UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN ELEKTRONIK DAN

KEJURUTERAAN KOMPUTER

DENT 3563
TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

LAB SESSION 3

OPTICAL FIBRE ATTENUATION AND BENDING LOSS

1. OBJECTIVES

This experiment is designed to help students to:

a) explain the optical fibre attenuation.
b) explain the optical fibre bending loss.

2. EQUIPMENTS

a) Optical Fibre
b) Optical Communication Training Unit
c) Oscilloscope
d) Bending set

3. THEORY
The basic operation of a fibre cable whether it be glass or plastic fibre is the same. An optical
transceiver sends pulses of light via an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or Laser into the core of the
fibre cable. The light then "bounces" off the interior walls of the fibre core and is then received by
the optical transceiver on the opposite end of the cable. The phenomenon where the light "bounces"
off the walls of the fibre core is called Total Internal Reflection. Total Internal Reflection reflects
100% of the light being sent down the fibre cable. Both glass and plastic fibre cable have a coating
called cladding which surrounds the core where the light travels. The cladding keeps the light from
escaping the core ensuring it reaches its destination.

Figure 1: Total Internal Reflection

3.1. Losses in Optical Fibre

3.1.1. Attenuation

Both Glass and Plastic optical cable experience attenuation, or loss of light. Over
distance, the effectiveness of the light pulse decreases causing errors in the data being
transmitted. Multimode fibre cables experience more attenuation, or loss, per the same distance
than single mode fibre.

Typically Multimode fibre is used within buildings and to connect buildings together
in a campus environment. Plastic optical fibre has the highest attenuation, or loss of light per
distance compared to the glass fibre cable types mentioned above. They are used on short
distance applications such as in cars, in airplanes and with high-end audio equipment such as
DVD players, CD players and MP3 and DAT recorders because of the low cost and ease of
connection. For many applications the maximum distance for plastic fibre cable is less than 10
meters. Glass Fibre specifications list the core and cladding diameters as a ratio. Multimode
fibre is commonly 62.5/125 or 50/125 micron, single mode fibre is commonly 9/125 micron.
Using plastic fibre on high-end audio systems eliminates the distortion caused by capacitance
and resistance of traditional wire audio cables. Formula below is used to find the value of the
attenuation in the fibre:

3.1.2. Bending Loss.

Bending the fibre also causes attenuation. Bending loss is classified according to the
bend radius of curvature: microbend loss or macrobend loss.
Microbends are small microscopic bends of the fibre axis that occur mainly when a
fibre is cabled. Macrobends are bends having a large radius of curvature relative to the fibre
diameter. Microbend and macrobend losses are very important loss mechanisms. Fibre loss
caused by microbending can still occur even if the fibre is cabled correctly. During installation,
if fibres are bent too sharply, macrobend losses will occur.
These bends become a great source of loss when the radius of curvature is less than
several centimetres. Light propagating at the inner side of the bend travels a shorter distance
than that on the outer side.

Figure 2: Bending of Optical Fibre Cable

4. PROCEDURE

General Instruction

a) Set switch SW8 to analogue position.

b) Make sure shorting jumper JP2 is across post B and A1.
c) Remove coded data shorting links at posts S6 and S26.
d) Drive 1 Vpp, 10 kHz sinusoidal signal with zero dc at post P11.
e) Observe signal at post P31.
f) Adjust gain control to minimum value.

4.1 EXPERIMENT 1 : ATTENUATION

a) Connect the 1 meter length of OFC to the LED1 in optical Tx1 (for λ = 850 nm) block
and detector PD1 in the optical Rx1.
b) Measure the attenuation at LED = 850 nm with given VP11 = 1 Vpp, 10 KHz.
c) Repeat (a) but use LED2 in optical Tx2 for λ = 650 nm.
d) Measure the attenuation at LED = 650 nm with given VP11 = 1 Vpp, 10 KHz.
e) Repeat (a to d) for OFC with length of 3 meters.
f) Fill in your measurement results in Table 1 and 2.

4.2 EXPERIMENT 2 : BENDING LOSS

a) Connect the 1 meter length of OFC to the LED1 in optical Tx1 (λ = 650 nm) block and
detector PD1 in the optical Rx1.
b) Measure the bending Loss at LED = 850 nm given VP11 = 1 Vpp, 10 KHz.
c) Use the bending set provided.
d) Use Table 3 as experiment guide.
e) Fill in your measurement result in Table 3.

5. RESULTS

Table 1: Results 1 (For λ = 850 nm)

Length of cable 1 m plastic cable 3 m plastic cable

VP31 (volt)
Freq (kHz)

Table 2: Results 2 (For λ = 650 nm)

Length of cable 1 m plastic cable 3 m plastic cable

VP31 (volt)
Freq (kHz)
 Table 3: Results 3

VP (no bending): ___________________ V

Loop Radius (mm) VP31 (volt) with Bend 1 loop VP (volt) with Bend 2 loops
12
7
5

6. QUESTIONS
a) What is the attenuation in fibre optic?
b) Based on the results in Table 1 and Table 2, comment the relationships between signal
voltage at system receiver and cable length.
c) What is Bending Loss?
d) Referring to results in Table 3, comment on bending effect over signal voltage at receiver.