OPTICAL

TRANSMISSION
SYSTEM
 Why Optical Fibers?
• The light weight and non
corrosiveness of the fiber make it
very practical for aircraft and
automotive applications.
• A single fiber can handle as many
voice channels as a 1500 pair
cable can.
• The spacing of repeaters from 35
to 80 km for fibers, as opposed to
from 1 to 1 ½ km for wire, is a great
advantage
• Fiber is immune to interference
from lightning, cross talk, and
electromagnetic radiation.
• Core – central tube of very thin size made up of
optically transparent dielectric medium and
carries the light form transmitter to receiver.
The core diameter can vary from about 5um to
100 um.
• Cladding – outer optical material surrounding
the core having reflecting index lower than
core. It helps to keep the light within the core
throughout the phenomena of total internal
reflection.
• Buffer Coating – plastic coating that
protects the fiber made of silicon rubber.
The typical diameter of fiber after coating
is 250-300 um
FIBER OPTIC TECHNOLOGY

BEHAVIOR OF LIGHT
CATEGORIES
 Interaction of Light with
Materials
• In transparent materials, the electrons in
the material vibrate when light is present.
• The oscillation takes away energy from
the light wave and then puts it back
again, the result is to slow down the light
wave without leaving the energy behind
• Denser materials generally slow the light
more than less dense materials.
Therefore,
• Materials that are not completely
transparent either absorb light or reflect it.
If it is absorbed, the energy lost to the
vibrating electrons does not go back to
the light thus increasing the motion of the
atoms causing the material to heat up.
• If it is reflected, only the re-radiated light
can be absorbed because the re-radiated
light cancels out the original wave.
 Reflection
• Occurs when light hitting the boundary returns
into the material
Refraction
Refraction Index
Snell’s Law of Refraction :
In terms of refractive index

n1sinẞ1= n2sinẞ2

Where: n1 = refractive index of medium 1

n2 = refractive index of medium 2
ẞ1 = angle of incidence
ẞ2 = angle of refraction
Bending of Light Ray
 Total Internal Reflection
• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a
rarer medium such that the angle of incidence is
greater than the critical angle, the ray reflects
back into the same medium this phenomena is
called total internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated
total number of reflections until it emerges out of
the other end of the fiber, even if the fiber is
bent.
The straw and the bent pencil
Total internal reflection
in optical fiber
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber Construction
 Cross Section

• Fiber core • Jacket / Coating

– 8 to 100 micrometer in – Layers of polymer
diameter – No optical properties that
• Fiber Cladding may affect the propagation
of light within the fiber
– Typical 125 micrometer
– “shock absorber”
in diameter
 Material of Construction

• Plastic Clad Plastic (PCP)

– Low cost and easy to use
– Not for high bandwidth and low loss systems
• Plastic Clad Silica (PCS)
– Respectable performance
• Silica Clad Silica (SCS)
– Best performance but most expensive
Fiber Characteristics
and Classification
Propagation Modes
Mode of Operation
Single Mode and Multi-Mode
Light Travel

• Single:
– Light to travel in a
straight line.
• Multi:
– Light to travel
multiple paths.
 Refractive Index Profile

Light
n1 core
ray
n2 cladding
Single-mode step-index Fiber no air

n1 core
n2 cladding
Multimode step-index Fiber no air
Variable
n
Multimode graded-index Fiber Index profile
Modes of Propagation
Types of Fiber
 Numerical Aperture
• Numerical Aperture (NA)
– Relates to the light-gathering capabilities of a fiber.
Only light that strikes the fiber at an angle greater
than the critical angle θc will be propagated.

NA  sin C  n  n2
2 2
1

• Critical Angle, θc,

– is the maximum angle in which external light rays may
strike the air/fiber interface and still propagate down
the Fiber with <10 dB loss.

 C  sin 1
n  n2
1
2 2
Fiber Optic
Components and
Systems
 Optical Fiber Link

Transmitter
Input Coder or Light Source-to-Fiber
Signal Converter Source Interface

Fiber-optic Cable

Fiber-to-light Light Amplifier/Shaper Output

Interface Detector Decoder
Receiver
 Optical Fiber Link
• Light source: LED or ILD (Injection Laser
Diode):
– amount of light emitted is proportional to the drive
current
• Source–to–fiber coupler (similar to a lens):
– A mechanical interface to couple the light emitted by
the source into the optical fiber
• Light detector: PIN (p-type-intrinsic-n-type) or
APD (avalanche photo diode) both convert light
energy into current
Optical Fiber Cable
 TRANSMITTERS
• LEDs
– Spectral width (range of wavelengths
a source can produce) : 20 to 60 nm
– Radiation of light energy is caused
by recombination of holes and
electrons that are injected into the
junction by a forward bias voltage
– Energy lost in the transition is
converted to an optic energy in the
form of a photon
 TRANSMITTERS
• LASER
– Produce more power but more sensitive to
temperature changes
– Narrower spectral width: 2 to 5 nm
 RECEIVERS
• PN Photodiode
– Not suitable for FOCS (Fiber Optics
Current Sensor) because: depletion
region is relatively small portion of
the diode’s total volume and rise
time is in the order of
microseconds, too slow for high
speed data communications
– Rise time: time needed by the
output to go from 10% to 90% of
the maximum amplitude
 RECEIVERS

• PIN Photodiode
– Depletion layer has been increased by the
intrinsic layer
– Intrinsic layer is lightly doped (but not enough
to be considered as a p – type or n – type
material)
 RECEIVERS
• Avalanche Photodiode
– A semiconductor that has internal gain
– The free electrons and holes created by absorbed photons (primary
carriers) within this field, thereby gaining several eV of kinetic energy.
When fast charges collide with neutral atoms, some of the energy of
the accelerated carriers will be transferred to the bound electron,
causing it to move from valence to conduction band (secondary
carriers)
 Characteristics of
Detectors
• Responsivity
– A measure of the sensitivity of the detector to light
– Measured as the ratio of the diode’s output current to the input optical
power
• Dark Current
– Thermally induced current that exists in the absence of input optical
power
• Response Time
– Time required for the photodiode to respond to optical inputs and
produce external current
• Transit Time
– Time required for the carriers to travel across the depletion region
• Spectral Response
– Range of wavelength values that can be used for a given photodiode
Fiber Optic Cable
Connectors
Connectors
Fiber Losses
 LOSSES in an
Optical Fiber
• Material Absorptions
– Due to the material impurities from metallic ions
– Light is converted to heat or some other form of energy
• Scattering Losses
– Occurs when a wave interacts with a particle in a way that
removes energy in the directional propagating wave and
transfers it to other directions
• Linear Scattering
– Characterized by having no change in the frequency of the
scattered wave
• Non – Linear Scattering
– Characterized by a frequency shift of the scattered light
– Results from the modulation of light by thermal energy in the
material
 Linear Scattering
• Rayleigh Scattering
– Results from the interaction of light with
inhomogeneities in the medium that are much
smaller than the wavelength of light (smaller than
one tenth of the coherent light)
• Mie Scattering
– Results from the interaction of light with
inhomogeneities in the medium that are comparable
in size to the wavelength of light (greater than one
tenth of the coherent light)
 Non – Linear Scattering

• Brillouin Scattering
– Mainly in the backward direction reducing the
power at the receiver
– Produces a low – frequency phonon
(vibrational energy) as well as photons
(scattered light)
• Raman Scattering
- Produces a high frequency phonon and
scattered light in the forward direction
 Dispersion

• Dispersion is the process of

separating the light into each of its
component frequencies.
• Types of Dispersion
–Modal Dispersion
–Chromatic Dispersion
–Polarization Mode Dispersion
–Waveguide Dispersion
 Modal Dispersion
• Results from the different transit lengths of
different propagation modes in a multimode
optical fiber
 Chromatic Dispersion

• Chromatic dispersion occurs because

different wavelengths propagate at
different speeds
 Polarization Mode
Dispersion
• Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is
caused by ovality of the fiber shape as a
result of the manufacturing process or
from external stressors.
 Waveguide Dispersion

• Results when light enters both the core

and the cladding that entered the
cladding propagated down the fiber
 Bending Losses

• Microbends
– Localized bends in the core – cladding
interface and developed during deployment
(cabling loss) or local mechanized stress
placed on the fiber
– Typically 1 to 2 dB / km
• Macrobends
– Large bends on the fiber due to corners
– Minimum Bend Radius Rules:
• Stressed Cable: 10 times the diameter
• Unstressed Cable: 5 times the diameter
 Coupling Losses
• Lateral Misalignment
– Axial displacement between the two fiber cables
• Angular Misalignment
– Unparallel fiber faces causing angular displacement
between fibers
• Gap misalignment
– End separation between two fibers
• NA mismatch
– Beamwidth of the source is greater than the acceptance
cone of the receiving fiber
• Unintercepted Illumination
– Optical power did not enter the fiber
Typical Values of Losses
Graded Index: 4 to 6 dB/km
Step Index: 6 to 10 dB/km
Single Mode: 0.4 to 0.5 dB/km