering
 modeled as a modulation of the light by the thermal
energy in the material mainly in the backward
directions

73
Non-linear Scattering

II. Non-linear Scattering:

a. Raman Scattering
 The non-linear interaction produces a high-
frequency phonon and a scattered photon
predominately in the forward directions

74
Macrobending

Refers to a large-scale bending, such as that

which occurs intentionally when wrapping the
fiber on a spool or pulling it around a corner

75
Microbending

 Occurs when a fiber is sheathed within a protection

cable. The stresses set up in the cabling process
cause small axial distributions to appear randomly
along the fiber.
 Developed during deployment of the fiber, or can be
due to local mechanical stresses placed on the fiber
often referred to as cabling or packaging losses
CRITICAL RADIUS OF CURVATURE

76
Example

1. Consider an 8/125 single-mode fiber

operating at 1300 nm with a loss of 0.8
dB/km. The line width of the source is 0.013
nm. Calculate the ratio of Brillouin scattering
to Raman scattering thresholds.
2. Calculate the critical radius of curvature for a
multimode 50/125 fiber with an n1 of 1.52, n2
of 1.48 and operating at 850 nm.

77
Connector Losses

1. Lateral Misalignment
lateral misalignment loss is simply due to the non-
overlap of the transmitting and receiver fiber
sources

78
Connector Losses

2. Angular Misalignment

COUPLING LOSS

79
Connector Losses

3. Gap Between Ends

4. Non-flat ends (Imperfect Finish)

80
Connector Losses

81
Pulse Spreading in Fiber
DISPERSION
the spreading (in time domain) of light pulses as it
propagates down the fiber end
1. Material Dispersion
 pulse at different wavelengths has different velocities

∆𝑡𝑀𝐴𝑇
= 𝐷𝑀 (Δ𝜆)
𝑙𝑘𝑚
𝑝𝑠
Where: DM = dispersive coefficient in
𝑛𝑚∙𝑘𝑚
Δ𝜆 = -3 dB wavelength (line or spectral width)
in nm

82
Pulse Spreading in Fiber
2. Waveguide Dispersion (Chromatic Dispersion)
 pulses at different wavelengths (but propagating in
the same mode) must travel at slightly different angles

∆𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
= 𝐷𝑊 (Δ𝜆)
𝑙𝑘𝑚
𝑝𝑠
Where: DW = peak waveguide dispersive coefficient in
𝑛𝑚∙𝑘𝑚
𝑝𝑠
= 6.6
𝑛𝑚∙𝑘𝑚
Δ𝜆 = -3 dB wavelength (line or spectral width) in nm

83
Pulse Spreading in Fiber
3. Modal Dispersion (Modal Delay Spreading)
 a pulse at a single wavelength splits power into
modes that travel at different axial velocities because of
the path differences. Note: for multimode only.

𝑙𝑛1 ∆ 𝑙𝑛1 ∆
∆𝑡𝑀𝑂𝐷𝐴𝐿 = ≈
𝑐 1−∆ 𝑐
4. Total Dispersion
 at any wavelength, the total dispersion is the root
mean square combination of material, modal and
wavelength dispersion

∆𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = ∆𝑡𝑀𝐴𝑇 2 + ∆𝑡𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 2 + ∆𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 2

84
EXAMPLE
1. For the step-index fiber 12.5 km long is to be used with a 0.8 µm
light source with a spectral width of 1.5 nm. What value of material
𝑛𝑠
dispersion might be expected assuming 𝐷𝑀 = 0.15 .
𝑛𝑚∙𝑘𝑚
2. A 12.5 km single mode fiber is used with a 1.3 µm light source
which has a spectral width of 6 nm. Find the total expected
waveguide dispersion.
3. Consider a 50/125 step-index fiber with n1 = 1.47 and ∆ = 1.5%.
Calculate the group delay (modal dispersion) for the fiber at an
operating wavelength of 850 nm. The FOC is 12.5 km long.
4. A single-mode fiber operating at 1.3 µm is found to have material
dispersion of 2.81 ns and a total waveguide dispersion of 0.495
ns. Determine the receive pulse width approximate bit rate for the
fiber if the transmitted output pulse has a width of 1.5 ns.

85
Receiver Rise Time and Bandwidth
1. Rise Time
 the rise time is the time for the detector output (e.g.
current) to change from 10 to 90% of its final value when
the optic input power variation is a step.

𝑡𝑠 = 𝑡𝑡𝑥 2 + 𝑡𝑓 2 + 𝑡𝑟𝑥 2

Where: ts = system rise time in ns

ttx = source rise time in ns
trx = receiver rise time in ns
tf = fiber rise time in ns
= rise time owing to material, modal and
waveguide dispersion
86
Receiver Rise Time and Bandwidth
2. Maximum Data Rate
UPRZ 𝟏
𝒇𝒃 =
𝟐𝒕𝒔
UPNRZ 𝟏
𝒇𝒃 =
𝒕𝒔

3. Bandwidth
Electrical 𝟎. 𝟑𝟓
𝑩𝑾𝒆 =
∆𝒕
Optical 𝟏
𝑩𝑾𝒐 = 𝟐 × 𝑩𝑾𝒆 =
𝟐∆𝒕
4. Bandwidth-Distance Product
𝟏
𝑩𝑾 × 𝒍 = × 𝒍𝒌𝒎
𝟐∆𝒕
87
EXAMPLE

A fiber optic system uses a detector with a

rise time of 1.5 ns and a source with a rise
time of 4 ns. If an RZ code is used with a
data rate of 100 Mbps over a distance of 20
km, calculate the maximum acceptable
dispersion for the fiber and the equivalent
BW-distance product.

88
Reflection at a Plane Boundary
1. Reflection Coefficient
 the ratio of the reflected electric field to the incident
electric field
𝒏𝟏 − 𝒏𝟐
𝝆=
𝒏𝟏 + 𝒏𝟐
2. Reflectance
 the ratio of the reflected beam intensity to the incident
beam intensity
 UNCOATED
𝟐
𝒏𝟏 − 𝒏𝟐
𝑹= where:
𝒏𝟏 + 𝒏𝟐
n1 = 1st medium (core)
 COATED n2 = 2nd medium (clad)
𝟐 n3 = coating material
𝒏𝟏 𝒏𝟐 − 𝒏𝟑 𝟐
𝑹=
𝒏𝟏 𝒏𝟐 + 𝒏𝟑 𝟐
89
Reflection at a Plane Boundary
3. Brewster Angle
 named after British physicist David Brewster, the
reflectance of the component vibrating parallel to the
plane of incidence is zero. At this incidence, the reflected
ray would be perpendicular to the refracted ray, and the
tangent of this angle of incidence is equal to the
refractive index of the second medium if the first medium
is air.

𝒏𝟐
𝜽𝑩 = 𝐭𝐚𝐧−𝟏
𝒏𝟏

90
EXAMPLE

1. Determine the refractive index of a coating

layer place between fibers whose index are 1.5
and 1.57, respectively, to produce zero
reflectance.
2. Find the Brewster angle for air-to-glass and
glass-to-air interface. Let glass’ n = 1.5.

91
 Light Sources

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Injection Laser Diode (ILD)

• Lower power • High power

• Lower bit rates • Higher bit rates
• Less directional • More directional
• Prone to dispersion • Less dispersion

• Cheaper • Expensive
• Less temperature • Temperature sensitive
sensitive • Shorter life span
• Long life span
92
 Diode Light Sources
Light Emitting Semiconductors
Material Wavelength Range (µm) Bandgap Energy
(eV)
GaAs 0.9 1.4
AlGaAs 0.8 – 0.9 1.4 – 1.55
InGaAs 1.0 – 1.3 0.95 – 1.24
InGaAsP 0.9 – 1.7 0.73 – 1.35
Typical Characteristics of Diode Light Sources
Property LED Laser Single-mode
Laser Diode
Spectral Width (nm) 20 – 1000 1–5 0.2
Rise Time (ns) 2 – 250 0.1 – 1 0.05 – 1
Bandwidth 300 2000 6000
Coupling Efficiency Very low Moderate High
Lifetime (hours) 105 104 - 105 104 - 105 93
 Light Detectors

Positive Intrinsic Negative Diode (PIN)

Less sensitive

Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

More sensitive than PIN diodes
Requires less amplification

94
 Diode Light Detectors
Typical Characteristics of Diode Light Detectors
Material Structure Rise Time Wavelength Responsitivity
(ns) (nm) (A/W)
Silicon PIN 0.5 300 – 1100 0.5
Germanium PIN 0.1 500 – 1800 0.7
InGaAs PIN 0.3 900 – 1700 0.6
Silicon APD 0.5 400 – 1000 75
Germanium APD 1 1000 – 1600 35
InGaAs APD 0.25 1000 - 1700 12

95
Diode Light Detectors
1. Quantum Efficiency
𝒆 where:
𝜼= e = # of emitted electrons
𝒑 p = # of incident electrons
2. Responsitivity
 the ratio of the output current of the detector to its optic input power
𝐼 𝒒 where:
𝑅= =𝜼 q = charge of an electron (1.602 x 10-19 C)
𝑃 𝑬 E = energy of incident photon = hf
3. Radiance
𝑃 where:
𝑟= r = radiance in mW/st-cm2
Ω𝐴 Ω = solid angle in steradians
A = aperture area of light source in cm2

4. Irradiance
where:
𝑃 ir = irradiance in W/cm2
𝑖𝑟 = A = aperture area of light source in cm2
𝐴
96
EXAMPLE

A detector has a quantum efficiency of 1% at 0.8

µm. The output current is 90 nA. The aperture area
is 100 mm2 for a 50-steradian angle. Compute
a. responsitivity.
b. optic input power.
c. Radiance
d. irradiance

97
Constructions of Optical Fibers
1. Double Crucible
 molten core-glass is placed in the inner vessel and
molten cladding-glass occupies the outer vessel and
later forms a glass-cladded core.
2. Rod in Tube
 in the rod-in-tube procedure, a rod of core-glass is
placed inside of a tube of cladding-glass where the end
of this combination is heated, softening the glass so that
a thin fiber can be pulled from it.
3. Doped Deposited Silica (DDS)
 the most extensively used fiber fabrication process
involve building up a fiber perform by vapor deposition of
the glass constituents
98
Constructions of Optical Fibers
4. External Deposition
 External deposition by hydrolysis is referred to as
external chemical vapor deposition (external VCD)
5. Axial Deposition
 the deposition occurs on the end of the rotating bait,
which is withdrawn as the perform builds up
6. Internal Deposition
 In this process, the chemical vapors are deposited on
the inside of a glass tube that is rotating in a glass lathe
where a traveling oxygen-hydrogen torch moves along
the tube, fusing the deposited material to form a
transparent glassy film

99
LASER Fundamentals
LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation and was first predicted by Albert Einstein near
the beginning of the 20th century, the first working laser was not
demonstrated until 1960 when Theodore Maiman did so using a ruby.

1. Laser Characteristics
 Coherent
The property of laser light wherein corresponding points on the
wavefront are in phase
 Collimated
The property of laser light wherein the light rays travel parallel
with each other.
 Monochromatic
Laser emits light signal with single color, frequency or
wavelength.

100
LASER Fundamentals
2. Laser Types
 Gas
Gas lasers use a mixture of helium and neon enclosed in a
glass tube
 Solid-state optically pumped
Liquid lasers use organic dyes enclosed in a glass tube for an
active medium. A powerful pulse of light excites the organic
dye.
 Liquid dye
Solid lasers use a solid cylindrical crystal, such as ruby, for the
active medium. The ruby is excited by a tungsten lamp tied to
an ac power supply.
 Semiconductor
Semiconductor layers are made form semiconductor pn
junctions and are commonly called injection laser diodes or
ILDs. The excitation mechanism is a dc power supply that
controls the amount of current to the active medium 101
 Optical Fiber System Design

The power budget is the basis of the design of an

optical fiber link.
Total Gain – Total Losses = 0

(Pt + Pr) – (αf + αc + αs + fm)

L = (Pt - Pr) = (αf + αc + αs + fm)

Where:
Pt = Transmit power αf = Fiber attenuation fm = Fiber margin
Pr = Receiver sensitivity αc = Connector attenuation = 3 dB (ITU-T or
CCITT) 102

L = Repeater distance α = Total splice loss = 6 dB (others)

Problem 6

Make a power budget analysis for a fiber

optic system with following characteristics:
Losses:
LED-to-fiber connection - 5 dB
Three connectors - 1.5 dB each
Six splices - 0.5 dB each
10 km of fiber - 0.6 dB/km
Fiber-to-detector - 6 dB

Specifications:
LED power output - 0.1 mW
Detector sensitivity - 0.1 μW
Total fiber dispersion - 4 ns/km
103
Fiber-based Technology

SONET/SDH Transmission Hierarchy

 is a set of international standards for broadband
communications over single-mode fiber optic
transmission systems, allowing manufacturers to build
equipment to support full interconnectivity and
interoperability

SONET 
SDH 

104
SONET Terms
• Optical Carrier (OC)
It is the definition of the SONET optical signal. The
defined OC levels veing at OC-1 (51.84 Mbps) and
culminate in OC-255 (13.2192 Gbps)
• Synchronous Transport Signal (STS)
It is the electrical equivalent of the SONET optical
signal; it is known as Synchronous Transport Module
(STM) in SDH. The signal begins as electrical and is
converted to optical for transmission over the SONET
fiber facilities. Each STS-1 frame is transmitted each
125 µs, yielding raw bandwidth of 51.84 Mbps. The STS
frame includes five elements: Synchronous Payload
Envelope (SPE), Section Overhead, Line Overhead,
Path Overhead and Payload.
105
SONET Terms
• Synchronous Payload Envelope (SPE)
It is the envelope that carrier the user payload data. It is
analogous to the payload envelope of an X.25 packet. The
SPE consists of 783 octets (87 columns and 9 rows of data
octets)
• Payload
It is the actual content of the SONET frame and rides within
the SPE. Total usable payload at the OC-1 level consists of
up to 49.54 Mbps, into which a T3 frame fits quite nicely. The
balance of the 51.84 Mbps is consumed by Transport
Overhead and Path Overhead.
• Multiplexing
It is on the basis of direct time division multiplexing. Either full
SONET speeds or lesser asynchronous and synchronous
data streams can be multiplexed into the STS-n payload,
which is then converted into an OC-n payload. 106
Comparison Between SONET & SDH
Optical SONET SDH Signal Level Equivalent DS-
Carrier (OC) STS STM (Mbps) 0 (64 kbps)
OC-1 STS-1 51.84 672
OC-2 STS-2 103.68 1,344
OC-3 STS-3 STM-1 155.52 2,016
OC-4 STS-4 STM-3 207.36 2,688
OC-9 STS-9 STM-3 466.56 6,048
OC-12 STS-12 STM-4 622.08 8,064
OC-18 STS-18 STM-6 933.12 12,096
OC-24 STS-24 STM-8 1,244.16 16,128
OC-36 STS-36 STM-12 1,866.24 24,192
OC-48 STS-48 STM-16 2,488.32 32,256
OC-96 STS-96 STM-32 4,976 64,512
OC-256 STS-256 STM-64 13,219.20 171,360

107
SONET Network Elements
• Terminal Multiplexer
The PTE, an entry level path terminating terminal multiplexer,
acts as a concentrator of DS1 signals and tributaries.
• Regenerator
These are optical amplifier that boosts the signal level in the
fiber due to significant distance between multiplexers
• Add/Drop Multiplexer
Provides interfaces between the different network signals
and SONET signals

108
SONET Overheads
• Path Overhead (POH)
It contained within the SPE, comprises 9 octets for the relay
of OAM & P information in support of end-to-end network
management
• Transport Overhead
It consists if Section Overhead and Line Overhead
– Section Overhead (SOH)
Consists of 9 octets and is dedicated to the transport status,
messages and alarm indications for the maintenance of
SONET links
– Line Overhead (LOH)
Consists of 18 bytes and controls the reliable transport of
payload and data between network elements

109
Virtual Containers and Tributaries
• Virtual Containers
Virtual Containers are simply end-to-end communications
paths, routes or circuits, which carry traffic from one end
point to another. This path is not fixed or dedicated, neither is
it dedicated to a particular conversation or user, A virtual
path consists of many tributaries.
• Virtual Tributaries (VT)
Virtual tributaries carry one form of signal, such as a DS-1,
DS-2 or DS-3 signal within a byte-interleaved frame. Virtual
tributaries can be mapped into a single virtual path. A virtual
tributary may be channelized (e.g. a 48-channel T1 for voice)
or unchannelized (e.g. a clear channel DS-1 for full motion
video)

110
Virtual Containers and Tributaries
• Virtual Channels
Virtual channels exist within virtual tributaries. For example, a
virtual tributary might carry a T1 frame. Within that tributary,
there might exit 24 channels with each channel carrying a
single voice or data communication in multiple time slots.
• Summary of Various VTs

VT Type Bit Rate VT Size

VT 1.5 1.728 Mbps 9 rows, 3 columns

VT 2 2.304 Mbps 9 rows, 4 columns

VT 3 3.456 Mbps 9 rows, 6 columns

VT 6 6.912 Mbps 9 rows, 12 columns

111
END

112