Optical Fiber Communication

S. K. Dubey
Department of Physics, University of Mumbai
Vidyanagari, Santacruz (E), Mumbai–400 098
E-mail: skdubey@physics.mu.ac.in
OUTLINE
□ Introduction
□ Applications of Optical Fiber
□ Principle of Operation
□ Structure of Optical fiber
□ Types of Optical Fiber
□ Acceptance Angle, Numerical Aperture
and Attenuation
□ Experimental Details: Measurements of
□ Numerical Aperture, Acceptance Angle,
Loss Measurements
□ Materials &Preparation of Optical Fiber
□ Circuit Design for Optical Communication Systems
( Analog & Digital)
Structure of Optical Fiber
n1 > n2

Characteristics of Optical Fiber

(i) Composition of the Fiber
(ii)Diameter and Length of the Fiber
(iii)Amount and Type of light introduced
into the Fiber
Fiber Cross Section
Optical Fiber Communication System

●TRANSMITTER
● TRANSIMISSION PATH
● RECEIVER
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF FIBER

● Optical fibers are used to see the

inside the human body and carry out
delicate minor surgery
 Advantages of Optical Fiber
1. The light weight and non corrosiveness of the fiber make
it very practical for aircraft and automotive applications.

2. A single fiber can handle as many voice channels as a 1500-

pair cable can.

3. The spacing of repeaters from 35 to 80 km for fibers, as

opposed to from I to I Vz km for wire, is a great advantage.

4. Fiber is immune to interference from lightning,

cross talk, and electromagnetic radiation.
 Advantages of optical fiber
• (a) Enormous potential bandwidth (20 MHz-
3GHz).
• (b) Low transmission loss ( 0.3 dB/km)
• (c) Immunity to interference and crosstalk.
• (d) Small size and weight.
• (e) Signal security.
 Principles of Operation
Total Internal Reflection
Snell s Law;
n1 sin Φ1 = n2 sin Φ2
n1 sin Φc = n2 sin 900
Φc = sin-1 (n2/n1)

Fig. Refraction and Reflection of

light Between Two Dielectric
Medium
 Historical Development

First Guided Light System

●Use of water to guide

the light – John Tyndall,
1870; 1st Experiment

● Between 1870 to 1960:

No major work carried
out

● Major Advances were

made in Optical Fiber
in the year 1960 -1970
 Types of Optical Fiber
(i) Step Index Optical Fiber
(ii) Graded Index Optical Fiber

*Refractive index profile and ray transmission

in step index fibers

Model Dispersion : light rays do not

arrive at the exit point at same time;
Refractive index profile and ray transmission
in a graded index fiber

●Rays move faster in outer portion

●Rays always bend towards the core axis
Advantage of GRIN Fiber
Both light rays arrive at the exit point at almost the
same time

n = c /v
n↓≡ ↑ v
 Advantages of GRIN Fiber
Expanded ray diagram showing refraction at the
various high to low index interfaces within a
graded index fiber, giving an overall curved ray
path
Single-mode step index fiber
 Transmission Schemes

1.Single Mode Optical Fiber

2.Multimode Optical Fiber
Number of Modes
 Acceptance angle (θa) when launching
light into an optical fiber

●It is the maximum angle of a ray (against

the fiber axis) hitting the fiber core which allows
the incident light to be guided by the core.

●NA is related to the acceptance angle a,

a = Sin-1 (NA)
 Numerical Aperture
● NA of an optical System is dimensionless number that
characterize the range of angles over which the system can
accept.

●Light enters within the acceptance cone

propagate properly.
●Numerical Aperture is defined as the Sine
of half of the angle of acceptance cone.
NA = Sina
 Numerical Aperture
●Numerical Aperture is defined as the Sine of half of the
angle of fiber's light acceptance cone.
● Numerical aperture is thus considered as a light gathering
capacity of an optical fiber.

● Higher the value of NA more is the light collected for

propagation in the fiber.

Formula: Numerical Aperture ( NA)

= SinӨa = r / √ (d2 + r2)
.
Fibers Materials
 Preparation of optical fibers
1.Double-crucible method for
fiber drawing
2.Vapor-phase deposition technique

SiCl4↑ + O2↑ → SiO2 + 2 Cl2↑

GeCl4↑ +O2↑O2→ GeO2 + 2 Cl2↑
 Experiment
Objective: To find the numerical aperture of a given optic
fiber and hence to find its acceptance angle.

Motivation :
●The main motivation for considering the optical fiber in the
growing word is improved communication.

● The optical fiber offer a method of transmitting that allow for

clearer, faster and more efficient communication than copper
wire.

● The optical fibers (thin strands) holds many advantages than

copper wire system and carry huge amount of data for
transmission.
Numerical Measurement Setup

•Formula:
Numerical Aperture ( NA) =
Sin  = r / √ (d2 + r2)
●here d is distance between
screen and fiber end and r is
the radius of the spot circle

Results:
1.Numerical Aperture of the given optic fiber = 0.625
2.Acceptance Angle= 38.66 degree
 Experimental Setup

To perform the experiment

● Vary the detector distance X by an order of 0.5mm, using the screw

gauge (use up and down arrow on the screw gauge to rotate it).

● Measure the detector reading from output unit and tabulate it.

● Plot the graph between X in x-axis and output reading in y-axis.

 Results
Graph:
Detector o/p current (micro-Amp) 7000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation

6000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation

5000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation

4000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation

3000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation
Experimental data :●
2000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation
Curve fitted: -------
1000
O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation O rig in P ro 8 E valu ation

8.4 8.0 7.6 7.2 6.8 6.4

Micrometer reading (mm)

Results: The acceptance angle is given by

Өa = tan-1 (D/Z) = tan-1 (0.4/1.98) = Өa = 11.420
The Numerical Aperture is given by NA = Sin Өa = sin (11.42)= 0.197
 Conclusions

• Numerical Aperture (NA) is the light gathering

ability or capacity of an optical fiber,

• More the NA, the more efficient will be fiber, It is

also known as figure of merit.

• NA depends on (a) refractive index of core and

cladding (b) Wave length of light source © Length
and diameter of optical fiber.
 Fiber Losses

Energy losses and signal degradation in fiber can

be attributed to a variety of causes some of which
Attenuation is the loss of optical energy as it travels through the fiber.
►Loss is measured in decibels per kilometer.
►Attenuation losses vary from 300 dB/km for inexpensive fiber to as
low as 0.21 dB/km for high quality single-mode fibers.
► Attenuation values also vary from one wavelength to another.
► In certain wavelengths, almost no attenuation occurs; these
wavelengths are called windows
1. Light scattering (Rayleigh scattering) is caused by imperfections
in the fiber

2. Absorption of light energy due to the heating of ion impurities results in

a dimming of light at the end of the fiber.
1) Microbend loss, due to small
surface irregularities in the
cladding, causes light to be reflected
at angles where there is no further
reflection.

2) Macrobend is a bend in the

entire cable which causes
certain modes not to be
reflected and therefore causes
loss to the cladding (see Figure)
Attenuation/ Losses
Attenuation / Loss Mechanism
 What is an Optic Source?
• The heart of a fiber optical data system

– Converts electrical signals into optical

signals
– Launches these optical signals into an
optical fiber for data transmission.
LEDs – Light Emitting Diode
• Emits incoherent light through
spontaneous emission.
• Used for Multimode systems
• Broad spectral width and wide
output pattern.
• 850nm region: GaAs and AlGaAs
• 1300–1550 nm region: InGaAsP
and InP
Double Hetrojunction Laser
• ● LD is Junction between two
heavily doped layers of p- and n-
type materials.
• ●When a large FB is applied, a
large number of free holes and
electrons are created at in the
vicinity of the junction.
• ●When hole and electron pair
collide and recombine the produce
a photon of light.
• ●P-N junction in Fig is sandwiched
between AlGaAs an layer, which
has lower refractive index. This
difference traps the holes and
electrons in the junction region,
and therby improves the light
output.
Photodiodes
 What is optical fiber communication
system?
• Fiber-optic communication is a method
of transmitting information from one
place to another by sending pulses of
infrared or visible light through an optical
fiber.
• The light is a form of carrier wave that is
modulated to carry information.
 Selection of Components
• Length of fiber cabling-attenuation,
• Source wavelength-type of fiber to be
selected
• Interconnect losses-power budgeting
• Data rate-bandwidth of fiber and
optoelectronic interface equipment
• Type of fiber
 What are the system design considerations for
optical communication system?

In optical system design major consideration

involves
• Transmission characteristics of fiber
(attenuation & dispersion).
• Information transfer capability of fiber. -
Terminal equipment & technology.
• -Distance of transmission.
 What are the three parts of a fiber
optic communication system?
• A typical fiber optic communication system consists of ;
1) optical transmitter,
2) optical fiber,
3) optical receiver

The optical transmitter converts the information-carrying

electronic signal to an optical signal, which are then
sent through a long length of optical fiber. Optical
receiver converts the optical signal to an Electrical
Signal.
 Basic function of optical fiber communications link is to
convey analog information from one point to another via an
optical fiber. The main components are :
Analog Communication System
Digital Communication System
 Selection of the Optical Fiber Link Components

1) Selection of the Optical Source: LED /Laser Diode depend on

the system Requirements/
2)Selection of the Optical Fiber:
• (i) Very Low Loss &
• (ii) Bandwidth –Length Product ( B x L)
B= System bit rate; L= Length of the Link
3)Selection of the Optical Detector:
• APD/PIN Diode
4) Selection of the Receiver:
highly sensitive gain amplifier designed to maintain a pre-
established BER usually 10-9 for digital transmission and very
high SNR usually 60 dB or better for analog communication
5)Selection of Modulation: Analog / Digital Modulation
 Design Procedure
• Optical Wavelength: 800 to 900 nm / 1300 to
1600 nm
• Optical Sources: LED/LASER Diode ( LED: -20
to -10 dBm & LASER: -10 dBm to +6 dBm).
• Optical Fibers: Single Mode or Multimode
• Optical Detector: APD/PIN
• Optical Receiver Sensitivity: Established by
algebraically adding the link total loss and the
optical power coupled into the fiber.
Analog Optical Communication Link
Block Diagram of WDM Optical Fiber Link
 Example I:Design a 3.5 km single channel analog optical fiber
link with a usable bandwidth of 40 MHz and required signal-
to- noise ratio of 60 dB.

• Solution:
Component Selection: Basic components to be
utilized in this link are the;
• Optical source
• Fiber
• Optical detector