OVERVIEW OF course

Ecm715
optical communication

Dr Nani Fadzlina Naim

T2-A15-11A
nanifadzlina@uitm.edu.my
03-55436061
Upon completion of this course, students
will be able to:

Analyze types of fiber for different applications

regarding attenuation, dispersion and interconnection
techniques
Solve problems related to optical sources and detectors
Demonstrate interpersonal skill in task related to optical
communications
Display personal skill in oral form for optical network
using simulation tools.
Design optical network using suitable simulation tools
 Assessments:

Test : 20%
Assignment : 20%
Mini project : 20%
Final Test : 40%
Total Coursework : 100%
OVERVIEW OF OPTICAL FIBER
COMMUNICATIONS
Introduction
 Fiber optics is a medium for carrying information from one point to
another in the form of light.
 A basic fiber optic system consists of a transmitting device that
converts an electrical signal into a light signal, an optical fiber cable
that carries the light, and a receiver that accepts the light signal and
converts it back into an electrical signal.
 Rapidly expanding information systems - High speed internet, 3G,
mobile communications systems, digital CATV
 Increasing demand requiring ultra-high capacity optical transmission
systems – DWDM system
 Regenerative amplification is the key component to effective optical
transmission networks.
 A typical system used for long-distance, high-bandwidth
telecommunication employs wavelength-division multiplexing,
erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, fiber Bragg gratings, and high-speed
infrared photodetectors.
Source: Fujitsu

A single fiber cable can

carry as much
information as 400
copper cables!
 Advantages
Long distance transmission
Higher carrying capacity - has tens of terahertz BW
Small size and low weight
Less signal degradation– less loss
Electrical interference immunity - signals from one
fiber do not interfere others
Enhanced safety – because no electricity is passed
through optical fibers, there is no fire hazard.
Increased signal security – optical signal is well-
confined within the fiber.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 nm
to 700 nm
 Optical fibers range 770 nm – 2.55 µm
 Range of wavelength (nm) of visible light

The visible wavelength region is between 380 nm and

780 nm
Light whose wavelength is shorter than 380nm is
called ultraviolet.
Light whose wavelength is longer than 780 nm is
called infrared (OESCL Band).
 The 770 to 910 nm
band is used for
shorter wavelength
multimode fiber
systems

Name Designation Spectrum Origin of name

(nm)
Original band O-band 1260-1360 Original (first) region used for single-mode fiber links

Extended band E-band 1360-1460 Link use can extend into this region for fibers with low water content

Short band S-band 1460-1530 Wavelengths are shorter than the C-band but higher than the E-
band
Conventional C-band 1530-1565 Wavelength region used by a conventional EDFA
band
Long band L-band 1565-1625 Gain of an EDFA decreases steadily to 1 at 1625 nm

Ultra-long band U-band 1625-1675 Region beyond the response capability of an EDFA
History
Over time, communication systems has gradually improved,
from smoke signals to telegraphs and finally to the first
coaxial cable, put into service in 1940.

Electrical systems were limited by their small repeater spacing

The bit rate of microwave systems was limited by their carrier

frequency
Cont…..
The development of lasers in the 1960s solved the first
problem of a light source

In 1966 Kao and Hockham proposed optical fibers at STC

Laboratories

 Optical fiber was finally developed in 1970 by Corning Glass

Works with attenuation low enough for communication
purposes (about 20dB/km).

At the same time GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) semiconductor

lasers were developed that were compact and therefore
suitable for fiber-optic communication systems
Cont…..
 Between 1975 to 1980, the first commercial fiber-optic communication
system was developed, which operated at a wavelength around 0.8
µm and used GaAs semiconductor lasers.

 This first generation system operated at a bit rate of 45 Mbit/s with

repeater spacing of up to 10 km.

 The second generation of fiber-optic communication was developed

for commercial use in the early 1980s, operated at 1.3 µm, and used
InGaAsP (Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide) semiconductor lasers.

 In 1981 the single mode fiber was revealed to greatly improve system
performance and within this years these systems were operating at bit
rates of up to 1.7 Gb/s with repeater spacing up to 50 km.
Cont…
The first transatlantic telephone (connecting one side of
atlantic ocean to the other) to use optical fiber was TAT-8. It
went into operation in 1988.

TAT-8 was developed as the first undersea fiber optic link

between the United States and Europe. TAT-8 is more than
3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km) in length and was the first
transatlantic cable to use optical fibers.
Cont….
Third-generation fiber-optic systems operated at 1.55 µm and
had loss of about 0.2 dB/km.

Using dispersion shifted fibers designed to have minimal

dispersion at 1.55 µm or by limiting the laser spectrum to a
single longitudinal mode.

Operate commercially at 2.5 Gbit/s with repeater spacing in

excess of 100 km.
History
The fourth generation of fiber-optic communication systems
used optical amplification to reduce the need for repeaters and
wavelength division multiplexing to increase fiber capacity.

Recently, bit-rates of up to 14 Tbit/s have been reached over a

single 160 km line using optical amplifiers.
History
The development for the fifth generation of fiber-optic
communications is on extending the wavelength range over
which a WDM system can operate.

Other developments include the concept of “optical solitons, "

pulses that preserve their shape by counteracting the effects
of dispersion with the nonlinear effects of the fiber by using
pulses of a specific shape.
 Principle of fiber optic transmission

The transmitter uses an electrical interface, either video, audio, data or

other forms of electrical input, to encode the user’s information
through modulation. Three forms of modulation are typically used: AM,
FM and digital modulation. The electrical output of the modulator is
usually transformed into light either by means of a LED or LD.
The receiver decodes the light signal back into electrical signals.
Typical light detectors: PIN photodiode or avalanche PD. These
detectors are made from silicon (Si), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs)
or germanium (Ge). The detected and amplified electrical signal is
sent through a data decoder or demodulator that converts the
electrical signals back into video, audio, data, or other form of user
input.
Fiber
Fiber guide : transmission
medium, either ultrapure glass
or plastic cable. May add
regenerators, depending the
distance between tx & rx

 Optical fiber consists of a glass or

plastic fiber core surrounded by a
cladding and then encapsulated in
a protective jacket
 Network

Light is transmitted through optical fiber

Light is transmitted along the core by total reflection

mechanism at the boundary with the cladding layer

cladding CROSS SECTION

N=1.46
N=1.48
Light Ray Entering
Core from Air
core
Light is propagated by Total internal reflection
Power Level
Optical power measures the rate at which
electromagnetic waves transfer light energy.
It is to ensure the wave incident on the detector has
sufficient strength to be clearly and correctly recognized.
It can be described as the flow of light energy past a
given point in a special time

 P = d (energy) = dQ
d ( time) dt
Cont…
Optical power is generally stated in decibels relative to a
defined power level such as in dBm or dBμ

The decibel (dB) is a convenient measure of the relative

power levels in a communication system.

 dB = 10 log10 Pout / Pin

Cont…
Consider the three element system shown below

P1 P2 P3 P4

The three block could represent a coupler from a light

source to a fiber, the fiber itself and a connector
The output power is determined by multiplying the
efficiencies of each block:
P 4 P 4 P3 P 2
  
P1 P3 P 2 P1
Cont..
The corresponding loss, express in dB:
P4 Pout
dB  10 log10  10 log10
P1 Pin
The total efficiency is the sum of the efficiencies of
the individual cascaded elements.

P4 P3 P2
dB  10 log10  10 log10  10 log10
P3 P2 P1
Nature of Light
Light usually described in one of three ways:
a) Rays – light could be reflected and refracted
through mirror and prisms
b) Electromagnetic waves – light having in very high
freq and very short λ
c) Photons – lights consists of tiny particles and have
photo electric effect
Rays
 The optical energy in a wave follows narrow path, called rays.
 Rays obey a few simple rules:
1. Rays travel at velocity, c. In other medium, rays travel at speed
given by :

c
2. 
The factor n is the index refraction (refractive index) of the medium.
3.
n
Rays travel in a straight paths unless deflected by some changes in
the medium.
4. At a plane boundary between 2 media, a ray is reflected at an angle
equal to the plane incidence.
5. If any power crosses the boundary, the transmitted ray direction is
given by Snell’s law.
Wave nature of light
Refer to electromagnetic spectrum, the term optic is
referred to frequencies in the infrared, visible, and
ultraviolet portions of the spectrum.
Light waves have much higher frequencies than the radio
waves, but they both obey the same laws and share
many characteristics.
In free space, em waves travel at the speed of light, c.
In solid media, wave velocity is deferred, the value
depends on the material and on the geometry of any
waveguiding structure that is present.
The wavelength of a light beam is
  f
Photons
1905, Albert Einstein & Max Planck showed that
when light is emitted or absorbed, it behaves like an
electromagnetic wave and sometimes behave as
though it were made up of very small particles called
photons.
This theory is known as ----- PLANCK’S LAW
“When visible light or high frequency electromagnetic
radiation illuminates a metallic surface, electrons are
emitted”
Cont..
Plank’s Law can be expressed mathematically as,

W p  hf
h=6.626x10-34J/s (Planck’s contant)

Wp  energy emitted
f  frequency