OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Module 2 : Transmission characteristics of

optical fibers
VII sem BE EXTC
Suchitra A Patil
 The transmission characteristics of most interest are those of
attenuation (or loss) and bandwidth.
 A major breakthrough came in 1970 when the first fiber with an
attenuation below 20 dB km−1 was reported.
 Now silica based glass fibers have losses about 0.2 dB/km (i.e.
95% launched power remains after 1 km of fiber transmission).
This is essentially the fundamental lower limit for attenuation in
silica - based glass fibers.
 Fiber bandwidth is limited by the signal dispersion within the
fiber. Bandwidth determines the number of bits of information
transmitted in a given time period. Now, fiber bandwidth has
reached many 10’s Gbit/s over many km’s per wavelength
 Attenuation

 The attenuation or transmission loss of optical fibers has proved to be one

of the most important factors in bringing about their wide acceptance in
telecommunications. As channel attenuation largely determined the
maximum transmission distance prior to signal restoration, optical fiber
communications became especially attractive when the transmission losses
of fibers were reduced below those of the competing metallic conductors
(less than 5 dB km−1).
 Signal attenuation within optical fibers, as with metallic conductors, is
usually expressed in the logarithmic unit of the decibel. The decibel, which
is used for comparing two power levels, may be defined for a particular
optical wavelength as the ratio of the input (transmitted) optical power Pi
into a fiber to the output (received) optical power Po from the fiber as:
 In optical fiber communications the attenuation is usually expressed in
decibels per unit length (i.e. dB km−1) following:

 where αdB is the signal attenuation per unit length in decibels which is also
referred to as
 the fiber loss parameter and L is the fiber length.
 Example 1

 When the mean optical power launched into an 8 km length of

fiber is 120 μW, the mean optical power at the fiber output is 3
μW.
 Determine:
(a) the overall signal attenuation or loss in decibels through the fiber
assuming there are no connectors or splices;
(b) the signal attenuation per kilometer for the fiber.
(c) the overall signal attenuation for a 10 km optical link using the
same fiber with splices at 1 km intervals, each giving an
attenuation of 1 dB;
(d) the numerical input/output power ratio in (c).
 Dbm-example

 Optical powers are commonly expressed in units of dBm which

is decibel power level referred to 1 mW. Consider a 30km
optical fiber that has an attenuation of 0.4dB/km at 1310nm.
Suppose we want to find out optical output power Pout if
200microwatt of optical power is launched into the fiber.
dbm
Intrinsic absorption
Extrinsic absoption
Scattering

 Linear scattering mechanisms cause the transfer of some or all of the optical
power contained within one propagating mode to be transferred linearly into a
different mode.
 This process tends to result in attenuation of the transmitted light as the transfer
may be to a leaky or radiation mode which does not continue to propagate within
the fiber core, but is radiated from the fiber.
Scattering losses
Rayleigh scattering

 Rayleigh scattering is the dominant intrinsic loss mechanism in the

low-absorption window between the ultraviolet and infrared absorption
tails. It results from inhomogeneities of a random nature occurring on a
small scale compared with the wavelength of the light.
 These inhomogeneities manifest themselves as refractive index
fluctuations and arise from density and compositional variations which
are frozen into the glass lattice on cooling. The compositional
variations may be reduced by improved fabrication, but the index
fluctuations caused by the freezing-in of density inhomogeneities are
fundamental and cannot be avoided.
Mie scattering

 Linear scattering may also occur at inhomogeneities which are comparable in size
with the guided wavelength. These result from the nonperfect cylindrical structure
of the waveguide and may be caused by fiber imperfections such as irregularities
in the core–cladding interface, core–cladding refractive index differences along
the fiber length, diameter fluctuations, strains and bubbles.
 Depending upon the fiber material, design and manufacture, Mie scattering can
cause significant losses. The inhomogeneities may be reduced by:
(a) removing imperfections due to the glass manufacturing process;
(b) carefully controlled extrusion and coating of the fiber;
(c) increasing the fiber guidance by increasing the relative refractive index difference.
Why traffic colours red, yellow and
green are used?
 Ans for using red to stop
 If we consider the VIBGYOR, then we can notice that red is at last, which means
that the red colour has the highest wavelength. The main reason why the red
colour is used to in the traffic signals to stop the vehicle is that red is scattered
the least by the air molecules. 
 For a particular colour, the scattering effect is inversely proportional to the power
of wavelength. If th scattering increases, then its wavelength decrease. Since red
is the most scattered light, it has the highest wavelength. Therefore, blue is
scattered the most and red the least. Red has the highest wavelength of all the
colours, and it is scattered the least. So, it can travel the longest distance and can
penetrate through rain, mist and fog. This is the read for red being used in traffic
signals so that the stop signal is visible from far as well.
 Also, red is perceived as and associated with danger. It has been genetically
programmed that red is the colour of danger. These reasons also contribute to why
red is used in traffic signals. 
 Dispersion
 Dispersion of the transmitted optical signal causes distortion for both digital
and analog transmission along optical fibers. When considering the major
implementation of optical fiber transmission which involves some form of
digital modulation, then dispersion mechanisms within the fiber cause
broadening of the transmitted light pulses as they travel along the channel.
 The phenomenon is illustrated in Figure, where it may be observed that each
pulse broadens and overlaps with its neighbors, eventually becoming
indistinguishable at the receiver input. The effect is known as intersymbol
interference (ISI). Thus an increasing number of errors may be encountered on
the digital optical channel as the ISI becomes more pronounced.
 The error rate is also a function of the signal attenuation on the link and the
subsequent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver.
 For no overlapping of light pulses down on an optical fiber link
the digital bit rate BT must be less than the reciprocal of the
broadened (through dispersion) pulse duration (2τ). Hence:
Modal dispersion
Slowest Mode

Fastest Mode
 A multimode graded index fiber exhibits total pulse broadening
of 0.1 μs over a distance of 15 km. Estimate:
(a) the maximum possible bandwidth on the link assuming no
intersymbol interference;
(b) the pulse dispersion per unit length;
(c) the bandwidth–length product for the fiber.
 Chromatic or intramodal dispersion
 Chromatic or intramodal dispersion may occur in all types of optical fiber
and results from the finite spectral linewidth of the optical source.
 Since optical sources do not emit just a single frequency but a band of
frequencies (in the case of the injection laser corresponding to only a fraction
of a percent of the center frequency, whereas for the LED it is likely to be a
significant percentage), then there may be propagation delay differences
between the different spectral components of the transmitted signal.
 This causes broadening of each transmitted mode and hence intramodal
dispersion.
 The delay differences may be caused by the dispersive properties of the
waveguide material (material dispersion) and also guidance effects within the
fiber structure (waveguide dispersion).
 Chromatic Dispersion due to Material
Dispersion
 Pulse broadening due to material dispersion results from
the different group velocities of the various spectral
components launched into the fiber from the optical source.
 It occurs when the phase velocity of a plane wave
propagating in the dielectric medium varies nonlinearly
with wavelength, and a material is said to exhibit material
dispersion when the second differential of the refractive
index with respect to wavelength is not zero (i.e.d2n/dλ2 ≠
0).
Material Dispersion
Waveguide dispersion
 The waveguiding of the fiber may also create chromatic dispersion. This
results from the variation in group velocity with wavelength for a particular
mode.
 Considering the ray theory approach, it is equivalent to the angle between the
ray and the fiber axis varying with wavelength which subsequently leads to a
variation in the transmission times for the rays, and hence dispersion.
 For a single mode whose propagation constant is β, the fiber exhibits
waveguide dispersion when d2β/dλ2 ≠ 0.
 Multimode fibers, where the majority of modes propagate far from cutoff, are
almost free of waveguide dispersion and it is generally negligible compared
with material dispersion (≈0.1 to 0.2 ns km−1).
 However, with single-mode fibers where the effects of the different
dispersion mechanisms are not easy to separate, waveguide dispersion may
be significant.
 Mode-field diameter and spot size
 Many properties of the fundamental mode are determined by the radial
extent of its electromagnetic field including losses at launching and
jointing, microbend losses, waveguide dispersion and the width of the
radiation pattern.
 The MFD is an important parameter for characterizing single-mode
fiber properties which takes into account the wavelength-dependent
field penetration into the fiber cladding.
 In this context it is a better measure of the functional properties of
single-mode fiber than the core diameter.
 Another parameter which is directly related to the MFD of a single-
mode fiber is the spot size (or mode-field radius) ω0. Hence MFD =
2ω0, where ω0 is the nominal half width of the input excitation
 Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is a source of pulse broadening
which results from fiber birefringence and it can become a limiting
factor for optical fiber communications at high transmission rates.
 It is a random effect due to both intrinsic (caused by noncircular fiber
core geometry and residual stresses in the glass material near the core
region) and extrinsic (caused by stress from mechanical loading,
bending or twisting of the fiber) factors which in actual manufactured
fibers result in group velocity variation with polarization state.
 Nonlinear losses
 Optical waveguides do not always behave as completely linear channels whose
increase in output optical power is directly proportional to the input optical power.
Several nonlinear effects occur, which in the case of scattering cause
disproportionate attenuation, usually at high optical power levels. This nonlinear
scattering causes the optical power from one mode to be transferred in either the
forward or backward direction to the same, or other modes, at a different
frequency.
 It depends critically upon the optical power density within the fiber and hence
only becomes significant above threshold power levels.
 The most important types of nonlinear scattering within optical fibers are
stimulated Brillouin and Raman scattering, both of which are usually only
observed at high optical power densities in long single-mode fibers.
Nonlinear effects
 Usually light waves or photons transmitted through a fiber have little
interaction with each other, and are not changed by their passage through
the fiber (except for absorption and scattering).
 There are exceptions, however, arising from the interactions between light
waves and the material transmitting them, which can affect optical signals.
 These processes are normally referred to as nonlinear effects phenomena
because their strength typically depends on the square (or some higher
power) of the optical intensity.
 Hence nonlinear effects are weak at low powers but they can become much
stronger at high optical intensities. This situation can result either when the
power is increased, or when it is concentrated in a small area such as the
core of a single-mode optical fiber.
Nonlinear effects
Stimulated Brillouin scattering

 Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) may be regarded as the modulation of

light through thermal molecular vibrations within the fiber.
 The scattered light appears as upper and lower sidebands which are separated
from the incident light by the modulation frequency.
 The incident photon in this scattering process produces a phonon of acoustic
frequency as well as a scattered photon. This produces an optical frequency
shift which varies with the scattering angle because the frequency of the
sound wave varies with acoustic wavelength.
 The frequency shift is a maximum in the backward direction, reducing to
zero in the forward direction, making SBS a mainly backward process.
Stimulated Raman scattering

 Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is similar to SBS except that a high-

frequency optical phonon rather than an acoustic phonon is generated in
the scattering process.
 Also, SRS can occur in both the forward and backward directions in an
optical fiber, and may have an optical power threshold of up to three
orders of magnitude higher than the Brillouin threshold in a particular
fiber.
 Kerr effects

 Nonlinear effects which can be readily described by the intensity-dependent

refractive index of the fiber are commonly referred to as Kerr nonlinearities.
 The refractive index of a medium results from the applied optical field perturbing the
atoms or molecules of the medium to induce an oscillating polarization, which then
radiates, producing an overall perturbed field.
 At low intensities the polarization is a linear function of the applied field and hence
the resulting perturbation of the field can be realistically described by a constant
refractive index. However, at higher optical intensities the perturbations do not
remain linear functions of the applied field and Kerr nonlinear effects may be
observed.
 there are primarily, however, three processes which produce Kerr effects: namely,
self-phase modulation (SPM), cross-phase modulation (XPM) and four-wave mixing
(FWM).
 Kerr Effect – Self Phase modulation (SPM)
 The intensity-dependent refractive index causes an intensity-dependent phase shift in
the fiber.
 Hence, for a light pulse propagating in the fiber, Kerr nonlinearities result in a
different transmission phase for the peak of the pulse compared with the leading and
trailing pulse edges. This effect, which is known as self-phase modulation (SPM),
causes modifications to the pulse spectrum.
 As the instantaneous frequency of a wave is the time derivative of its phase, then a
time-varying phase creates a time-varying frequency. Thus SPM can alter and broaden
the frequency spectrum of the pulse. The spectral broadening caused by SPM produces
dispersion-like effects which can limit transmission rates in some long-haul optical
communication systems, depending on the fiber type and its chromatic dispersion. For
ultra short pulses (less than 1 pico second) with very high peak powers, its effect can
be very strong, generating a broad continuum of wavelengths.
Kerr effect- Cross-phase modulation (XPM)

 It is a nonlinear optical effect where one wavelength of light can

affect the phase of another wavelength of light through the
optical Kerr effect. When the optical power from a wavelength
impacts the refractive index, the impact of the new refractive
index on another wavelength is known as XPM.
 The strength of XPM increases with the number of channels and
it also becomes stronger as the channel spacing is made smaller.
 Kerr Effect –Four Wave mixing (FWM)
 The nonlinear effects between light at different frequencies or wavelengths in
multichannel fiber transmission causes phase modulation of the channels and
hence the generation of modulation sidebands at new frequencies which are
termed four-wave mixing (FWM).
 When three wave components co-propagate at angular frequencies ω1, ω2 and
ω3, then a new wave is generated at frequency ω4 where ω4 = ω1 + ω2 − ω3.
This frequency combination can be problematic for multichannel optical
communications as they can become phase matched if the channel wavelengths
are close to the zero-dispersion wavelength.
 FWM is therefore one of a broad class of harmonic mixing or harmonic
generation processes in which two or more waves combine to generate waves at a
different frequency that is the sum (or difference) of the signals that are mixed.
 Dispersion-shifted fibers
 A wide variety of single-mode fiber
refractive index profiles are capable
of modification in order to tune the
zero-dispersion wavelength point λ0
to a specific wavelength within a
region adjacent to the ZMD point.
 In the simplest case, the step index
profile illustrated in fig gives a shift to
longer wavelength by reducing the
core diameter and increasing the
fractional index difference. Typical
values for the two parameters are 4.4
μm and 0.012 respectively.
 Dispersion-flattened fibers
 More recent efforts have focused on DFFs that exhibit low-dispersion slopes in the C band while also
providing acceptably large effective core areas in order to reduce fiber nonlinear effects.
 It is particularly difficult, however, to realize both near-zero dispersion slopes and large effective core
areas while, in addition, reducing their current bend loss sensitivity. Furthermore, there remain some
fundamental problems associated with DFF fabrication as the chromatic dispersion characteristics are
highly dependent on changes in the fiber structural parameters including the core diameter and refractive
index difference. It is therefore still a concern that commercial production of DFFs will require both
substantial stability and controllability of the fabrication process
 Nonzero-dispersion-shifted fiber (NZ-DSF) is sometimes simply called non zero dispersion
fiber (NZDF) and a variant of this fiber type is negative-dispersion fiber (NDF) which can
also be referred to as dispersion compensating fiber (DCF).
Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR).

 A measurement technique which is far more sophisticated and which finds

wide application in both the laboratory and the field is the use of optical time
domain reflectometry (OTDR).
 This technique is often called the backscatter measurement method. It provides
measurement of the attenuation on an optical link down its entire length giving
information on the length dependence of the link loss.
 OTDR also allows splice and connector losses to be evaluated as well as the
rotation of any faults on the link.
 It relies upon the measurement and analysis of the fraction of light which is
reflected back within the fiber’s numerical aperture due to Rayleigh scattering.
 Backscattering method, has the advantages of being nondestructive (i.e. does
not require the cutting back of the fiber) and of requiring access to one end of
the optical link only.
 A light pulse is launched into the fiber in the forward direction
from an injection laser using either a directional coupler or a
system of external lenses with a beam splitter (usually only in the
laboratory).
 The backscattered light is detected using an avalanche photodiode receiver
which drives an integrator in order to improve the received signal-to noise
ratio by giving an arithmetic average over a number of measurements
taken at one point within the fiber.
 This is necessary as the received optical signal power from a particular
point along the fiber length is at a very low level compared with the
forward power at that point by some 45 to 60 dB, and is also swamped
with noise.
 The signal from the integrator is fed through a logarithmic amplifier and
averaged measurements for successive points within the fiber are plotted
on a chart recorder. This provides location-dependent attenuation values
which give an overall picture of the optical loss down the link.
 A possible backscatter plot is illustrated in Figure which shows the initial pulse
caused by reflection and backscatter from the input coupler followed by a long tail
caused by the distributed Rayleigh scattering from the input pulse as it travels down
the link.
 Also shown in the plot is a pulse corresponding to the discrete reflection from a fiber
joint, as well as a discontinuity due to excessive loss at a fiber imperfection or fault.
 The end of the fiber link is indicated by a pulse corresponding to the Fresnel
reflection incurred at the output end face of the fiber. Such a plot yields the
attenuation per unit length for the fiber by simply computing the slope of the curve
over the length required.
 Also the location and insertion losses of joints and/or faults can be obtained from the
power drop at their respective positions on the link. Finally the overall link length
can be determined from the time difference between reflections from the fiber input
and output end faces.
OTDR
Soliton Propagation
 Soliton propagation results from a special case of nonlinear dispersion
compensation in which the nonlinear chirp caused by SPM balances, and hence
postpones, the temporal broadening induced by group velocity delay (GVD).
 a soliton has two distinctive features which are potentially important for the
provision of high-speed optical fiber communications: it propagates without
changing shape; and the shape is unaffected, that of a soliton, after a collision
with another soliton. Hence the former soliton property overcomes the
dispersion limitation and avoids inter symbol interference while the collision
invariance potentially provides for efficient wavelength division multiplexing
 Solitons

 Solitons are nonlinear optical pulses which have the potential to support very
high optical transmission rates of many terabits per second over long distances.
 The major element in the transmitter section is a return-to-zero pulse generator.
A simple approach to generate RZ pulses is to employ an optical modulator and
an NRZ-to-RZ converter which is driven by a DFB laser source.
 In this case a Mach–Zehnder modulator is used to modulate the NRZ
data at the desired transmission rate (i.e. in the range 2.5 to 40 Gbit s−1).
Instead of using a single NRZ data stream, however, it is useful to
modulate an optical NRZ signal incorporating several multiplexed NRZ
data streams before the conversion into RZ pulses takes place. At the
receiving end the incoming signal requires conversion back from RZ to
NRZ and then finally a demultiplexer separates the specific NRZ data for
each channel.
 An optical power meter records optical signal power in either dBm or
dBμ.
 (a) Convert the optical signal powers of 5 mW and 20 μW to dBm.
 (b) Convert optical signal powers of 0.3 mW and 80 nW to dBμ.
 Thank You
Any questions?