History of Optical Fiber Communications

Advantages and Disadvantages of Optical Fibers Block Diagram of an Optical Fiber Communications

Optical Fiber Types

Light Propagation Optical Fiber Communications

Optical Fiber Classifications

Losses in Optical Fiber Cables Lasers

Optical fiber cables are the newest and probably the most promising type of guided transmission medium for virtually all forms of digital and data communications applications, including local, metropolitan, and wide area networks. With optical fibers, electromagnetic waves are guided through a media composed of a transparent material without using electrical current flow rather electromagnetic light waves propagate through the media in much the same way that radio signals propagate through the Earths atmosphere. The information-carrying capacity of any electronic communications systems is directly proportional to bandwidth.

Optical fiber cables, for all practical purposes are an infinite bandwidth. Therefore, they have the capacity to carry much more information than metallic cables. Light frequencies used in optical fiber communications systems are between 100, 000 GHz to 400, 000 GHz.

is one that uses light as the carrier of information.

uses glass or plastic fiber cables to contain the light

waves and guide them in a manner similar to the way electromagnetic waves are guided through a metallic transmission medium. propagating light waves through Earths atmosphere is difficult and often impractical because water vapour, oxygen, and particulates in the air absorb and attenuate the signals at light frequencies.

In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell experimented with an

apparatus he called a photophone. The photophone was device constructed from mirrors and selenium detectors that transmitted sound waves over a beam of light. In 1930, J. L. Baird, an English scientist, and C. W. Hansell, a scientist from the United States, were granted patents for scanning and transmitting television images through uncoated fiber cables. In 1951, A. C. S. van Heel of Holland, H. H. Hopkins and N. S. Kapany of England experimented with light transmission through bundles of fibers. Their studies led to the development of the flexible fiberscope, which is used extensively in the medical field. In 1956, it was N. S. Kapany who coined the term fiber optics. In 1958, Charles H. Townes, an American, and Arthur L. Schawlow, a Canadian, wrote a paper describing how it was possible to use stimulated emission for amplifying light waves (laser) as well as microwaves (maser).

In 1960, Theodore H. Maiman, a scientist with Hughes Aircraft

Company, built the first optical maser and develop also the first laser. In 1967, K. C. Kao and G. A. Bockham of the Standard Telecommunications Laboratory in England proposed a new communications medium using cladded fiber cables. The fiber cables available in the 1960s were extremely lossy (more than 1000 dB/km), which limited optical transmissions to short distances. In 1970, Kapron, Keck, and Maurer of Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York developed an optical fiber with losses less than 2 dB/km. By the late 1980s, losses in optical fibers were reduced to as low as 0.16 dB/km. In 1988, the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) published the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). By the mid-1990s, optical voice and data networks were commonplace throughout the United States and much of the world.

1. Wider bandwidth and greater information capacity. Optical fibers are available with bandwidths up to several thousand gigahertz, therefore, they have greater information capacity over metallic cables. The primary electrical constants (resistance, inductance, and capacitance) in metallic cables cause them to act like low-pass filters, which limit the their transmission frequencies, bandwidth, bit rate, and information-carrying capacity. 2. Immunity to crosstalk. Optical fiber cables are immune to crosstalk glass and plastic fibers are nonconductors of electrical current. Fibers cables are not surrounded by a changing magnetic field, which is the primary cause of crosstalk between metallic conductors located physically close to each other. 3. Immunity to static interference. Because optical fiber cables are non-conductors of electrical current, they are immune to static noise due to electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by lightning, electric motors, relays, fluorescent lights, and other electrical noise sources (most of which are man-made). For the same reason, fiber cables do not radiate electromagnetic energy.

4. Environmental immunity. Optical fiber cables are more resistant to environmental extremes (including weather variations) than metallic cables. Optical cables also operate over a wider temperature range and are less affected by corrosive liquid and gasses. 5. Safety and convenience. Optical fiber cables are safer and easier to install and maintain than metallic cables. Because glass and plastic fibers are non-conductors, they are no electrical currents or voltages associated with them. Optical fibers can be used around volatile liquids and gasses without worrying about their causing explosions or fires. Optical fibers are also smaller and much more lightweight and compact than metallic cables. They are more flexible, easier to work with, require less storage space, cheaper to transport, and easier to install and maintain. 6. Lower transmission loss. Optical fibers have considerably less signal loss than metallic cables and are currently being manufactured with as little as a few-tenths of a decibel loss per kilometre.

7. Security. Optical fiber cables are more secure than metallic cables. It is virtually impossible to tap into a fiber without the users knowledge and cannot be detected with metal detectors unless they are reinforced with steel for strength. 8. Durability and reliability. Optical fiber cables are last longer and are more reliable than metallic facilities because fiber cables have a higher tolerance to changes in environmental conditions and are immune to corrosive materials. 9. Economics. The cost of optical fiber cables is approximately the same as metallic cables. Fiber cables have less loss and require fewer repeaters, which equates to lower installations and overall systems cost and improved reliability.

1. Interfacing cost. To be practical and useful, optical fiber cables must be connected to standard electronic facilities, which often require expensive interfaces. 2. Strength. Optical fibers by themselves have a significantly lower tensile strength than coaxial cable. This can be improved by coating the fiber with standard Kevlar and a protective jacket of PVC. Glass fiber is much more fragile than copper wire, making fiber less attractive where hardware portability is required. 3. Remote electrical power. It is necessary to provide electrical power to remote interface or regenerating equipment. This cannot be accomplished with the optical cable, so additional metallic cables must be included in the cable assembly.

4. Optical fiber cables are more susceptible to losses introduce by bending the cable. Electromagnetic waves in the form of light propagate through an optical cable by either refraction or reflection. Therefore, bending the cable causes irregularities in the cable dimensions, resulting in a loss of signal power. Optical fibers are also more prone to manufacturing defects, as even the most minor defect can cause excessive loss of signal power. 5. Specialized tools, equipment, and training. Optical fiber cables require special tools to splice and repair cables and special test equipment to make routine measurements. Not only repairing fiber cables are difficult and expensive, but technicians working on optical cables also require special skills and training. In addition, sometimes it is difficult to locate faults in optical cables because there is no electrical continuity.

1. Infrared The band of light frequencies that is too high to be seen by the human eye with wavelengths ranging between 770 nm and nm. Optical fiber systems generally operate in the infrared band. 2. Visible The band of light frequencies to which the human eye will respond with wavelengths between 390 nm and 770 nm. This band is visible to the human eye. 3. Ultraviolet The band of light frequencies that is too low to be seen by the human eye with wavelengths ranging between 10 nm and 390 nm.

When dealing with ultra-high-frequency (UHF)

electromagnetic waves, such as light, it is common to use units of wavelength () rather than frequency (f). With light frequencies, wavelength is often stated in microns, where 1 microns = meter (1m), or in nanometers (nm), where 1 nm = meter. However, when describing the optical spectrum, the unit angstrom is sometimes used to expressed wavelength, where 1 angstrom = meter, or 0.0001 micron.

1. Fiber core and cladding The actual fiber portion of an optical cable. A special lacquer, silicone, or acrylate coating is generally applied to the outside of the cladding to seal and preserve the fibers strength, helping maintain the cables attenuation characteristics. 2. Protective coating The coating also helps protect the fiber from moisture, which reduces the possibility of the occurrence of a detrimental phenomenon called stress corrosion (sometimes called static fatigue) caused by high humidity. Moisture causes silicon dioxide crystals to interact, causing bonds to break down and spontaneous fractures to form over a prolonged period of time. 3. Buffer jacket The protective coating is surrounded by a buffer jacket, which provides the cable additional protection against abrasion and shock. Materials commonly used for the buffer jacket include steel, fibreglass, plastic, flame-retardant polyvinyl chloride (FR-PVC), Kevlar yarn, and paper. 4. Strength members The buffer jacket is encapsulated in a strength member, which increases the tensile strength of the overall cable assembly. 5. Polyurethane outer jacket Finally, the entire cable assembly is contained in an outer polyurethane jacket.

There are three essential types of optical fibers commonly used today. All three variations are constructed of either glass, plastic, or a combination of glass and plastic. 1. Plastic core and cladding
2. Glass core and plastic cladding (called PCS fiber [plastic-clad silica]) 3. Glass core and glass cladding (called SCS fiber [silica-clad silica])

1. Plastic core and cladding Plastic fibers are more flexible and, consequently, more rugged than glass, easier to install, can better withstand stress, are less expensive, and weigh approximately 60% less than glass. Plastic fibers have higher attenuation characteristics and do not propagate light as efficiently as glass, limited to relatively short cable runs, such as within a single building. 2. Glass core and plastic cladding (PCS fiber [plastic-clad silica]) Fibers with glass core have less attenuation than plastic fibers, with PCS being slightly better than SCS. PCS fibers are also less affected by radiation and, therefore, are more immune to external interference. 3. Glass core and glass cladding (SCS fiber [silica-clad silica]) SCS fibers have the best propagation characteristics and are easier to terminate than PCS fibers, are the least rugged, and they are more susceptible to increases in attenuation when exposed to radiation.