Optical fiber

communication system
Optical fiber communication system is a way
for transmitting information from one place to
another.

The information may be in the form of voice,

data, message, etc.

In Fiber optics, information is coded in a beam

of light and send down a glass or plastic pipes.
These pipes are called as optical fibers.
 What is optical fiber?
• An Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent
fiber made by glass or plastic to a diameter
comparable with a human hair.
• Optical fibers are used most often as a means to
transmit light between the two ends of the fiber.
• A fiber-optic cable can have as few as two
strands or as many as several hundred.
• Each strand can carry something like 25,000
telephone calls, so an entire fiber-optic cable can
easily carry several million calls.
A section of 144-strand fiber-optic cable.
In 1870, John Tyndall, using a jet of JOHN TYNDALLEXPERIMENT IN 1870.
water that flowed from one
container to another and a beam of
light, demonstrated that light used
internal reflection to follow a
specific path. As water poured out
through the spout of the first
container, Tyndall directed a beam
of sunlight at the path of the water.
The light followed a zigzag path
inside the curved path of the water.
This idea known as total internal
reflection. This idea is the basic of
optical fibers.
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
 STRUCTURE OF OPTICAL FIBRE

1.Core: 8 µm diameter

2. Cladding: 125 µm
diameter

3. Buffer: 250 µm
diameter

4. Jacket: 400 µm
diameter
 How Light Travels in Fiber

• Image from ece.umd.edu/~davis

 Types of fiber-optic cables
single-mode Multi-mode.
• simplest type of optical fiber • Each optical fiber in a multi-
• very thin core about 5-10 microns mode cable is about 10 times
(millionths of a meter) in bigger than one in a single-mode
diameter. cable.
• all signals travel straight down the • light beams can travel through
middle without bouncing off the the core in multiple different
edges. modes.
• Used in Cable TV and telephone • are used to link computer
signals networks together.
• can send information over 100 • can send information only over
km . relatively short distances
 FIBRE OPTIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM syst
A basic fiber optic communications system consists of three basic
elements:
Fiber medium
Light source
Light detector
 Light Sources

LED (Light emitting diode) ILD (injection laser diode)

 Detectors
•Detector is the receiving end of a fiber optic link.
There are two kinds of Detectors
1. PIN (Positive Intrinsic Negative)
2. APD (Avalanche photo diodes)

PIN
APD
 Losses in fiber optic communication system
• Material absorption
• Material Scattering
• Fiber coupling loss

Losses vary greatly depending upon the type of fiber

– Plastic fiber may have losses of several hundred dB per kilometer
– multimode glass fiber has a loss of about 2–4 dB
per kilometer
– Single-mode fiber has a loss of 0.4 dB/km or less
 Fiber coupling: Splices and Connectors

• Coupling the fiber to sources and detectors creates

losses especially when it involves mismatches in the
size of optical fibers.

• A splice is a permanent connection and a connector is

removable.

• In fiber-optic systems, the losses from splices and

connectors can be more than in the cable itself.
 Coupling losses
• Losses result from:
– Axial or angular misalignment
– Air gaps between the fibers
– Rough surfaces at the ends of the fibers
Optical fiber vs Copper
 Advantages over conventional cables
• Wide bandwidth
• Low loss: In a coaxial cable losses increases with
frequency. The higher the frequency of information
signals the greater the loss, whereas in an optical
fiber the attenuation is independent of frequency.
They offer a loss of 0.2 dB/km.
• Freedom from electromagnetic interference:
Optical fibers are not affected by interference
originating from power cables and radio waves. They
do not limit unwanted radiation and no cross talk
between fibers exists.
• Non conductivity: Optical fibers are non-conductive and
also doesn’t attract lightning as copper cable can do .
These are usable in explosive environment.
• Small diameters and less weight: Even multi fiber optical
cables have a small diameter and are light weight, it can
be applicable to long distance use. They are easier to
handle.
• Security: It does not radiate signals and is impossible to
tap without your knowledge, because the system will fail
if it is tapped, due to the fact that it will leak light.
• Safety: Fiber is a dielectric and does not carry electricity.
It presents no sparks or fire hazards. It does not cause
explosions which occur due to faulty copper cable.
 Disadvantage of fiber optic over copper
wire cable
• Optical fiber is more expensive per meter than
copper
• Optical fiber can not be join together as easily
as copper cable. It requires training and
expensive splicing and measurement
equipment.
• Requires highly skilled installers.
 AREAS OF APPLICATION
Due to its variety of advantages optical fiber communication system has a
wide range of application in different fields.
 Telecommunications applications of fiber-optic cable are widespread,
ranging from global networks to desktop computers. These involve the
transmission of voice, data, and video over distances of less than a meter
to hundreds of kilometers.
 Optical fibers are now the standard point to point cable link between
telephone substations.
 Cable television companies also use fiber for delivery of digital video
services.
 The high bandwidth provided by fiber makes it the perfect choice for
transmitting broadband signals, such as high-definition television (HDTV)
telecasts.
Closed circuit television security systems(CCTV ) use
optical fiber because of its inherent security.
 Optical fibers can be used as sensors for the
measurement mechanical force, pressure, electric field,
electric current, magnetic field, temperature, nuclear
radiations, density etc
Fiber lamps are used for
illumination in decorative applications,
toys and artificial Christmas trees.
Optical fibers in military services

Fiber optics on the battlefield. This Enhanced

Fiber-Optic Guided Missile (EFOG-M) has an
infrared fiber-optic camera mounted in its
nose so that the gunner firing it can see
where it's going as it travels.
 Fiber optics in medicine
• The properties of the fiber optic have allowed medical
personnel to see places in the human body without cutting
them open with greater ease and comfort for the patient.
• Endoscopes allow doctors to evaluate the interior
surfaces of an organ by inserting a small tube into the body
through a small cut. The procedures are relatively painless
with the patient being sedated.

• One of the latest developments is called a lab on a fiber, and

involves inserting hair-thin fiber-optic cables, with built-in
sensors, into a patient's body in order to measure some
critical aspect of how the patient's body is working, such as
their temperature, blood pressure, cell pH, or the presence of
medicines in their bloodstream.
 Future trends
• Fiber optics communication is definitely the future of
data communication.
• Some of the envisioned future trends in fiber optic
communication are
A. All optical communication network:
Fiber optic communication is envisioned to be
completely in the optical domain. Presently processing
and switching of signals take place in the electrical
domain. The optical to electrical conversion and vice
versa adds a delay in the network and is a limitation to
achieve very high data rates.
B. Multiterrabit optical networks: The need for
increased bandwidth availability has led to the interest in
developing multi terrabit optical networks. With the
continuous reduction in the cost of fiber optic
components ,the availability of much greater bandwidth
in the future is possible.
C. Polymer optical fibers: Polymer optical fibers offer
many benefits when compared to other data
communication solutions such as copper cables, wireless
communication systems and glass fiber. In comparison
with glass optical fibers, polymer optical fibers provide
easy and less expensive processing of optical signals and
are more flexible.
D. Improvements in glass fiber design and
component miniaturization: Various impurities are
added or removed from the glass fiber to change its light
transmitting characteristics. The result is that the speed
with which light passes along a glass fiber can be
controlled, allowing for the production of customized
glass fibers to meet the specific requirements to a given
route. This trend is continued in the future, to produce
more reliable, and effective glass fibers.
• The miniaturization of optical fiber communication
components is another trend that is most likely to
continue in the future.
 conclusion
• The fiber optic communication industry is an ever
evolving one ,the growth experienced by the
industry has been enormous and there is still
much work to be done to support the need for
faster data rates, advanced switching techniques,
and more intelligent network architectures that
can automatically change in response to traffic
patterns and at the same time be cost efficient.
• The trend is expected to continue in the future
leading to a new generation in fiber optics
communications.