Optical Fiber Cable(OFC)

By :NATIONAL TRANSMISSION TEAM

Ankush Sharma
Paras Malhotra
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National Transmission Team / 06/24/16

Growth Of Optical Fiber

o Optical fibers were discovered in 1920s
o Initially they were used for medical purposes but seldom used for

communication purposes due to high losses.

o By 1960, glass-clad fibers had attenuation of about one decibel
per meter, fine for medical imaging, but too high for communications .
o By 1980 the carriers built national backbone network of optical
fiber with 1300nm sources where fiber attenuation was as low as 0.5
dB/km
o However, a new generation of single-mode systems is now
beginning to find applications in submarine cables and systems
serving large numbers of subscribers. They operate at 1.55
micrometers, where fiber loss is 0.2 to 0.3 dB/km, allowing even
longer repeater spacings.

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What are Optical Fibers?

Optical Fibers are thin long (km) strands of ultra pure glass (silica) or
plastic that can to transmit light from one end to another without much
attenuation or loss.

This is to be believed as repeater distances on long haul routes for optical

fibers vary from 50 to 150 km.
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Basic Concept Behind OFC Communication

A fiber-optic system is similar to the copper wire system that fiber-optics is
replacing. The difference is that fiber-optics use light pulses to transmit
information down fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses to transmit
information down copper lines

Fiber optic cable functions as a "light guide," guiding the light introduced at
one end of the cable through to the other end. The light source can either be
a light-emitting diode (LED)) or a laser.
The light source is pulsed on and off, and a light-sensitive receiver on the
other end of the cable converts the pulses back into the digital ones and
zeros of the original signal.
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optical fiber consists of :1) Core - the innermost

layer of the fiber
through which
light travels.

2) Cladding- the layer covering the core and have less

refractive index as compared to that of core.

3) Coating- the outermost layer basically used for the

protection of the fiber from the external
environment.

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National Transmission Team /

Working Principle of Optical Fiber:

Optical fiber works on the principle of Total Internal Reflection.

Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon that occurs

when a ray of light strikes a medium boundary at an angle
larger than a particular critical angle with respect to
the normal to the surface. If the refractive index is lower on the
other side of the boundary, no light can pass through and all of
the light is reflected. The critical angle is the angle of
incidence above which the total internal reflection occurs.
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Total internal refection confines light within optical fibers (similar

to looking down a mirror made in the shape of a long paper
towel tube). Because the cladding has a lower refractive index,
light rays reflect back into the core if they encounter the
cladding at a shallow angle (red lines). A ray that exceeds a
certain "critical" angle (c) escapes from the fiber (yellow line).

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Types of optical fiber

Optical fiber is of two types :1)Step Index Fiber This kind of fiber has uniform refractive
index within the core and there is a sharp decrease in
refractive index at the core-cladding interface.
2)Graded Index Fiber - It is an optical fiber whose core has
a refractive index that decreases with increasing radial distance
from the fiber axis (the imaginary central axis running down the
length of the fiber). Because parts of the core closer to the fiber
axis have a higher refractive index than the parts near the
cladding, light rays follow sinusoidal paths down the fiber.

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National Transmission Team /

Step-index Multimode Fiber

core diameter = 50 200 m

cladding diameter = 125-400 m
STEP-INDEX MULTIMODE FIBER has a large core, as a result, some of the
light rays that make up the digital pulse may travel a direct route, whereas
others zigzag as they bounce off the cladding. These alternative pathways
cause the different groupings of light rays, referred to as modes, to arrive
separately at a receiving point.. Consequently, this type of fiber is best suited
for transmission over short distances, in an endoscope, for instance.

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Graded-index Multimode Fiber

core diameter = 50 100 m

cladding diameter = 125-400 m

GRADED-INDEX MULTIMODE FIBER contains a core in which the

refractive index diminishes gradually from the center axis out towards
the cladding. The higher refractive index at the center makes the light
rays moving down the axis advance more slowly than those near the
cladding. Also, rather than zigzagging off the cladding, light in the core
curves helically because of the graded index, reducing its travel
distance. The shortened path and the higher speed allow light at the
periphery to arrive at a receiver at about the same time as the slow but
straight rays in the core axis. The result: a digital pulse suffers less
dispersion.

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Single-mode Fiber

core diameter = 8 12 m
cladding diameter = 125 m
SINGLE-MODE FIBER has a narrow core (eight microns or less), and the
index of refraction between the core and the cladding changes less than it
does for multimode fibers. Light thus travels parallel to the axis, creating little
pulse dispersion. Telephone and cable television networks install millions of
kilometers of this fiber every year.

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Diameter of core in different Fiber modes

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Mode Field Diameter

Mode-field diameter is a measure of the spot size or beam

width of light propagating in a single-mode fiber . Mode-field

diameter is a function of source wavelength, fiber core radius,
and fiber refractive index profile. The vast majority of the optical
power propagates within the fiber core, and a small portion
propagates in the cladding near the core as shown in the fig.

Energy Distribution in core

and cladding

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Comparison With Other Media / Technologies

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Advantages Of Optical Fibers

1. Very high information carrying capacity.
2. LESS ATTENUATION (order of 0.2 db/km)
3. Small in diameter and size & light weight
4. LOW COST AS COMPARED TO COPPER (as glass is made
from sand, the raw material used to make OF is free.)
5. Greater safety and immune to emi & rfi, moisture & corossion
6. Flexible and easy to install in tight conduicts
7. ZERO RESALE VALUE (so theft is less)
8. Is dielectric in nature so can be laid in electrically sensitive
surroundings
9. Difficult to tap fibers, so secure
10. No cross talk and disturbances

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Disadvantages Of Optical Fibers

1.The terminating equipment is still costly as compared to copper
equipment.
2.Optical Fiber is delicate so has to be handled carefully.
3.Last mile is still not totally fiberised due to costly subscriber
premises equipment.
4.Communication is not totally in optical domain, so repeated
electric optical electrical conversion is needed.
5.Tapping is not possible. Specialized equipment is needed to tap
a fiber.
6.Optical fiber splicing is a specialized technique and needs
expertly trained manpower.
7.The splicing and testing equipments are very expensive as
compared to copper equipments.

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Applications Of Optical Fibers

1. LONG DISTANCE COMMUNICATION BACKBONES
2. VIDEO TRANSMISSION
3. BROADBAND SERVICES
4. COMPUTER DATA COMMUNICATION (LAN, WAN etc..)
5. HIGH EMI AREAS
6. MILITARY APPLICATION
7.NON-COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS (sensors etc)

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Optical Fiber Cable

In practical fibers, the cladding is usually coated with a

tough resin buffer layer, which may be further surrounded by
a jacket layer, usually plastic. These layers add strength to the fiber but do
not contribute to its optical wave guide properties. Rigid fiber assemblies
sometimes put light-absorbing ("dark") glass between the fibers, to
prevent light that leaks out of one fiber from entering another. This
reduces cross-talk between the fibers.

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Various Types Of Optical Fiber Cables

OPGW (Optical Pilot Ground Wire) Cable

Self-Support AERIAL figure 8 type OF Cable
Cable ADSS (All Dielectric Self Supported) type OF Cable
LASHED type OF Cable
UNDERGROUND / BURRIED type OF Cables
DUCT Type OF Cable

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Downlead clamps
They are used to fix the cable to the
tower in the down lead to the joint
box.

Suspension assembly
Assembly with reinforced suspension
clamp and neoprene inner covering,
especially designed for OPGW
cables. Includes grounding clamps for
tower connection.

Stockbridge Damper
The dampers are used to absorb the
cable vibrations.
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AERIAL Figure 8 type OF Cable

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LASHED type OF Cable

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UNDERGROUND / BURRIED Type OF Cables

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DUCT Type OF Cable

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Submarine
Communication
Cable
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Submarine communication cable

A submarine communication cable is a cable laid beneath
the sea to carry telecommunications between countries.
A cross section of a submarine communications cable
is as follows :1 - Polyethylene
2 - Mylar tape
3 - Stranded steel wires
4 - Aluminium water barrier
5 - Polycarbonate
6 - Copper or aluminium tube
7 - Petroleum jelly
8 - Optical fibers

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Importance of Submarine Cables

As of 2006, overseas satellite links accounted carried only 1
percent of international traffic, while the remainder was carried
by undersea cable. The reliability of submarine cables is high,
especially when multiple paths are available in the event of a
cable break. Also, the total carrying capacity of submarine
cables is in the terabits per second while satellites typically offer
only megabits per second and display higher latency. However,
a typical multi-terabit, transoceanic submarine cable system
costs several hundred million dollars to construct.

For more details on submarine cables

and its installation refer to the
attached document.
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s ubmarine cables

SEA-ME-WE 1

SEA-ME-WE 2

Jun-1985

Commissioned
in

Capacity/Length
No. of Owners
Total Investment
Technology

SEA-ME-WE 3

SEA-ME-WE 4

Aug-1999

Oct-1994

Nov-2005

(Decommissioned

(Decommissioned

June 1999)

October 2006)

12MHz

2x560Mbps

8x2.5Gbps

64x2x10Gbps

13,500km

18,000km

39,000km

20,000km

22

52

92

16

USD800M

USD800M

USD1500M

USD500M

PDH/Optical

SDH/WDM/Optic
al

SDH/DWDM/Opti
cal

Analog/Copper

Decommissioning reason: This cable destroyed after one month of operation due to the
excessive voltage applies to the cable in order to achieve faster telegraph operation

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South East AsiaMiddle EastWestern Europe

4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) Cable

It is an optical fiber submarine communications cable system that carries

telecommunications between Singapore, Malaysia , Thailand , Bangladesh, India,
SriLanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan ,Egypt, Italy
,Tunisia, Algeria and France.

The cable is approximately 18,800 kilometres long, and provides the

primary Internet backbone between South East Asia, Indian subcontinent , Middle
East and Europe.

The cable uses dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), allowing for

increased communications capacity per fibre compared to fibres carrying nonmultiplexed signals and also facilitates bidirectional communication within a single
fibre.

Two fibre pairs are used with each pair able to carry 64 carriers at 10 Gbit/s
each. This enables terabit per second speeds along the SEA-WE-ME 4 cable with
a total capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s.

SEA-ME-WE 4 is used to carry "telephone, internet, multimedia and various

broadband data applications
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Splicing
Splices are "permanent" connections
between two fibers.
Splicing is only needed if the cable
runs are too long for one straight pull
or you need to mix a number of
different types of cables (like bringing
a 48 fiber cable in and splicing it to
six 8 fiber cables).
Video shows the steps for Splicing:
1. Physical Preparation
2. Stripping, Cleaving and cleaning
the fiber with Iso propyl Alcohol.
3. Splicing the fiber.
4. Heating the Splice with Sleeve.
5. Routing the spliced fiber in Joint
Closure
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Types Of Splices
There are two types of splices:
1.Fusion Splices are made by "welding" the two fibers together
usually by an electric arc.
2.Mechanical Splices are alignment gadgets that hold the
ends of two fibers together with some index matching gel or
glue between them.
The tools to make mechanical splices are cheap, but the splices
themselves are expensive.

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Which Splice?
If cost is the issue, we've given you the clues to make a choice:
fusion is expensive equipment and cheap splices, while
mechanical is cheap equipment and expensive splices.
So if you make a lot of splices (like thousands in an big telco or
CATV network) use fusion splices. If you need just a few, use
mechanical splices.
Fusion splices give very low back reflections and are preferred
for singlemode high speed digital or CATV networks. However,
they don't work too well on multimode splices, so mechanical
splices are preferred for MM, unless it is an underwater or aerial
application, where the greater reliability of the fusion splice is
preferred.

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Connectors
The connector is a mechanical device mounted on the end of a fiber-optic
cable, light source, receiver, or housing. The connector allows the fiber-optic
cable, light source, receiver, or housing to be mated to a similar device. The
connector must direct light and collect light and must be easily attached and
detached from equipment.

Types Of Connectors

ST (Straight Tip) most

popular connector for
multimode networks

FC/PC(Ferrule Connection) most

popular singlemode connectors)

LC(Lucent Connector) is a new connector that

uses a 1.25 mm ferrule
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SC (Square Connector ) is a snap-in

connector , widely used in singlemode
systems

E2000/LX-5 is like a LC but with

a shutter over the end of the fiber

Optical Fiber Characteristics

Mostly SM fiber is used for long distance communication

typically 5 Km to 170 Km without any problem

MM fiber is only used for the low data rates and short
distance communication typically 100 meter to 1 Km

Distance of reach depends on so many parameters

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Typical SM Fiber Parameters

Attenuation slope (dB/Km/nm)

Dispersion slope (ps/nm2 Km)
Mode field diameter

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Attenuation vs Wavelength
100

First
Window

Attenuation
(dB/km)

50

Early 1970s

20
10

Second
Window

5.0
2.0
1.0

1980s

Third
Window

0.5
0.2
0.1
600 800 1000
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1400
1200
Wavelength (nm)

1600 1800

Signal distortion due to chromatic dispersion

Optical spectrum

Spectrum broadening
Difference in group velocity

Wavelength

Pulse broadening
(Waveform distortion)

Transmitter output

Original signal

1 0 1
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Time

Group velocity

Time

Optical fiber

Receiver input

Time
Regenerated signal

Wavelength

Time

Waveform distortion due to fiber non-linearity

High power
intensity

Refractive
index
change

Frequency
chirp

Spectrum
broadening

Waveform distortion
due to chromatic
dispersion

Optical fiber

Low optical
power

High optical
power

Received waveform
Transmitter out
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Dispersion Compensation Example

Transmission fiber
Positive dispersion
(Negative dispersion)

Dispersion compensating fiber

(DCF)
Negative dispersion
(Positive dispersion)

Longer wavelength

Slow (Fast)

Longer wavelength

Fast (Slow)

Shorter wavelength

Fast (Slow)

Shorter wavelength

Slow (Fast)

40 Gb/s optical signal

25 ps

Transmitter output
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After fiber transmission

After dispersion comp.

Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)

Cross-section of optical fiber
Cladding

Practical

Ideal

Fast axis

Core

Slow axis

1st-order PMD

Fast

Slow

Differential Group Delay (DGD)

- Well defined, frequency independent eigenstates

- Deterministic, frequency independent Differential Group Delay (DGD)
- DGD scales linearity with fiber length

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Automatic PMD compensation

PMD compensation scheme in receiver

40Gb/s waveforms
Before PMD comp.

PMD
comp.
device #1

PMD
comp.
device #2

PMD
comp.
device #3
Control
algorithm

O/E
module

Distortion
analyzer

After PMD comp.

PMD characteristic changes slowly due to

normal environmental fluctuations (e.g. temperature)
But, fast change due to e.g. fiber touching
High-speed PMD compensation device
& Intelligent control algorithm
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Maximum Permissible Loss

1) Connector Loss : .3db loss for most
adhesive/polish connect
.75 max. as per EIA/TIA 568
2) Splice Loss : less than .5db for mechanical
splice
less than .3db loss for each
fusion splice as per EIA/TIA 568
3) Fiber Loss :Single mode

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Multi mode

.5db per km for

1300 nm

3db per km for

850 nm

.4db per km at
1550 nm

1db per km for

1300 nm

ITU Standards (Optical Fiber)

G.650 Definition and test methods for the relevant

parameters of single mode fibers

G.651 Characteristics of a 50/125 m multimode graded

index optical fiber cable

G.652 Characteristics of a single-mode optical fiber cable

G.653 Characteristics of a dispersion-shifted single-mode
optical fiber cable.

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ITU Standards (Optical Fiber)

G.654 Characteristics of a 1550 nm wavelength lossminimized single-mode optical fiber cable

G.655 Characteristics of a non-zero dispersion singlemode optical fiber cable.

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Test And Measurement Instruments

OPTICAL TIME-DOMAIN REFLECTOMETER(OTDR)

It is an optoelectronic instrument used

to characterize an optical fiber. An OTDR
injects a series of optical pulses into the
fiber under test. It also extracts, from the
same end of the fiber, light that is scattered
and reflected back from points in the fiber
where the index of refraction changes.
An OTDR is used for estimating the
overall attenuation , including splice and
mated-connector losses. It may also be
used to locate faults, such as breaks, and
to measure optical return loss.

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SPLICING MACHINE
In fusion splicing a machine is used to
precisely align the two fiber ends then
the glass ends are "fused" or "welded"
together using some type of heat or
electric arc. This produces a
continuous connection between the
fibers enabling very low loss light
transmission. (Typical loss: 0.1 dB)

ATTENUATOR
An attenuator is an electronic
device that reduces
the amplitude or power of
a signal without
appreciably distorting its waveform.

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Other Measurement Tools

LASER SOURCE

POWER METER

TOOL KIT
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Some Manufacturers Of Optical Cables

Furukawa
Fujikura
LG Cables
Corning
Philips-Fitel
Pirelli
TTL
Sterlite Cables

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Basic Planning
Parameters

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Planning and Designing an OFC link

Route Survey & Design
Extensive route survey is carried out prior to designing of
the OFC network to obtain the following essential data :o

o
o
o
o

Right of Way demarcation

Soil strata
Existing Underground utilities
Road / Rail / Bridge / River / Canal Crossings
Any other criticalities

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Trenching
Specifications for Excavation of Trenches

o Standard depth will be measured from lower side of natural ground level
o
o
o
o
o
o

to the base of the trench.

Standard depth for normal soil and soft rock: At least 1500 mm (1.5 M).
Standard depth for hard rock: At least 900 mm (0.9 M) .
Different clients have slightly marginal differences in trench depth.
Width of trench: 400mm at top and 300mm at the bottom.
When cable is to be laid along culverts/bridges or cross-streams, trench
may be made closer to road edge, or in some cases, over embankment or
shoulder of the road.
Line up of trench would be such that HDPE duct(s) will be laid in straight
line, both laterally as well as vertically except at locations where it has to
necessarily take a bend because of change in alignment or gradient of
trench.
Minimum radius of two meters will be maintained, where bends are
necessitated.

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 Duct Laying
o Ducts will be laid in a flat bottom trench, free from stones, and sharp edged

debris.
o The duct would be placed in trench as straight as possible. However, at bends
horizontal and vertical minimum bending radius for duct of 1300 mm would be
maintained.
o Ducts will be laid preferably using specially designed dispensers.
o Ducts shall be free from twist and collapsed portions.
o Ends of ducts will always be closed with END PLUGS to avoid ingress of mud,
water or dust.
o Prior to aligning the ducts for jointing, each length of the HDPE duct will be
thoroughly cleaned to remove all sand, dust or any other debris that may clog,
disturb or damage the optical fiber cable when it is pulled or blown at a later stage.
o The ducts will be joined with couplers using duct cutter & other tools and will be
tightened and secured properly.
o The duct joint will be practically airtight to ensure smooth cable blowing using
cable blowing machines.

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 Back Filling
o Trench will be initially filled with sieved soil or sand in rocky terrain for

about 10 cm which will act as a cushion / padding and then duct is placed
gently over it.
o After that another layer of 10 cm of fine sieved soil or sand is poured and
then entire trench is backfilled with excavated material.
o Under normal soil conditions duct is directly laid in trench and backfilled.
o Adequate dry compaction will be done before crowning.

Crowning
o When backfilling has been done up to ground level a hump of soil is made
to cater for soil settlement.
o Entire excavated soil will be used for back filling.
o Crowning will be confined to width of trench only.

Grounding
o The armoured layer of the fiber is cut down to provide grounding to the
complete cable path as well as to provide protection from lightining.
o The cut is made after every 200 metres.
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TJC Terminal Joint Connector

SJC Straight Joint Closure
BJC- Branch Joint Closure
Fiber Management
System (FMS)
To Eqpt.

Connectors

FMS

SJC
Fiber Pigtail

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TJC

BJC

Thanks
-National Transmission team
Paras & Ankush

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