CHAPTER 3:

SIGNAL DEGRADATION IN OPTICAL FIBRES

What is meant by signal distortion ?
A signal is said to be undistorted if it is delayed in time and
scaled version of the original signal. Let a system have as
input signal and y(t) output signal . Then for distortion-less
system

-------- (1)

Where is a scaling constant and is the time delay.

What is the condition for signal distortion-less transmission ?
To see the condition in the frequency domain let us take the
Fourier transform of Eqn (1). If is the Fourier transform
of x(t)and is the Fourier transform of y(t), we get,
-------- (2)
That means if a system has a frequency response then
it does not produce any distortion of the signal. In other
words for a system to be distortion-less, its frequency
response must satisfy two conditions.
1. The amplitude response must be constant (k should be
independent of frequency).
2. The phase response should be linear ( should be
constant)
Why does the signal get distorted while propagating
along an optical fiber ?
1. Many loss components in optical fiber are wavelength
dependent. That makes k a function of frequency.
This is called the attenuation of the fiber.

2. Different modes of the optical fiber travel with

different speeds and therefore have delay which is
wavelength dependent. This phenomenon is called the
dispersion of the fiber.

So, in general the signals get distorted on an optical

fiber because different frequency components
undergo different attenuation and different delays.
For an optical communication link the highest data rate
is about 10GHz.

This translates approximately to a wavelength range of

0.1nm.

For all practical purposes, the loss of the optical fiber

can be assumed constant over a bandwidth of 0.1nm.

Therefore, we note that uniform amplitude response

condition is well satisfied for the optical fiber.

The signal depending upon the loss may reduce in

amplitude but there is no distortion of the signal due the
loss.
For radio communication the intrinsic spectral width of
the carrier is very small compared to the spectral width
of the modulating signal.

Therefore the bandwidth of the modulated signal is

almost equal to the BW of the modulating signal. (twice
if the signal is simple AM).

Also the shape of the spectrum of the modulated signal

is almost same as that of the modulating signal.

So in radio communication, the spectrum of the

modulating signal is preserved, except that it is shifted
by the carrier frequency.
For optical communication the scenario is quite
opposite.

A typical optical source like LED has an intrinsic

spectral width of 30-60nm (about 4000 to 8000GHz),
and a source like a laser diode has a spectral width of
2-3nm (about 250 to 400 GHz).

That means for optical communication the spectral

width of the carrier is much greater than the spectral
width of the data.

The bandwidth of the modulated signal then is almost

equal to the bandwidth of the carrier with hardly any
signature of the data.
So, in optical communication the spectrum cannot be
used to recover the data.

The demodulation therefore has to be done only in time

domain.

This is possible only by AM scheme where the signal can

be recovered by a primitive technique of envelope
detection.

The optical communication system hence cannot be

treated on line similar to that used for normal radio
communication link.
Also since the modulated signal has a spectral width of
few nm, the fractional bandwidth is not as small as it
appeared earlier.

The optical communication system can be looked as a

parallel multiple channel transmission of carriers
spreading over the bandwidth of the carrier.

One can then say that the distortion of the signal in

optical communication is due to differential delay of
the signal riding over different carriers within the
spectral width of the carrier.
Attenuation on Optical Fiber
The signal pulse then goes on spreading as it travels
along the optical fiber. The pulse broadening is
proportional to the distance and it is also
proportional to the spectral width of the carrier. This
phenomenon is the dispersion .

So we conclude that when a signal pulse travels

on an optical fiber it goes on broadening due to
dispersion and goes on reducing in amplitude
due to attenuation as shown in Fig. After certain
distance the pulse shape is completely distorted
not to resemble with the original pulse shape.
Attenuation loss in fiber

= (10/L) log10 (Pin /Pout) dB/km

Power in dBm = 10 log10 Power in W

1 mW
The signal on the optical fiber attenuates due to following
mechanisms :

1. Material absorption in the fiber.

Intrinsic absorption Extrinsic absorption Absorption due to

atomic defects
Infrared UV impurities OH molecules

2. Scattering due to micro irregularities inside the fiber.

Rayleigh and Mie

3. Bending or radiation losses on the fiber.

Macrobending and microbending

The first two losses are intrinsically present in any fiber and the
last two depend on the environment in which the fiber is laid.
MATERIAL ABSORPTION LOSS
EXTRINSIC ABSORPTION

Due to impurities: The material loss is due to the impurities

present in glass used for making fibers. In spite of best
purification efforts, there are always impurities like Fe, Ni, Co,
Al which are present in the fiber material.
The Fig. shows attenuation due to various molecules inside glass
as a function of wavelength. It can be noted from the figure that
the material loss due to impurities reduces substantially beyond
about 1200nm wavelength.

Due to OH molecule: In addition, the OH molecule diffuses in

the material and causes absorption of light. The OH molecule has
main absorption peak somewhere in the deep infra-red
wavelength region. However, it shows substantial loss in the
range of 1000 to 2000nm.
INTRINSIC ABSORPTION
Due to infra-red absorption :
Glass intrinsically is a good infra-red absorber. As we increase
the wavelength the infra-red loss increases rapidly.
Depends upon characteristic vibration of a particular chemical
bond between the atoms ( of which the fiber is composed ).
Highest loss

Due to UV absorption :
A photon interacts with an electron in valence band and excites
to a higher energy level.
Due to electronic absorption bands in UV region

ATOMIC DEFECTS :
Imperfections in the atomic structure of the fiber material such as
missing molecules , high density clusters of atom groups . lowest
loss
SCATTERING LOSS
Rayleigh Scattering
The scattering loss is due to the non-uniformity of the
refractive index inside the core of the fiber (compositional
fluctuations while fabrication).
The refractive index of an optical fiber has fluctuation of the
order of over spatial scales much smaller than the optical
wavelength.
These fluctuations act as scattering centres for the light
passing through the fiber. The process is, Rayleigh Scattering .
A very tiny fraction of light gets scattered and therefore
contributes to the loss.
The Rayleigh scattering is a very strong function of the
wavelength. The scattering loss varies as . This loss
therefore rapidly reduces as the wavelength increases. For
each doubling of the wavelength, the scattering loss reduces
by a factor of 16.
Mie Scattering
Occur due to non symmetrical cylindrical structure of the
optical waveguide, trapped gas bubbles , unreacted starting
materials , crystallised regions in the glass, imperfections
such as irregularities at core-cladding interface, core
diameter fluctuations while manufacturing optical fibers.

Scattering losses are higher in multimode fibers than in

single mode fibers.

The following Fig. shows the infrared, scattering and the total loss as
a function of wavelength.
It can be seen that in the presence of various losses, there is a
natural window in the optical spectrum where the loss is as low
as 0.2-0.3dB/Km. This window is from 1200nm to 1600nm.

There is a local attenuation peak around 1400nm which is due to

OH absorption. The low-loss window therefore is divided into sub-
windows, one around 1300nm and other around 1550nm. In fact
these are the windows which are the II and III generation windows
of optical communication.
FIBER BENDING LOSS
MICRO-BENDING LOSS

The analysis of micro-bends is a rather complex task.

However, just for basic understanding of how the loss takes
place due to micro-bending, the following arguments can be
used.
 In a fiber without micro-bends the light is guided by total internal
reflection (TIR) at the core-cladding boundary. The rays which are
guided inside the fiber has incident angle greater than the critical
angle at the core-cladding interface.

In the presence of micro-bends however, the direction of the

local normal to the core-cladding interface deviates and therefore
the rays may not have angle of incidence greater than the critical
angle and consequently will be leaked out.

A part of the propagating optical energy therefore leaks out

due to micro-bends.

Depending upon the roughness of the surface through which the

fiber passes, the micro-bending loss varies.

Typically the micro-bends increase the fiber loss by 0.1-0.2 dB/Km.

MACROBENDING LOSS ( RADIATION LOSS )
While laying the fiber ,the fiber may undergo a slow
bend. In micro-bend the bending is on micron scale,
whereas in a slow bend the bending is on cm scale. A
typical example of a slow bend is a formation of optical
fiber loop.
The loss mechanism due to bending loss can be well
understood using modal propagation model.
As we have seen, the light inside a fiber propagates in
the form of modes. The modal fields decay inside the
cladding away from the core cladding interface.
Theoretically the field in the cladding is finite no
matter how far away we are from the core-cladding
interface.
 Now look at the amplitude and phase distribution for
the fibers which are straight and which are bent over an
circular arc as shown in Fig.

It can be noted that for the straight the phase fronts are parallel
and each point on the phase front travels with the same phase velocity.
However, as soon the fiber is bent (no matter how gently) the phase
fronts are no more parallel. The phase fronts move like a fan
pivoted to the center of curvature of the bent fiber (see Fig.). Every
point on the phase front consequently does not move with same
velocity. The velocity increases as we move radially outwards the
velocity of the phase front increases.
Very quickly we reach to a distance from the fiber where the
velocity tries to become greater than the velocity of light in the
cladding medium.

Following important things can be noted about the bending loss :

The radiation loss is present in every bent fiber no matter how

gentle the bend is.

Radiation loss depends upon how much is the energy beyond

For a given modal field distribution if reduces, the radiation loss

increases. The reduces as the radius of curvature of the bent
fiber reduces, that is the fiber is sharply bent.
For a given that is for a given fiber bent, if the field
spreads more in cladding, the bend loss increases.

We know from the modal field analysis that the lower

order modes are more confined to the core, that is their
fields decay rapidly in the cladding, and the higher order
modes have more slowly decaying energy in the cladding .

The higher order modes hence are more susceptible to

the radiation loss compared to the lower order modes.

The number of modes therefore reduces in a multimode

fiber in presence of bends.
 DISPERSION IN FIBER

Dispersion is a phenomenon related to the variation in velocity

of different frequencies (wavelengths) or different modes.

The velocity of different frequencies can be different due to

intrinsic properties of the medium or due to dispersive nature of
the bound structure like the optical fiber.

Due to dispersion when the optical pulses travel along the fiber
they broaden as shown in Fig. As the pulses travel on the fiber
due to broadening, slowly they start overlapping with each other.

Consequently, the AC content of the signal reduces and the DC

content of the signal increases. After certain distance the pulses
barely remain distinguishable. If the signal propagates further
the pulses lose their identity and the data is lost.
Attenuation on Optical Fiber
For given distance, to avoid overlap of the pulses, the pulse
separation is to be increased that means the data rate is to be
reduced. Alternatively, for a given data rate, that is for given bit
separation, the distance has to be less than certain limit. The
dispersion therefore has direct impact on the data rate.

It is not the data rate but the Data rate-Distance product which is
governed by the dispersion.

The general formulation for the dispersion can be found as follows:

1. Find the group velocity of the pulse.

Group Velocity

2. Find the group delay which is pulse delay per unit

distance.
Group Delay per unit length
3. Find delay over the spectral width and pulse
broadening.
4. Get dispersion, pulse broadening per unit distance per
unit spectral width of the source.

Pulse Broadening

Dispersion

= Pulse broadening per unit distance per unit spectral width

( ps/Km/nm)

Where is the propagation constant, is the frequency of the

signal and is corresponding free-space wavelength, and c is the
velocity of light in vacuum.
In an optical fiber we find two types of dispersions:

Intra-modal or Chromatic dispersion (present in single mode and

multimode optical fiber). This dispersion is due to finite bandwidth of
the signal.

The Intra-modal dispersion consists of two parts:

1. Material dispersion: This is due to intrinsic properties of the

material, glass.
2. Waveguide dispersion: This is due dispersive nature of the bound
medium. In a bound medium like the optical fiber, the velocity is
a function of frequency.

Inter-modal dispersion (present in only multimode optical fiber).

This dispersion is due to change in velocity from one mode to other.
The dispersion is a rather weak phenomenon. What that means is
the pulses slowly broaden as they travel along the optical fiber.

It is therefore appropriate to investigate one type of dispersion at a

time, that is, when we investigate waveguide dispersion we assume
the fiber material to be non dispersive, and when we investigate
material dispersion, we assume the medium to be unbound.
 Material Dispersion
The material dispersion is due to the intrinsic property of the material.
Glass is a dispersive medium. Glass has different refractive index for
different colors. Since the velocity of light is

Different colors (wavelengths) have different velocity in glass.

As mentioned above while calculating the material dispersion we

assume that there is no waveguide dispersion, that is fiber has infinite
radius. The medium then is an unbound medium with refractive index
, which is a function of wavelength, .

Since the medium is unbound, the propagation constant of light is

Substituting for in general expression for dispersion,
we get material dispersion as:

The material dispersion therefore is proportional to second

derivative of the refractive index with respect to the wavelength.

Since the second derivative denotes the curvature of the function,

the material dispersion is proportional to the curvature of the
refractive index function.

Note:
If the refractive index varies linearly with , the curvature is zero
and therefore the dispersion is zero.

The refractive of glass is generally described by the Sellmeier

relation.
Where and are material dependent constants. For silica glass
their values are given in Table.

Following Fig. shows the refractive index variation for glass.

Note from the Fig. the following things:

The refractive index for glass does not vary linearly.

The curvature of the function is positive below 1270nm and

it is negative above 1270nm.

The curvature of the function is zero at 1270nm .

The material dispersion is zero at 1270nm .

 Waveguide Dispersion
The waveguide dispersion is due to the bound structure of the
optical fiber. While analyzing waveguide dispersion we assume that
the material dispersion is absent, that is the refractive indices of the
core and the cladding are independent of wavelength.

For analyzing waveguide dispersion we need the relation.

This relation is rather expressed in the form a numerical plot.

Generally we define two normalized parameters, -number and

which can substitute and respectively. These parameters are
characteristic parameters of a fiber.

V-number of an optical fiber

The V-number is a comprehensive parameter of an optical fiber as it

takes into account the size a of the optical fiber, Numerical aperture
(NA), and the wavelength of operation.
For a given fiber, a and NA are constant and the V-number is proportional
to frequency. The V-number therefore is also referred to as the
Normalized frequency .

The propagation constant has the bound,

Where is the propagation constant in medium having refractive

Index , and is the propagation constant in medium having
refractive index .

The bound on is independent of the frequency of operation, and the

mode. One can therefore define a quantity b called the
Normalized Propagation Constant, as
 For b lying between 0 and 1.
The relation can be equivalently described by the b-V
relation. The b-V diagram of a step index optical fiber for different
modes is shown in the following.
As can be seen clearly, the b-V diagram is not linear and consequently,
there is dispersion. The waveguide dispersion due to non-linear
b-V diagram is obtained as

From the b-V diagram we can calculate , and subsequently

the waveguide dispersion.

peaks around V=1.2 for the lowest order mode. Consequently,

in the single mode optical fiber the dispersion is maximum around
V = 1.2.
For higher V-number the dispersion is low. However, as pointed out
earlier, for the fiber to be single mode, V < 2.4.
The single mode optical fibers therefore have V-number very close to
but less than 2.4 so that they have lowest possible
waveguide dispersion.
The total chromatic dispersion on a single mode fiber is approximately

The figure shows the plot of material, waveguide and total dispersion.
Note: The material dispersion is zero at 1270nm.
However, in a single mode fiber, we always get dispersion which is a
combination of material and waveguide dispersion. Therefore

Total dispersion in a single mode fiber is zero at 1310nm.

The dispersion is positive for wavelengths above 1310nm and

negative below 1310nm.

Note : The negative dispersion does not mean pulse compression.

Due to dispersion the pulse always broadens and the broadening is

Where L is the length of the fiber and is the spectral width

of the source.
 Inter-Modal Dispersion

The inter-modal dispersion is due to difference in

velocity of different modes inside a fiber.
Obviously, the inter-modal dispersion takes place in
a multi-mode fiber.

It has been shown earlier that the optical rays launched

at different angles give different modal
fields. The inter-modal dispersion can therefore be
approximately calculated using the ray model.

The inter-modal dispersion is approximately given as

The unit of inter modal-dispersion is ps/Km.

The magnitude of inter-modal dispersion is much larger compared to

the chromatic dispersion. Therefore the chromatic dispersion is
neglected while calculating the dispersion in a multi-mode fiber.

Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)

As the name suggests, the polarization mode dispersion is due
unequal velocities of two orthogonal states of polarization.

The PMD puts the ultimate restriction on the data rate on the long
haul single mode optical fiber.
In the weakly guiding approximation i.e. when the
lowest order mode becomes a linearly polarized
mode. That is, over the cross-section of the fiber core, the field
has same direction. See Fig.
A linearly polarized field can be resolved into two orthogonally
polarized fields. The pulse energy gets divided into two polarization
states as shown in Fig.
Due non-uniformity of the core-radius the effective modal index is
different for the two polarizations.
The difference in modal indices for two polarization is called
the birefringence of the fiber.

The polarizations consequently travel with different velocities, splitting

optical pulse in to two. This phenomenon is called
Polarization Mode Dispersion .
No one polarization systematically sees the same modal index.
The optical pulse therefore has statistical fluctuation of the
polarization.

The pulse slowly broadens due to the statistical fluctuation

of the velocities of the two orthogonal polarizations.

The pulse broadening due to PMD is given as

Where is the polarization mode dispersion of the SM fiber,

and L is the length of the fiber. The unit of PMD is .