CHAPTE Fiber-Optics
When a light ray passes
R 13 Communicatio
ns
1. The information-carrying
capacity of a cable or radio
channel is directly
proportional to its bandwidth.
2. The RF spectrum is
heavily used and occupied.
Only in the microwave region
is there room for expansion.
3. Light is an electromagnetic
signal like a radio wave but is
much higher in frequency. It
can be used as a carrier for
information signals.
4. Because of the very high
frequency of light compared
to typical information signals,
tremendous bandwidth is
easily available.
5. Light waves carrying data
signals can be transmitted in
free space but are greatly
attenuated by atmospheric
effects and require pinpoint
alignment.
6. Most light-wave
communication is by way of
a glass or plastic fiber cable
that acts as a "light pipe" to
carry light modulated by
information signals.
7. The main components of a
light-wave communications
system are
an AID converter, a light
source transmitter, a fiber
optic cable, a photo- or light
detector with amplifier and
shaper, and a DIA converter.
8. Because of the great
attenuation of light in a fiber-
optic cable, repeater
units are used to amplify and
regenerate the signals over
long distances.
9. The primary
application of fiber-optic
communications is in long-
distance telephone
systems.
10. The primary advantages
of fiber-optic cables over
conventional cables and radio
are wider bandwidth, lower
loss, lightweight, small
size, strength, security,
interference immunity, and
safety.
11. The
main disadvantage of fiber-
optic cable is that its small
size and brittleness make it
more difficult to work with.
12. Light waves, like radio
waves, are a kind
of electromagnetic
radiation.
13.Light waves occur at very
high frequencies in the range
of 3 x 1011 to 3 x 1616 Hz.
14. Wavelength rather than
frequency is used to express
the place of light in the
spectrum.
15.The wavelength of
light is expressed in terms
of nanometers (1 nm = 10-
9
m) or micrometers (1m = 10-
6
m). Micrometers are also
called microns.
16. The visible light
spectrum is from 700 nm
(red) to 400 nm (violet).
17. The optical spectrum is
made up of visible light,
infrared at lower frequencies
and ultraviolet at higher
frequencies.
18. Infrared rays cannot be
seen, but they act like light
waves and can be
manipulated in similar ways
as with a lens or mirrors.
19. Light waves, like
microwaves, travel in a
straight line.
20. The angle at which light
strikes a surface is called
the angle of incidence. The
angle at which light is
reflected from a surface is
called the angle of
reflection. The angle of
incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.
21.
from one medium to another,
it is bent. This is
called refraction.
22. The amount of
refraction is called the
index of refraction n and is
the ratio of the speed of light
in air to the speed of light in
another medium, such as
water, glass, or plastic (n = 1
in air, n = 1.3 in water, n = 1.5
in glass).
23. The angle of the
incident light ray determines
whether the ray will be
reflected or refracted.
24. The critical angle is the
angle of incidence that
causes the refracted light to
travel along the interface
between two different media.
25. If the angle of
incidence is made greater
than the critical angle,
reflection occurs instead of
refraction.
26. Light entering a fiber-optic
cable has an angle of
incidence such that the light
is reflected or bounced off the
boundary between the fiber
and the external media. This
is called total internal
reflection.
27. Fiber-optic cables are
made from glass and plastic.
Glass has the lowest loss but
is brittle. Plastic is cheaper
and more flexible, but
has high attenuation.
28. A popular fiber-optic cable
with a glass core and plastic
cladding is called plastic
clad silica (PCS).
29. The cladding surrounding
the core protects the core and
provides an interface with a
controlled index of refraction.
30. Step index means there
is a sharp difference in the
index of refraction between
the core and cladding.
31. Graded index means that
the index of refraction of the
core varies over its cross
section, highest in the center
and lowest at the edges.
32. A single-mode cable is
very small in diameter and
essentially provides only a
single path for light.
33. Multimode cores are
large and provide multiple
paths for the light.
34. Multiple light paths
through a step-index
core cause a light pulse to be
stretched and attenuated.
This is called modal
dispersion and it limits the
upper pulse repetition rate
and thus the information
bandwidth.
35. Multiple light paths in a
graded-index core are
controlled so that they
converge at multiple points
along the cable. Modal
dispersion does occur, but it
is not as severe as that
caused by a step-index core.
36. Modal dispersion does
not occur in single mode
cores.
37. The three most widely
used types of fiber optic
cables are multimode step-
index, single-mode step-
index, and multimode
graded-index.
38. The primary specification
of a fiber-optic cable
is attenuation which is
usually expressed as the loss
in decibels per kilometer.
39. Light loss in a fiber-optic
cable is caused
by absorption, scattering,
and dispersion.
40. Cable attenuation is
directly proportional to its
length.
41. Cable losses range from
1 dB/km in glass single-mode
step-index cable to 100
dB/km for plastic multimode
step-index cable.
42. Fiber-optic cables can be
spliced by gluing.
43. Special connectors are
used to connect cables to one
another and to the
equipment.
44. Fiber-optic systems use
light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
and semiconductor lasers as
the main light sources.
45. Light-emitting
diodes are used in short
distance low-speed systems.
Injection laser diodes (ILDs)
are used in long distance,
high-speed systems.
46.Most LEDs and ILDs emit
light in the in. visible near-
infrared range (0.82 to 1.55
m).
47.A popular operating
frequency is 1.3 m because
fiber-optic cable has an
attenuation null at this
wavelength.
48. Laser diodes emit
monochromatic or single-
frequency light. The light
waves are coherent, so they
reinforce one another to
create an intense and finely
focused beam.
49. Intense laser light is
produced by an ILD because
reflecting surfaces in the
structure form a cavity
resonator for the light waves.
50. The most commonly used
light sensor is a photodiode.
51. A photodiode is a PN
junction that is reverse-biased
and exposed to light. Light
increases the leakage current
across the junction. This
current is converted into a
voltage pulse.
52. PIN junction diodes are
faster and more sensitive
than conventional
photodiodes.
53. The fastest and most
sensitive light detector is
the avalanche photodiode
(APD).
54. The APD operates with a
high reverse bias so that
when light is applied.
Breakdown occurs and
produces a fast, high-current
pulse.
55. The receiver portion of a
fiber-optic system is made up
of a photodiode, amplifier,
and shaper.
56. Fiber-optic systems are
rated by the speed and the
product of the bit rate and the
distance.
57. A measure of the quality
of a fiber-optic system is
the maximum distance
between repeaters.
1. Fiber-optic cables carry
_____ rather than electrical
signals.
2. The three main types of
information carried by fiber
optic-cables are _____,
_____, and _____.
3. The major use of fiber-optic
cables is in _____.
4. Fiber-optic cables are
made of _____ or _____.
5. The main benefit of fiber-
optic cable over electric cable
is its _____.
6. True or false. Fiber-optic
cable has more loss than
electric cable over long
distances.
7. True or false. Fiber-optic
cable is smaller, lighter, and
stronger than electric cable.
8. List the two main
disadvantages of fiber optic
cable.
9. The two most commonly
used light sources in fiber-
optic systems are _____.
10. Voice and video signals
are converted into before
being transmitted by a light
beam.
11. The device that converts
the light pulses into an
electrical signal is a(n) _____.
12. Regenerative units called
_____ are often used to
compensate for signal
attenuation over long
distances.
13. Light is a type of _____
radiation.
14. A fiber-optic cable can be
viewed as a light _____.
15. Light travels in a
 a. Circle
 b. Straight line
 c. Curve
 d. Random way
16. The wavelength of light is
usually expressed in _____ or
_____.
17. The lowest-frequency
visible light is
 a. Red
 b. Violet
18. A micrometer, or micron,
is a length of _____ of a
_____.
19. The wavelength range of
visible light is _____ to _____
nm.
20. Infrared light has a
wavelength that is
 a. Less than 400 nm
 b. More than 700 nm
 c. Less than 700 nm
21. The optical spectrum is
made up of what three parts?
22. The speed of light in air is
_____ m/s or _____ mi/s.
23. True or false. The speed
of light is slower in glass or
water than it is in air.
24. The number that tells how
fast light travels in a medium
compared to air is the _____
of _____.
25. Light beams can be
bounced or their direction can
be changed by _____ with
a(n) _____.
26. The bending of light rays
due to speed changes when
moving from one medium to
another is called _____.
27. If a light ray strikes a
mirror at an angle of 30° from
the normal, it is reflected at
an angle of _____ ° from the
normal.
28. When the angle of
refraction is 90° to the
normal, the ray travels along
the _____ between the two
media. Therefore, the incident
ray strikes the surface at the
_____ angle.
29. When the incident ray
strikes the interface at an
angle greater than the critical
angle, _____ occurs.
30. The critical angle
depends upon the value of
the _____ of _____.
31. Which material has the
best optical characteristics
and lowest loss?
 a. Plastic
 b. Glass
 c. they are equal
32. The core is protected by
the _____.
33. In PCS cable, the core is
_____ and the cladding is
_____.
34. The index of refraction is
highest in the
 a. Core
 b. Cladding
35. List the three main types
of fiber-optic cable.
36. Stretching of the light
pulse is called _____.
37. List the two types of cable
in which light pulse stretching
occurs.
38. High-frequency pulses
can be best transmitted over
_____ cable.
39. Pulse stretching causes
the information capacity of a
cable to
 a. Increase
 b. Decrease
40. Graded index means that
the _____ of _____ of the
core varies over its cross
section
41. Single-mode step-index
cable has a Core diameter in
the range of
 a. 100 to 1000 m
 b. 50 to 100 m
 c. 2 to 15 m
42. A _____ is applied over
the cladding to protect
against moisture, damage,
etc.
43. A common protective
layer in a cable is made of
_____ mesh.
44. Fiber-optic cables are
available with the following
number of cores: _____.
45. Light loss in a cable is
called _____.
46. Light loss is caused by
_____.
47. Light loss is measured in
_____ per_____.
48. A cable with a loss of 5
dB will have _____ percent of
the input appear at the output
(see Fig. 13-19). (page 365-
Frenzel)
49. True or false. A kilometer
is longer than a mile.
50. Which cable length will
have the least attenuation?
 a. 40 ft
 b. 120 ft
 c. 1780 ft
 d. 1 km
51. Three cables with
attenuations of 9, 22, and 45
dB are spliced together. The
total attenuation is _____ dB.
52. True or false. Fiber-optic
cables may be spliced.
53. To conveniently link and
attach fiber-optic cables to
one another and related
equipment, _____ are used.
54. The two most common
light sources used in fiber-
optic transmitters are _____.
55.The most popular light
wavelength is _____ m
because fiber-optic cable
attenuation is lowest at that
wavelength.
56.True or false. The light
from a 1.55 m LED is visible.
57. Usually LEDs are made of
_____.
58. Single frequency light is
called _____.
59. The condition of all
emitted light waves being in
phase is known as _____.
60. A single-frequency
intense light source is known
as a(n) _____.
61. The reflective surfaces on
a laser diode structure form
a(n) _____ that produces in-
phase light waves.
62. For normal operation,
LED and ILDs are _____
(reverse, forward)-biased.
63. Which is faster, an LED or
ILD?
64. Which produces the
brightest light, an LED or
ILD?
65. During normal operation,
all photodiodes are _____
(reverse, forward)-biased.
66. Light falling on the PN
junction of a photodiode
causes the diode's _____
current to increase.
67. The most sensitive and
fastest light detector is the
_____.
68. 68-.The two main circuits
in a fiber-optic receiver are
_____.
69. The product of the bit rate
and distance of a system is
90 Mbits·km/s. The rating at 3
km is _____ Mbits/s.
70. In today's systems, the
average maximum distance
between repeaters is
between _____ and _____
mi.
1. light
2. voice, video, computer
data
3. telephone systems
4. glass, plastic
5. wide bandwidth
6. false
7. true
8. brittleness, difficult to work
with
9. LEDs, semiconductor
lasers
10. binary or digital pulses
11. photocell or light detector
12. repeaters
13. electromagnetic
14. pipe
15. b (Straight line)
16. micrometers (microns), 39. b (Decrease) 64. ILD
nanometers
40. index, refraction 65. reverse
17. a (Red)
41. c (2 to 15 m) 66. leakage
18. one-millionth, meter
42. protective coating 67. avalanche photodiode
19. 400, 700
43. Kevlar 68. amplifier, comparator-or
20. b (More than 700 nm) shaper
44. 2, 6, 12, 18, 24
21. visible, infrared, ultraviolet 69. 30
45. attenuation
22. 300,000,000; 186,000 70. 6.17. 18.5 (10 and 30 km)
46. dispersion, absorption,
23. true scattering
24. index, refraction 47. decibels, kilometer
25. reflection, mirror 48. 31
26. refraction 49. false
27. 30 50. a (40 ft.)
28. critical 51. 76
29. reflection 52. true
30. index, refraction 53. connectors
31. b (Glass) 54. LED. laser
32. cladding 55. 1.3
33. glass, plastic 56. false
34. a (Core) 57. gallium arsenide
35. multimode step-index, 58. monochromatic
single-mode step-index,
multimode graded-index 59. coherence

36. modal dispersion 60. laser

37. multimode step-index, 61. resonant cavity

38. multimode graded-index, 62. forward

single-mode step-index 63. ILD