TELECOMMUNICATIONS

ENGINEERING [FE]

Optical Communications

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering
AIUB

1
 Communication by Light

 Optical Communication System is a system with light as the carrier and fiber as
the communication medium.

 Instead of using an electrical signal traveling over a cable or electromagnetic waves

traveling through space, the information is put on a light beam and transmitted
through space or through a special cable.

 Propagation of light in atmosphere is very impractical over a long distance

because of the great attenuation of the light due to atmospheric effects such
as water vapor, oxygen, particles.

 The solution is a guided medium instead of the free space.

 Optical fiber is used, glass or plastic, to contain and guide light waves.

2
 Brief History

 1880 – Alexander Graham Bell

 1900 – A practical light carrying media was developed

 1930 – Patents on tubing

 1950 – Patent for two-layer glass wave-guide

 1960 – Laser first used as light source

 1965 – High loss of light discovered

 1970s – Refining of manufacturing process

 1980s – Fiber Optic technology becomes backbone of long distance telephone

3
networks in North America.
 Optical Fiber

 An optical fiber (or optical fiber) is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure
glass (silica).

 It functions as a waveguide, or light pipe, to transmit light between the two ends
of the fiber.

 It is usually 120 micrometers in diameter. Not much wider than a human hair!

4
 Optical Fiber

 It is used to carry signals in the form of light over distances up to 50km.

 Light propagates through the fiber with little attenuation compared to electrical
cables.

 Per channel light signals propagating in the fiber have been modulated at rates as
high as 111 Gbps.

 Core – thin glass center of the fiber where light travels.

 Cladding – outer optical material surrounding the core.
 Coating/Buffer Coating – plastic coating that protects the fiber.

5
 Optical Fiber -Advantages

 Capacity: much wider bandwidth

 Crosstalk immunity

 Immunity to static interference

 Safety: Fiber is non-metalic

 Longer lasting

 Security: tapping is difficult

 Economics: Fewer repeaters

 Non-Flammable

 Light Weight
6
 Optical Fiber - Disadvantages

 Higher initial cost in installation.

 Interfacing cost.

 Strength: Lower tensile strength.

 Remote electric power.

 More expensive to repair/maintain. Specialized and sophisticated tools are

required.

7
 Areas of Application

 Telecommunications

 Local Area Networks

 Cable TV

 CCTV

 Optical Fiber Sensors

 And for the decorations too!

8
 Fiber Optic Communication
System

Fiber Optic Communication: Block Diagram

9
 Fiber Optic Communication
System

 The information signal to be transmitted may be voice, video, or computer

data.

 The first step is to convert the information into a form compatible with the
communications medium.

 These digital pulses are then used to flash a powerful light source off and on
very rapidly.

 LED or ILD (Injection Laser Diode) are use as Light Source. The amount of
light emitted is proportional to the drive current.

 Source-to-fiber-coupler (similar to a lens):

 A mechanical interface to couple the light emitted by the source into the optical fiber.

10
 Fiber Optic Communication
System

 At the receiving end, a light detector is used to detect the light.

 PIN (p-type-intrinsic-n-type) or APD (avalanche photo diode) both convert light energy
into current.

 The encoded pulses are then decoded and amplified.

Figure 1: Fiber Optic Communication System

11
 Fiber-Optic Cable

 The fiber, which is called the core, is usually surrounded by a protective

cladding.
 The cladding is also made of glass or plastic but has a lower index of
refraction.
 This ensures that the proper interface is achieved so that the light waves
remain within the core.

Figure 2: Fiber Optic Cable Layout

 In addition to protecting the fiber core from nicks and scratches, the cladding adds
strength.
 Some fiber optic cables have a glass core with a glass cladding. Others have a plastic
core with a plastic cladding. Another common arrangement is a glass core with a plastic
cladding. It is called plastic clad silica (PCS) cable. 12
 Characteristics and Behavior
of Light

 Light waves travel in a straight line like microwaves do.

 Like electricity, these light rays travel at the speed of light, which is generally
considered to be 300,000,000 m/s in free space.

 The speed of light depends upon the medium through which the light passes.

 When light passes through another material such as glass, its speed becomes
slower.

 Total Internal Reflection

 This is an optical phenomenon that occurs when a ray of light strikes a medium
boundary at an angle larger than the critical angle with respect to the normal to the
surface.

13
 Total Internal Reflection in Fiber

Figure 3: Critical Angle

 If the refractive index is lower on the other side of the boundary no light can
pass through, so effectively all of the light is reflected.

 The critical angle is the angle

of incidence above which the
total internal reflection occurs.

Figure 4: Transmission in Fiber 14

 Acceptance Cone &
Numerical Aperture

 Acceptance angle, θc, is the maximum angle in which external light rays may
strike the air/Fiber interface and still propagate down the Fiber with <10 dB
loss.

Figure 11: Acceptance cone

 Numerical aperture is a measurement of the ability of an optical fiber to

capture light.

15
 How Light Travels in a Cable

 Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel.

 A glass or plastic core is surrounded by a cladding of less dense glass or

plastic.

 The difference in density of the two materials must be such that a beam of light
moving through the core is reflected off the cladding instead of being refracted
into it.

Figure 5: How Light Travels in a Cable 16

 How Light Travels in a Cable

 The angle of incidence of the light beam is greater than the critical angle.

 Therefore, total internal reflection takes place and the light beam is simply
reflected off the surface of the fiber cable.

 The light beam bounces back and forth between the surfaces until it exits at the
other end of the cable.

 When the light beam reflects off the inner surface, the angle of incidence is
equal to the angle of reflection.

 Because of this principle, light rays entering at different angles will take different
paths through the cable. Since some paths will be longer than others, some light
rays will exit sooner and some later.

17
 Fiber Optic Cable Material

 The difference in density of the two materials must be such that a beam of light
moving through the core is reflected off the cladding instead of being refracted
into it.

 Glass has superior optical characteristics over plastic.

 Although plastic is less expensive and more flexible, its attenuation of light is
greater.

 For a given intensity, light will travel a greater distance in glass than in plastic.

 For very long distance transmissions, glass is certainly preferred.

 For shorter distances, plastic is much more practical.

18
 Types of Fiber Optic Cables

 There are two basic ways of classifying fiber optic cables.

 The first way is an indication of how the index of refraction varies across the cross
section of the cable. There are two basic ways of defining the index of refraction
variation across a cable.
 Step index: the index is constant all over the cable
 Graded index: the index of refraction of the core is not constant and varies smoothly
over the diameter of the core
 The second way of classification is by mode. Mode refers to the various paths that
the light rays can take in passing through the fiber. Two types of modes are there:
 Single-mode fibers– is used to transmit one signal per fiber (used in telephone and
cable TV). They have small cores (9 microns in diameter) and transmit infra-red light
from laser.
 Multi-mode fibers – is used to transmit many signals per fiber (used in computer
networks). They have larger cores (62.5 microns in diameter) and transmit infra-red
light from LED.

 Usually these two methods of classification are combined to define the types of
cable. 19
 Propagation Modes

 Mode refers to the number of paths for the light rays in the
cable.
 There are two classifications:
✓ Single mode
✓ Multimode.
 In single mode: light follows a single path through the core.
 In multimode: the light takes many paths through the core.
 Each type of fiber-optic cable is classified by one of these
methods of rating the index or mode. In practice, there are
three commonly used types of fiber optic cable.
 These are
✓ multimode step index,
✓ single mode step index
✓ multimode graded index.

20
 Types of Fiber Optic Cables

Figure 6: Types of Fiber Optic Cables 21

 Single-mode step-index Fiber

 Advantages:

 Minimum dispersion: all rays take same path, same time to travel down the
cable. A pulse can be reproduced at the receiver very accurately.
 Less attenuation: can run over longer distance without repeaters.
 Larger bandwidth and higher information rate.

 Disadvantages:

 Difficult to couple light in and out of the tiny core.

 Highly directive light source (laser) is required.
 Interfacing modules are more expensive.

22
 Multimode step-index Fibers

 Multimode step-index Fibers are:

 Inexpensive; easy to couple light into Fiber.
 Result in higher signal distortion; lower TX rate.
 Used for short to medium distances at relatively low pulse frequencies.

Figure 7: Multimode step-index Fibers

 The main advantage of a multimode step-index fiber is the large size.

 Typical core diameters are in the 50- to 1000 µm range. Large diameter cores
are excellent at gathering light and transmitting it efficiently.
 This means that an inexpensive light source such as an LED can be used to
produce the light pulses. The light takes many hundreds or even thousands of
paths through the core before exiting. 23
 Multimode step-index Fibers

 Main disadvantage of Multimode step index fibers is the Modal Dispersion.

 Modal dispersion is a distortion mechanism occurring in multimode fibers and

other waveguides, in which the signal is spread in time because the
propagation velocity of the optical signal is not the same for all modes. For
instance, central paths travel faster than outer paths.

Figure 8: Propagation Paths for Multimode Step-index Fibers

24
 Multimode step-index Fibers

 The result of the Modal Dispersion is a pulse at the other end of the cable that is
lower in amplitude due to the attenuation of the light in the cable and increased
in duration due to the different arrival times of the various light rays.

Figure 9: Input-Output in Multimode Step-index Fibers

 The pulses will essentially merge, as shown in the figure 9. At the output, one
long pulse will occur and will be indistinguishable from the three separate
pulses originally transmitted. This means that incorrect information will be
received. 25
 Multimode graded-index Fibers

 Multimode graded-index Fiber is the intermediate between the other two types of
Fibers.

 Multimode graded index fiber cables have several modes or paths of

transmission through the cable, but they are much more orderly and predictable.

 Because of the continuously varying index of refraction across the core, the
light rays are bent smoothly and converge repeatedly at points along the cable.

 The light rays near the edge of the core take a longer path but travel faster
since the index of refraction is lower.

 All the modes or light paths tend to arrive at one point simultaneously. The result is
that there is less modal dispersion.

26
 Multimode graded-index Fibers

 It is not eliminated entirely, but the output pulse is not nearly as stretched as in
multimode step index cable.

 The output pulse is only slightly elongated. As a result, this cable can be used at
very high pulse rates and, therefore, a considerable amount of information can be
carried on it.

 This type of cable is also much wider in diameter with core sizes in the 50 to 100
µm range.

 Therefore, it is easier to splice and interconnect, and cheaper, less intense light
sources may be used.

27
 Propagation Modes

Figure 10: Propagation Modes in different types of fibers

28
 Fiber Types

Table 1: Fiber
Types
 50/125 is a fiber with 50-micron nominal core diameter and a 125-micron nominal
cladding diameter with a graded refractive index. The attenuation parameter for
fiber is typically 0.8 dB/km at 1310 nm. The main application of this fiber is for
short-reach optical transmission systems. This fiber is optimized for use in the
1300-nm band. It can also operate in the 850-nm band.
29
Bandwidth & Power Budget

30
 Losses in Optical Fiber Cables

 The predominant losses in Optical Fibers are:

 Absorption losses due to impurities in the Fiber material.

 Material or Rayleigh scattering losses due to microscopic irregularities in the

Fiber.

 Chromatic or wavelength dispersion because of the use of a non-

monochromatic source.

 Radiation losses caused by bends and kinks in the Fiber.

 Modal dispersion or pulse spreading due to rays taking different paths down the
Fiber.

 Coupling losses caused by misalignment & imperfect surface finishes. 31

 Absorption Losses In Optic Fiber

Figure 12: Absorption Losses In Optic Fiber

32
 Cable Attenuation

 The main specification of a fiber-optic cable is its attenuation.

 Attenuation refers to the loss of light energy as the light pulse travels from one end
of the cable to the other.

 The intensity of the light at the output is lower because of various losses in the
cable.

 The main reason for the loss in light intensity over the length of the cable is due to
light absorption, scattering, and dispersion.

33
 Cable Attenuation

 Absorption refers to how the light waves are actually "soaked up" in the core
material due to the impurity of the glass or plastic.

 Scattering refers to the light lost because of light waves entering at the wrong
angle and being lost in the cladding due to refraction.

 Dispersion refers to the pulse stretching caused by the many different paths
through the cable.

 Although no light is lost as such in dispersion, the output is still lower in amplitude
than the input but the length of the light pulse has increased in duration.

34
 Intramodal dispersion

 Intra-modal dispersion occurs because different colors of light travel through

different materials and different waveguide structures at different speeds.

 There are 2 types:

 Material dispersion occurs because the spreading of a light pulse is dependent

on the wavelengths' interaction with the refractive index of the fiber core.
Different wavelengths travel at different speeds in the fiber material. Different
wavelengths of a light pulse that enter a fiber at one time exit the fiber at different
times. Material dispersion is a function of the source spectral width. The spectral
width specifies the range of wavelengths that can propagate in the fiber. Material
dispersion is less at longer wavelengths.

 Waveguide dispersion occurs because the mode propagation constant is a

function of the size of the fiber's core relative to the wavelength of operation.
Waveguide dispersion also occurs because light propagates differently in the core
than in the cladding. 35
 Intermodal dispersion

 Intermodal or modal dispersion causes the input light pulse to spread.

 The input light pulse is made up of a group of modes. As the modes propagate
along the fiber, light energy distributed among the modes is delayed by different
amounts.

 Modal dispersion occurs because each mode travels a different distance over
the same time span. The modes of a light pulse that enter the fiber at one time exit
the fiber a different times. This condition causes the light pulse to spread. As the
length of the fiber increases, modal dispersion increases.

 It is the dominant source of dispersion in multimode fibers. It does not exist in

single mode fibers. Single mode fibers propagate only the fundamental mode.
 single mode fibers exhibit the lowest amount of total dispersion. Single mode fibers
also exhibit the highest possible bandwidth.

36
 Cable Attenuation

 The amount of attenuation, of course, varies with the type of cable and its size.

 Glass has less attenuation than plastic.

 Wider cores have less attenuation than narrower cores.

 The attenuation is directly proportional to the length of the cable.

 Doubling the length of a cable doubles the attenuation, and so on.

 The attenuation of a fiber optic cable is expressed in decibels per unit of length.
(decibels per kilometer).

 The standard decibel formula used is:

dB = 10 log (Po/Pi); where Po is the power out and Pi is the power in.
37
 Cable Attenuation

 The attenuation ratings of fiber optic cables varies over a considerable range.

 The finest single mode step index cables have an attenuation of only 1
dB/km.
 Very large core plastic fiber cables can have an attenuation of several
thousand decibels per kilometer.

 A typical cable might have a standard loss of 10 to 20 dB/km.

 Typically, those fibers with an attenuation of less than 10 dB/km are called low-
loss fibers,
 While those with an attenuation of between 10 and 100 dB/km are medium-
loss fibers.
 High-loss fibers are those with over 100 dB/km ratings.

38
 Cable Attenuation

 If a cable has an attenuation of 15 dB/km. then a 5-km length cable has a total
attenuation of 5(15) = 75 dB.

 If two cables are spliced together and one has an attenuation of 17 dB and the
other 24 dB, the total attenuation is simply the sum, or 17 + 24 = 41 dB.

 When long fiber optic cables are needed, two or more cables may be spliced
together. The ends of the cable are perfectly aligned and then glued together
with a special, clear, low-loss epoxy.

 Connectors are also used. A variety of connectors provide a convenient way to

splice cables and attach them to transmitters, receivers, and repeaters.

39
 Generic Optical
Communication System

40
 Bandwidth-Distance Product
(BDP)

 Because the effect of dispersion increases with the length of the fiber, a fiber
transmission system is often characterized by its bandwidth-distance product,
usually expressed in units of MHz× km.

 This value is a product of bandwidth and distance because there is a trade off
between the bandwidth of the signal and the distance it can be carried.

 For example, a common multimode fiber with bandwidth-distance product of 500

MHz×km could carry a 500 MHz signal for 1 km or a 1000 MHz signal for 0.5 km.

41
 Optical Transmitters

 Conventional light sources such as incandescent lamps cannot be used in fiber

optic systems.

 The reason for this is that they are simply too slow.
 An incandescent light source consists of a filament that heats up and emits
light.
 Such a light source cannot be turned off and on fast enough because of the
thermal delay in the filament.
 In order to transmit high speed digital pulses, a very fast light source must be
used.

 The two most commonly used light sources are

 LEDs
 Semiconductor lasers.

42
 Light source

 Light-Emitting Diodes (LED)

 made from material such as AlGaAs or GaAsP
 light is emitted when electrons and holes recombine
 either surface emitting or edge emitting

 Injection Laser Diodes (ILD)

 similar in construction as LED except ends are highly polished to reflect photons back &
forth
 ILD versus LED
 Advantages of ILD:
 more focused radiation pattern; smaller Fiber
 much higher radiant power; longer span
 faster ON, OFF time; higher bit rates possible
 monochromatic light; reduces dispersion
 Disadvantages of ILD:
 much more expensive
 higher temperature; shorter lifespan
43
 Light Emitting Diode (LED)

 LED is a PN junction semiconductor device that emits light when forward biased.
 When a free electron encounters a hole in the semiconductor structure, the two
combine, and in the process they give up energy in the form of light.

 Most LEDs are GaAs devices optimized for producing red light.
 LED is a fast semiconductor device, it can be turned off and on very quickly.
Therefore, it is capable of transmitting the narrow light pulses required in a digital
fiber-optic system.

 Can be designed to emit virtually any color of light desired.

 The LEDs used for fiber-optic transmission are usually in the red and low infrared
ranges.

 Typical wavelengths of LED light commonly used are 0.82, 0.94, 1.3, and 1.55 µm (all
in the near-infrared range just below red light). The light is not visible to the naked
eye.
 have been chosen primarily because most fiber-optic cables have the lowest losses in
these wavelength ranges. 44
 Light Emitting Diode (LED)

 Special LEDs are made just for fiber optic applications.

 These units are made of GaAs indium phosphide (GaAsInP) and emit light at
1.3 µm.
 many fiber-optic cables have minimum loss at that frequency.

 They come with a fiber-optic "pigtail" already attached for optimum coupling of
light. The pigtail usually has a connector that attaches to the main cable.

 There are two basic ways that digital data is formatted in fiber-optic systems.
 Return-to-zero (RZ)
 Non-return-to-zero (NRZ)

45
 LED Transmitter

 The Digital data to be transmitted is converted into a serial pulse train, encoded
and then applied to light transmitter.
 The light transmitter consists of the LED and its associated driving circuitry.

Figure 13: LED Transmitter

 The binary pulses are applied to a logic gate which, in turn, operates a transistor
switch Q1 that turns the LED off and on.
 A positive pulse at the NAND gate input causes the NAND output to go to zero.
This turns off Q1, so the LED is forward-biased through R2 and turns on. With zero
input, the NAND output is 1, so Q1 turns on and shunts current away from the LED.
46
 Injection Laser Diodes (ILD)

 At some current level, it will emit a brilliant light. The physical structure of the ILD is
such that the semiconductor structure is cut squarely at the ends to form
internal reflecting surfaces.

 One of the surfaces is usually coated with a reflecting material such as gold.
The other surface is only partially reflective.

 When the diode is properly biased, the light will be emitted and will bounce
back and forth internally between the reflecting surfaces.

 The distance between the reflecting surfaces has been carefully measured so that
it is some multiple of a half wave at the light frequency.

 The bouncing back and forth of the light waves causes their intensity to
reinforce and build up. The structure is like a cavity resonator for light. The
result is an incredibly high brilliance, single-frequency light beam that is emitted
from the partially reflecting surface. 47
 Injection Laser Diodes (ILD)

 Main advantage ILDs have over LEDs is their ability to turn off and on at a
faster rate. High-speed laser diodes are capable of gigabit per second digital data
rates.

 BW: > 500MHz for ILD and < 200Mhz for LED.

 Injection lasers dissipate a tremendous

amount of heat and, therefore, must be
connected to a heat sink for proper operation.
Because their operation is heat-sensitive,
most injection lasers are used in a
circuit that provides some feedback
for temperature control. This not only
protects the laser, but also ensures
proper light intensity and frequency.
Figure 14: ILD 48
 ILD Transmitter

 This circuit is a shunt driver utilizing a FET to provide high speed laser operation.

 Sufficient voltage is maintained in series with the Laser using R2 and C, such
that FET is biased into its active or pinch-off region.

 For a particular Vin specific current flowing

through R1 is diverted around the Laser leaving
the balance of the current to flow through R2
and provided off state for the device.

Figure 15: ILD Transmitter 49

 Optical Receivers

 The receiver part of the optical communications system is relatively simple.

 It consists of a detector that will sense the light pulses and convert them into
an electrical signal.
 This signal is then amplified and shaped into the original serial digital data.

 The most critical component, of course, is the light sensor.

 The most widely used light sensor is a photodiode [avalanche photodiode (APD)].
 This is a silicon PN junction diode that is sensitive to light.

Figure 16: Optical Receiver 50

 Light Detectors

 PIN Diodes:

 It has a lightly doped 'near' intrinsic semiconductor region between a p-type

semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor region.
 photons are absorbed in the intrinsic layer.
 sufficient energy is added to generate carriers in the depletion layer for current
to flow through the device.

 Avalanche Photodiodes (APD):

 photogenerated electrons are accelerated by relatively large reverse voltage

and collide with other atoms to produce more free electrons.
 avalanche multiplication effect makes APD more sensitive but also more noisy
than PIN diodes.

51
 Wavelength-Division
Multiplexing

 WDM sends information through a single optical Fiber using lights of different
wavelengths simultaneously.

Figure 17: WDM System 52

 WDM System

 WDM increases the carrying capacity of the physical medium (fiber) using a
completely different method from TDM.

 At the receiving end of the cable, special optical filters are used to separate the
light-beams into individual channels.

 Each light beam is detected with an optical sensor and then converted into the
individual data streams.

 WDM significantly increases the data-handling capacity of fiber-optic cable.

 When WDM multiplexer/demultiplexer units are added to existing systems, more

data channels and/or higher data speeds can be accommodated.

 Systems with 8. 16, or 32 channels are available.

53
 WDM System

 WDM systems are divided in different wavelength patterns:

 Conventional or Coarse WDM (CWDM)
 Dense WDM (DWDM)

 CWDM systems provide up to 16 channels.

 is also being used in cable television networks, where different wavelengths are
used for the downstream and upstream signals. In these systems, the
wavelengths used are often widely separated, for example the downstream
signal might be at 1310 nm while the upstream signal is at 1550 nm.

 DWDM provides denser channel spacing than CWDM.

 Channel plans vary, but a typical system would use 40 channels at 100 GHz
spacing or 80 channels with 50 GHz spacing. Some technologies are capable of
25 GHz spacing (sometimes called ultra dense WDM).
54
 DWDM System Functions

 At its core, DWDM involves a small number of physical-layer functions.

 A DWDM schematic for four channels. Each optical channel occupies its own
wavelength.

Figure 18: DWDM Functional Schematic 55

 DWDM System Functions

 Generating the signal — The source, a solid-state laser, must provide stable light within a
specific, narrow bandwidth that carries the digital data, modulated as an analog signal.

 Combining the signals — Modern DWDM systems employ multiplexers to combine the
signals. There is some inherent loss associated with multiplexing and demultiplexing. This
loss is dependent upon the number of channels but can be mitigated with optical amplifiers,
which boost all the wavelengths at once without electrical conversion.

 Transmitting the signals — The effects of crosstalk and optical signal degradation or loss
must be reckoned with in fiber optic transmission. These effects can be minimized by
controlling variables such as channel spacings, wavelength tolerance, and laser power
levels. Over a transmission link, the signal may need to be optically amplified.

 Separating the received signals — At the receiving end, the multiplexed signals must be
separated out. Although this task would appear to be simply the opposite of combining the
signals, it is actually more technically difficult.

 Receiving the signals —The demultiplexed signal is received by a photodetector. In

addition to these functions, a DWDM system must also be equipped with client-side
interfaces to receive the input signal. 56
 Components and Operation

 On the transmit side, lasers with precise, stable wavelengths.

 On the link, optical fiber that exhibits low loss and transmission performance in the
relevant wavelength spectra, in addition to flat-gain optical amplifiers to boost the
signal on longer spans.
 Before the arrival of optical amplifiers (OAs), there had to be a repeater for every signal
transmitted.
 The OA has made it possible to amplify all the wavelengths at once and without optical-
electrical-optical (OEO) conversion.
 Besides being used on optical links, optical amplifiers also can be used to boost signal
power after multiplexing or before demultiplexing.

 On the receive side, photodetectors and optical demultiplexers using thin film filters
or diffractive elements.

 Optical add/drop multiplexers and optical cross-connect components

57
 LossLimit:
Maximum achievable link distance considering
attenuation only.

 DispersionLimit:
Maximum achievable link distance considering
attenuation only

58
 Example (Bellamy - page 388)

 Example 1:
Determine the loss limit and the multimode dispersion limit of a graded index
multimode fiber system operating at 820 nm and providing a bandwidth of 90 Mbps .
Assume that the difference between the available output power from the source and
the input power required by the receiver for an acceptable maximum error rate is 42
dB. At 820 nm wavelength, the attenuation of the fiber is 3dB/km. Given BDP of the
fiber is 2 Gbps-km.

 Solution:

Thus -Loss Limit = maximum error rate/attenuation = 42/3 = 14 km

Dispersion Limit = BDP/BW

= 2000/90 = 22.2 km

59
 Example (Bellamy - page 402)

 Example 2:
Determine the wavelengths of two optical signals separated by 2 GHz and centered at
1500 nm. Also find the difference between the two wavelengths.

 Solution:
From the relation between wavelength and frequency:
V=fλ
or, f = V/λ = 3*108 / 1500*10-9 = 200000 GHz

Thus the upper and the lower frequencies are determined as 200001 GHz and
199999 GHz.

λ1 = 3*108 / 199999*109 = 1500.007 nm

λ2 = 3*108 / 200001*109 = 1499.992 nm

60
 Example

 Example 3:
Determine the attenuation in dB/km such that the loss limit of a 500 mbps fiber system
is exactly equal to the dispersion limit. Assume the transmitter output is 30 dB above
the receiver threshold for the desired error rate and the system a BDP of 80 Gbps-km.
 Solution:
Maximum error rate is 30 dB. So
Loss Limit = error rate/attenuation = (30/attenuation) km

Now, Dispersion limit = BDP/BandWidth

= 80*109/500*106= 160 km

As in this case, Loss limit = Dispersion limit (given in the question)

So Loss limit = 160 km
or, 30/attenuation = 160
or, attenuation = 30/160 = 0.1875 dB/km 61
END

62