Chapter 1 PDF

Dilla University
College of Engineering
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Optics and Optical Communication (ECEg-4291)
Chapter One
Overview of Optical Fiber Communication Systems
Overview of Optical Fiber Communication Systems
Outline
 Introduction
 Historical Perspective
 Basic Elements of a Fiber Optic Link
 Transmission Media Alternatives to Fiber Optic
 Advantages of Optical Fiber Communication
Semester-II, 2017/18 2
Introduction
Optical Communication is the most modern mode of wired

communication.
Optical communication is also the youngest mode of

communication.
Its capabilities supersede all other modes of communication.
Before optical communication most of the communication was

in radio and microwave domain which has frequency range
orders of magnitude lower than the optical.
Introduction Cont’d……..
Optical fiber is the backbone of the modern communication

networks
The Optical Fiber Carries:

 Almost all long distance phone calls
 Most Internet traffic (Dial-up, DSL or Cable)
 Most Television channels (Cable or DSL)
 Most LAN, WAN and much more
One fiber can carry up to 6.4 Tb/s (1012 b/s) or 100 million
conversations simultaneously
Introduction Cont’d……
Fig . Electromagnetic spectrum of different guided Medias
Historical Perspective
The use of visible optical carrier waves or light for communication
has been common for many years.
Simple systems such as signal fires, reflecting mirrors and, more
recently, signaling lamps have provided successful, if limited,
information transfer.
Moreover, as early as 1880 Alexander Graham Bell reported the
transmission of speech using a light beam.
The photo phone proposed by Bell just four years after the
invention of the telephone modulated sunlight with a diaphragm
giving speech transmission over a distance of 200 m.
General Vs Optical Communication Systems
An optical fiber communication system is similar in basic

concept to any type of communication system.
In electrical communications the information source provides an

electrical signal to a transmitter comprising electrical and
electronic components which converts the signal into a suitable
form for propagation over the transmission medium.
The 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.
General Vs Optical Communication Systems …..
For optical fiber communication system, the information source

provides an electrical signal to a transmitter comprising an
electrical stage which drives an optical source to give modulation
of the light wave 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.
General Vs Optical Communication Systems……..
Fig. Comparison of General and Optical Communication Systems
Basic Elements of a Fiber Optic Link
Basic Elements of a Fiber Optic Link Cont’d…..
The Fiber – that carries the light
– Single Mode Fiber (only one EM mode exists), offers the

highest bit rate, most widely used
– Multi Mode Fiber (multiple EM modes exist), hence higher

dispersion (due to multiple modes) cheaper than SMF, used
in local area networks
– Step Index Fiber – two distinct refractive indices
– Graded Index Fiber – gradual change in refractive index
Optical Transmitter converts the electrical information to optical
format (E/O)
– Light Emitting Diode (LED): cheap, robust and used with MMF
in short range applications
• Surface emitting and edge emitting LED
– LASER Diode: high performance and more power, used with
SMF in high speed links
• Distributed Feedback (DFB) Laser – high performance
single mode laser
• Fabry-Perrot (FP) lasers – low performance multimode laser
Optical Receiver - converts the optical signal into appropriate

electrical format (E/O)
– PIN Photo Diode: Low performance, no internal gain, low
cost, widely used
– Avalanche Photo Diode (APD): High performance with
internal (avalanche) gain
Repeater: receives weak light signal, cleans-up, amplifies and
retransmits (O/E/O)
Optical Amplifier: Amplifies light in fiber without O/E/O
Transmission Media Alternatives to Fiber Optic
There are various wired and wireless media used for long and
short distance communication.
Their broad characteristics are summarized as follows.
Transmission Media Alternatives to Fiber Optic
Transmission Media Alternatives to Fiber Optic…..
The first two media have a very limited bandwidth.

Microwave links and satellite communication have comparable
bandwidths as in principle their mode of operation is same but
the spatial reach of satellite is far greater.
Comparison of Satellite and Optical communication
Before fiber optic communication became viable, satellite
communication was the only choice for long distance
communication.
Comparison of Satellite and Optical communication….
The two modes of transmission have their own merits and

limitations.
The two can in fact play a complementary role.
We therefore conclude that Satellite and Optical communication

will co-exist due their complementary nature.
Advantages of Optical Fiber Communication
i. Enormous potential bandwidth:
The optical carrier frequency in the range 1013 to 1016 Hz (generally
in the near infrared around 1014 Hz or 105 GHz) yields a far greater
potential transmission bandwidth than metallic cable systems.
Indeed, by the year 2000 the typical bandwidth multiplied by length

product for an optical fiber link incorporating fiber amplifiers was
5000 GHz km in comparison with the typical bandwidth–length
product for coaxial cable of around 100 MHz km.
Advantages of Optical Fiber Communication…….
ii. Small size and weight:
Optical fibers have very small diameters which are often no greater
than the diameter of a human hair.
Hence, even when such fibers are covered with protective coatings
they are far smaller and much lighter than corresponding copper
cables.
This is a tremendous boon towards the alleviation of duct
congestion in cities, as well as allowing for an expansion of signal
transmission within mobiles such as aircraft, satellites and even
ships.
Advantages of Optical Fiber Communication……
iii. Electrical isolation:
Optical fibers which are fabricated from glass, or sometimes a
plastic polymer, are electrical insulators and therefore, unlike their
metallic counterparts, they do not exhibit earth loop and interface
problems.
Furthermore, this property makes optical fiber transmission ideally

suited for communication in electrically hazardous environments as
the fibers create no arcing or spark hazard at abrasions or short
circuits.
iv. Immunity to interference and crosstalk:
Optical fibers form a dielectric waveguide and are therefore free
from electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio-frequency
interference (RFI), or switching transients giving electromagnetic
pulses (EMPs).
Hence the operation of an optical fiber communication system is
unaffected by transmission through an electrically noisy
environment and the fiber cable requires no shielding from EMI.
iv. Immunity to interference and crosstalk:
The fiber cable is also not susceptible to lightning strikes if used
overhead rather than underground.
Moreover, it is fairly easy to ensure that there is no optical

interference between fibers and hence, unlike communication using
electrical conductors, crosstalk is negligible, even when many
fibers are cabled together.
v. Signal security:
The light from optical fibers does not radiate significantly and
therefore they provide a high degree of signal security.
Unlike the situation with copper cables, a transmitted optical signal

cannot be obtained from a fiber in a noninvasive manner.
Therefore, in theory, any attempt to acquire a message signal

transmitted optically may be detected.
This feature is obviously attractive for military, banking and

general data transmission (i.e. computer network) applications.
vi. Low transmission loss:
The development of optical fibers over the last 20 years has resulted
in the production of optical fiber cables which exhibit very low
attenuation or transmission loss in comparison with the best copper
conductors.
Fibers have been fabricated with losses as low as 0.15 dB/km and
this feature has become a major advantage of optical fiber
communications.
vii. Potential low cost:
The glass which generally provides the optical fiber transmission
medium is made from sand – not a scarce resource.
So, in comparison with copper conductors, optical fibers offer the
potential for low-cost line communication.
Although over recent years this potential has largely been realized
in the costs of the optical fiber transmission medium which for bulk
purchases has become competitive with copper wires, it has not yet
been achieved in all the other component areas associated with
optical fiber communications.
The
End!
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Dilla University

Optics and Optical Communication (ECEg-4291)

Optical Communication is the most modern mode of wired

Optical communication is also the youngest mode of

Its capabilities supersede all other modes of communication.

Before optical communication most of the communication was

Optical fiber is the backbone of the modern communication

The Optical Fiber Carries:

Fig . Electromagnetic spectrum of different guided Medias

An optical fiber communication system is similar in basic

In electrical communications the information source provides an

The transmission medium can consist of a pair of wires, a coaxial

For optical fiber communication system, the information source

The optical source which provides the electrical/optical

The transmission medium consists of an optical fiber cable and

Fig. Comparison of General and Optical Communication Systems

– Single Mode Fiber (only one EM mode exists), offers the

– Multi Mode Fiber (multiple EM modes exist), hence higher

– Step Index Fiber – two distinct refractive indices

– Graded Index Fiber – gradual change in refractive index

Optical Receiver - converts the optical signal into appropriate

The first two media have a very limited bandwidth.

The two modes of transmission have their own merits and

The two can in fact play a complementary role.

We therefore conclude that Satellite and Optical communication

Indeed, by the year 2000 the typical bandwidth multiplied by length

Furthermore, this property makes optical fiber transmission ideally

Moreover, it is fairly easy to ensure that there is no optical

Unlike the situation with copper cables, a transmitted optical signal

Therefore, in theory, any attempt to acquire a message signal

This feature is obviously attractive for military, banking and

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