Overview of Optical Fiber Communication

To transfer information over a distance a communication medium is used. Usually, the information signal is
modulated onto a carrier signal which is an electromagnetic wave. The modulated signal is passed through any
medium and is demodulated at receiver’s side. In optical fiber communication, the carriers are selected from an
optical range of frequencies for the communication.

Historical Development

Simple systems such as signal fires, reflecting mirrors and, more recently, signalling lamps have provided
successful for communication using visible optical waves or light. Moreover, as early as 1880 Alexander Graham
Bell reported the transmission of speech using a light beam. The photophone proposed by Bell modulated
sunlight with a diaphragm giving speech transmission over a distance. Lack of sunlight source, weather conditions,
need for line-of-sight arrangement limited the scope.

A renewed interest in optical communication was stimulated in the early 1960s with the invention of the laser.
However, the previously mentioned constraints of light transmission in the atmosphere tended to restrict these
systems to short-distance applications. The invention of the laser instigated a tremendous research effort into the
study of optical components to achieve reliable information transfer using a lightwave carrier. The proposals for
optical communication via dielectric waveguides or optical fiber fabricated from glass to avoid degradation of the
optical signal by the atmosphere were made almost simultaneously in 1966 by Kao and Hockham and Werts. Such

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systems were viewed as a replacement for coaxial cable or carrier transmission systems.

Semiconductor optical sources (i.e., injection lasers and light-emitting diodes) and detectors (i.e., photodiodes
and to a lesser extent phototransistors) compatible in size with optical fibers were designed and fabricated to
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enable successful implementation of the optical fiber system.

High-performance, reliable optical fiber communication systems and networks are now widely deployed within
the worldwide telecommunication network and in many more localized communication application areas.
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General System

General communication system

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• The function of a general communication system is to convey the signal from the information source over the
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transmission medium to the destination.

• In electrical communications the information source provides an electrical signal, usually derived from a
message signal which is not electrical (e.g., sound), to a transmitter that modulates a carrier (such as an
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electromagnetic wave) and covert into suitable form for transmission.

• Transmission medium can consist of a pair of wires, a coaxial cable or a radio link through free space down
which the signal is transmitted to the receiver, where it is demodulated to extract original information.

Optical Fiber Communication

• The information source provides an electrical signal to a transmitter which drives an optical source to give
modulation of the lightwave carrier. The optical source which provides the electrical–optical conversion may
be either a semiconductor laser or light-emitting diode (LED).
• The transmission medium consists of an optical fiber cable and the receiver consists of an optical detector
which provides demodulation of the optical carrier. Photodiodes, phototransistors and photoconductors are
utilized for the detection of the optical signal and the optical–electrical conversion.
• Analog modulation involves the variation of the light emitted from the optical source in a continuous manner.
With digital modulation discrete changes in the light intensity are obtained (i.e., on–off pulses).

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Comparison of general communication system and optical fiber communication :

Below is the figure where digital optical fiber link in which semiconductor laser and photodiode implementation
is shown.

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The input digital signal encoded for optical transmission and laser drive circuit modulates intensity of the
semiconductor laser with the encoded digital signal. Signal is then launched to optical fiber cable. The avalanche
photodiode (APD) detects signal and then front-end amplifier and equalizer provide gain as well as linear signal
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processing and noise bandwidth reduction. Finally, the signal obtained is decoded to give the original digital
information.

Advantages of Optical Fiber Communication

• Enormous potential bandwidth. Optical fiber technology provided high bandwidth than metallic cable systems.
• Small size and weight. Optical fibers have very small diameters which are often no greater than the diameter
of a human hair.
• Immunity to interference, crosstalk and also provide signal security.
• Low transmission loss. Optical fiber cables has very low transmission loss and hence the requirement for
intermediate repeaters and the associated electronics is reduced, giving a substantial cost advantage
• Ruggedness and flexibility. Although protective coatings are essential, optical fibers may be manufactured with
very high tensile strengths. the fibers may also be bent to quite small radii or twisted without damage.

Disadvantages

• Limited Application as it can only be used on ground and cannot be used directly with mobile communication.
• Low power- light emitting sources are limited to low power.
• Installation is cost-effective since they need special test equipment.
• Difficult to merge.

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• Additional components to reproduce original signal such as repeaters are needed for long distance
transmission when the signal gets weak(attenuates).

Applications of Optical Fiber Communication

• Alternatives to conventional copper twisted-pair cables in telephone system.

• It can be placed near high voltage power lines, as it doesn’t suffer from electromagnetic interference.
• Used in broadcast television, cable television, remote monitoring and surveillance.
• Used in transmission of digital data generated by computers such as between CPU to peripherals, CPU to CPU.
• Military applications include communications, command and control links on ships and aircraft, data link for
satellite earth stations.
• Used in sensors such as temperature sensors, position sensors, gyroscope.

Optical Fiber Waveguides

An optical waveguide is a spatially inhomogeneous structure for guiding light, i.e., for restricting the spatial
region in which light can propagate. Usually, a waveguide contains a region of increased refractive index(measure
of bending of a light ray when passing from one medium to another.), compared with the surrounding medium
(called cladding). Cladding is the application of one material over another to provide a skin or layer.

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A circular dielectric waveguide or fiber optic has an internal core that has a higher index of refraction than the
cladding.
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Ray Theory

The phenomenon of splitting of white light into its constituents is known as dispersion. The concepts of reflection
and refraction of light are based on a theory known as Ray theory or geometric optics, where light rays are
considered as waves and represented with simple geometric lines or rays.

1) Total Internal Reflection

The refractive index of a medium is defined as the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity of light
in the medium. A ray of light travels more slowly in an optically dense medium than in one that is less dense, and
the refractive index gives a measure of this effect of bending of a light ray when passing from one medium to
another. When a ray is incident on the interface between two dielectrics of differing refractive indices (e.g., glass–
air), refraction occurs.

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The above figure shows, if a ray of light travel from a dielectric medium of refractive index n1 to another with
refractive index n2 (where n2 < n1), then

the angle of refraction Ф2 with respect to normal(90o) is greater than the angle of incidence Ф1 with respect to the
normal.
Also, a small amount of light is reflected back into the originating dielectric medium (partial internal reflection).

The angles of incidence φ1 and refraction φ2 are related to each other and to the refractive indices of the
dielectrics by Snell’s law of refraction :

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n1 sin φ1 = n2 sin φ2
or
sin φ1/sin φ2 = n2/n1
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From the above figure, the angle of refraction is 90o and emerges parallel to the interface between two dielectric
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mediums. For this to happen, the angle of incidence must be less than 90o shown as φc, this angle is called critical
angle which can be calculated by :
sin φc = n2/n1
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Now, if angle of incidence is greater than critical angle, there is total internal reflection. This property is adopted
in optical fiber cable. The transmission of a light ray in an optical fiber via a series of total internal reflections at the
interface of the silica core and the slightly lower refractive index silica cladding is shown below.

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2) Acceptance Angle
It is the maximum angle of a ray(comes from air or vacuum outside the fiber) against the fiber axis that hits the
fiber core, which allows the incident light to be guided/propagated by the core without refraction to the cladding.
Any rays which are incident on fiber core at angle greater than acceptance angle will be transmitted to the core–
cladding interface at an angle less than critical angle, and will not be totally internally reflected.

3) Numerical Aperture
The numerical aperture is a measurement of the ability of an optical fiber to capture light and is determined by
the refractive index contrast between core and cladding of the fiber, assuming that the incident beam comes
from air or vacuum.

Where, n1 is the refractive index of core and n2 is refractive index of cladding.

4) Skew Rays
A meridional ray is a ray that passes through the axis of an optical fiber. A skew ray is a ray that travels in a zig-zag
path and never crosses the fiber axis. They follow a helical path through the fiber.

Cylindrical Fiber

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A planar waveguide and a cylindrical waveguide/cylindrical fiber are shown below. A cylindrical waveguide or
fiber optic has an internal core that has a higher index of refraction than the cladding.
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Modes
Modes describes the nature of propagation of electromagnetic waves in a wave guide. It is the allowed direction a
light wave or ray passes while satisfying the conditions for total internal reflection. The propagation of light can be
in either of the two modes : single mode or multimode.
In single mode, light ray propagates only through a single path and multimode allows multiple modes of light to
propagate through the core. The core of single mode fiber is much smaller but that of multimode is comparatively
large.

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Based on the refractive index distribution of core a fiber can be of step-index or graded index form. In a step
index fiber, density of core is constant from center to edges and only differs at the cladding. Multimode step-
index fibers trap light with many different entrance angles, each mode in a step-index multimode fiber is
associated with a different entrance angle. Each mode therefore, travels along a different path through the fiber.
Different propagating modes have different velocities. In a graded index fiber, density is highest at center of core
and lowers towards edges. The index of refraction decreases as the radial distance from the center of the core
increases. As a result, the light travels faster near the edge of the core than near the center. Different modes
therefore travel in curved paths with nearly equal travel times.

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Single Mode Fiber

Single mode fibers are constructed by letting dimensions of the core diameter be a few wavelengths and by
having small index differences between core and cladding.
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Each SM fiber has a cut-off wavelength associated with it. It is the wavelength above which a particular fiber
becomes single-mode.
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The cut-off wavelength is given by :

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where,
𝝀c indicates the theoretical cut-off wavelength
a is the radius of core
n1 is the refractive index of the core
Vc is the normalized frequency
∆ is the relative refractive index difference between the core and cladding

As we have discussed, modes describe the allowed direction a light wave or ray passes while satisfying the
conditions for total internal reflection. Each mode maintains the distribution of the electromagnetic field in the x-y
plane (modal-field distribution) as it propagates in the z-direction.
The Mode Field Diameter(MFD) is a parameter to predict the performance characteristic of a fiber, based on the
geometric distribution of light in the propagating mode.
It is determined from mode-field distribution of fundamental fiber mode, and is a function of optical source
wavelength, core radius and refractive index profile of fiber. MFD is used to predict fiber properties such as splice
loss, bending loss, cut-off wavelength and waveguide dispersion.

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Standard technique to find MFD is using Petermann II equation :

where,
E(r) denotes field distribution of LP01 mode
r is the radius
W0 is width of electric field distribution

Fiber Materials

Requirements for selecting material for optical fibers :

1) Must be possible to make long, thin and flexible fibers from the material
2) Material must be transparent at a particular optical wavelength to guide light effectively
3) Physically compatible materials that have slightly different refractive indices for core and cladding must be
available

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Materials that satisfy these requirements are glass and plastic.

Glass Fibers
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Largest category of optically transparent glasses from which optical fibers are made consists of oxide of glasses.
The most common oxide is silica (SiO2). To produce two similar materials that have slightly different indices of
refraction for core and cladding, either fluorine or various oxides (referred to as dopants) such as B2O3, GeO2 or
P2O5 are added to silica. An example is:
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GeO2 – SiO2 for core , SiO2 for cladding
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Plastic Optical Fibers

Polymer(plastic) Optical Fibers (POF) are less widely used because of higher attenuation than glass fibers. Its main
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use is in short distance applications. The core of these fibers is either polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA POF) or a
perfluorinated polymer(PF POF).
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Optical Sources and Detectors

The optical source is often considered to be the active component in an optical fiber communication system. Its
fundamental function is to convert electrical energy in the form of a current into optical energy (light) in an
efficient manner which allows the light output to be effectively launched or coupled into the optical fiber.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

• A light-emitting diode (LED) is a p-n junction diode, which emits light when activated or forward biased.
• The n-type and p-type semiconductors are semiconductors into which impurities are added. In n-type
semiconductors, free electrons are the majority charge carriers whereas in p-type semiconductors,
holes(positively charged) are the majority charge carriers.
• When the n-type semiconductor is joined with the p-type semiconductor, a p-n junction is formed. The
majority charge carriers diffuse across the junction, electrons fill holes in p-side and holes appear on n-side. An
electric field appears as a result and prevents further movement once equilibrium is attained.
• Under forward biased condition, the p-type semiconductor is connected to the positive terminal of battery
whereas; the n-type semiconductor is connected to the negative terminal of battery. Under reverse biased
condition, the p-type semiconductor is connected to the negative terminal of battery whereas; the n-type
semiconductor is connected to the positive terminal of battery.

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• The charge carriers recombine in a forward-biased P-N junction as the electrons cross from the N-region and
recombine with the holes existing in the P-region. Free electrons are in the conduction band of energy levels,
while holes are in the valence energy band. Thus the energy level of the holes will be lesser than the energy
levels of the electrons. Some portion of the energy must be dissipated in order to recombine the electrons and
the holes. This energy is emitted in the form of heat and light.
• Hence, the P-N junction emits light when electrical energy is applied to it.
• LEDs are used with multimode fibers since they are incoherent(emit waves that have random frequencies and
phase differences).

Laser Diodes
• A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission
of electromagnetic radiation.
• LASER stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.
• It emits light coherently, Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot. A laser is a coherent
and focused beam of photons.
• Laser is created when the electrons in atoms in special glasses, crystals, or gases absorb energy from an
electrical current or another laser and become “excited.” The excited electrons move from a lower-energy
orbit to a higher-energy orbit around the atom’s nucleus. When they return to their normal or “ground” state,
the electrons emit photons (particles of light).
• Its light contains only one wavelength (one specific colour) and laser light is directional.

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• Laser diodes are used with single mode fibers. s.o
Photodetectors
• The function of a detector is to convert the received optical signal into an electrical signal, which is then
amplified before further processing. Optical detectors perform the exact opposite function of that of the
optical sources; that is, they convert electric power into optical power.
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• The two photodetector devices most commonly used in optical fiber communications systems are the PIN and
APD devices.
• PIN – is the abbreviation of P-region, I-Intrinsic- N-region semiconductor diode [Intrinsic is the opposite of
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extrinsic in the sense they are semiconductors without doping/added impurities].When a photon is incident
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upon a semiconductor photodetector device with energy larger than the bandgap energy of that device, the
energy of the photon is absorbed by the bandgap and an electron-hole pair is generated across the bandgap.
The term "band gap" refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the bottom of
the conduction band. The absorbed photons trigger photocurrent in the external circuitry. The generated
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photocurrent from the PIN-photodetector device develops a potential difference across the load resistance RL.

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• APD(Avalanche photodiode) internally multiply primary signal photocurrent before it enters input circuitry of
amplifier. It is similar to PIN - diodes with only one exception; that is, the addition of a high intensity electric
field region. In this region, the primary electron-hole pairs generated by the incident photons are able to
absorb enough kinetic energy from the strong electric field to collide with atoms present in this region, thus
generating more electron-hole pairs. This process of generating more than one electron-hole pair from one
incident photon through the ionization process is referred to as the “avalanche effect”. Photocurrent
generated by an APD photodetector device exceeds the current generated by a PIN device. Avalanche
photodetectors exhibit higher noise levels than PIN devices.

For more tutorials: https://www.teachics.org

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