Pandian Saraswathi yadav Engineeing college

Madurai-Sivagangai Highway, Sivagangai

Department of Electronics and Communication Engg.

EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking

Two Marks Q&A and 16 Marks Question

ECE Seventh Semester

Faculty HOD/ECE

S.Manikandan AP/ECE
EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking ECE/VII
semester
UNIT-I

1. Define acceptance angle and numerical aperture of fiber. (April/May 2010) (Nov/May 2014)

Numerical aperture (N.A) of the fiber is the light collecting efficiency of the fiber and is
the measure of the amount of light rays that can be accepted by the fiber. It is equal to the
sine of acceptance.
N.A=sin Φmax =(n12-n22)1/2
The maximum angle ‘Φmax’ with which a ray of light can enter through the entrance end
of the fiber and still be totally internally reflected is called acceptance angle of the fiber.

2. What is intramodel dispersion? How the affect can be minimized? (April/May 2010)
Intra Modal dispersion is pulse spreading that occurs with in a single mode. The
spreading arises from finite spectral emission width of an optical source. This phenomenon
is also called as group velocity dispersion

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of multi mode fiber? (April/May 2011)

Multimode cables are less expensive to operate, install and maintain than single-mode
cables. However, they are much more limited in both speed and distance. For instance, the
maximum speed of a multimode cable is 10GB, but only up to a distance of 300 meters. Up
to 2 kilometers, it is only capable of transmitting at 100Mbit. Beyond that, its transfer speed
becomes negligible. This limitation is negated by the fact that its maximum speed is
sufficient for the environment that it is most often used in.

4. A step index fiber has a core refractive index of 1.5 and a cladding refractive index of 1.47.
Determine the solid acceptance angle. (April/May 2011)
2 2
NA  ( n1  n 2 )
 (1.5 2  1.47 2 )
 0.298
Solid acceptance angle G= πθa2
5. What is the energy of a single photon of the light whose λ=1550 nm, in eV? (Nov/Dec 2011)

1.24
Eg 

1.24

1550 *10 9
 800 KeV
6. Assume that there is a glass rod of refractive index 1.5, surrounded by air. Find the critical
incident angle. (Nov/Dec 2011)
 n   1 
 c  sin 1  2   sin 1    41.8


 n1   1.5 

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7. The relative refractive index difference (∆) for an optical fiber is 1%. Determine the critical
angle at the core cladding interface if the core refractive index is 1.46. (May/June 2012)

n1  n 2 n2
   1 
n1 n1 =1- 0.01=0.99

 n2 
c  sin 1    sin 1  0.99   81.9 
n
 1

8. A step index fiber has a normalized frequency (V) of 26.6 at 1300 nm if the core radius is 25
µm, find the numerical aperture. (May/June 2012)

2
V  a( NA)


V 26.6  1300  10 9
NA    0.22
2a 2  25  10 6

9. Calculate the cutoff wave length of a single mode fiber with core radius of 4 µm and
∆=0.003. (Nov/Dec 2012)

V=2.405; n1=1.5;a=4um

2 1 2 1
 an1  2  2   4  10 6  1.5   2  0.003 2
V 2.405

10. For a fiber with core refractive index of 1.54 and fractional refractive index difference of
0.01, calculate its numerical aperture. (Nov/Dec 2012)

1 1

NA  n1  2   1.54(2  0.001)  0.217

2 2

11. The refractive indexes of the core and cladding of a silica fiber are 1.48 and 1.46
respectively. Find the acceptance angle for the fiber. (Nov/Dec 2013)
2 2
NA  (n1  n2 )
 (1.48 2  1.46 2 )
 0.242  a  sin 1 ( NA)  14.03

12. Determine the normalized frequency at 820 nm for a step-index fiber having a 25 µm radius.
The refractive indexes of the cladding and the core are 1.45 and 1.47 respectively. How
many modes propagate in this fiber at 820 nm? (Nov/Dec 2013)

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2 2
 
1
V  a ( NA)   25  10 6  1.47 2  1.45 2 2  46.29
 820  10 9

V2
Ms   23.14
2

13. A Multimode fiber has core diameter of 50 µm and cladding refractive index of 1.45. if its
dispersion is 10 ns/Km, find its numerical aperture. (May/June 2014)

L NA
2
s 
4 3nc NA 2  10  10 9  4 3  1.45  3  10 8

NA=0.174

14. Distinguish meridional rays from skew rays. (May/June 2014)

Meridional rays skew rays

These rays following Zig Zag path when they These rays following the helical path around
travel through fiber and for every reflection it the fiber axis when they travel through the
will cross the fiber axis. fiber and they would not cross the fiber axis at
any time.

15. What are hybrid modes? Give two examples.

Hybrid modes are the mixture of TE and TM modes that can be travelled through the
optical fiber.
Examples:
 HE1m modes in which |Ez|>|Hz|
 EH1m modes in which |Hz|>|Ez|
16. What is fiber birefringence?
Imperfections in the fiber are common such as asymmetrical lateral stress, non
circular imperfect variations of refractive index profile. These imperfections break the
circular symmetry of ideal fiber and mode propagate with different phase velocity and the
difference between their refractive index is called fiber birefringence.

B=ko(ny-nx)
17. State Goos-Haenchen effect.
Goos-Haenchen effect states that there is a lateral shift of the reflected ray at the point
of incidence at the core-cladding interface. This lateral shift is called the Goos-Haenchen
shift.

18. When do you have phase shift during total internal reflection of light.
When the light ray travels from denser medium to rarer medium, if the angle of incidence
is greater than the critical angle of core medium, there is a phase shift for both TE and TM
waves.

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19. What are the conditions for total internal reflection?

 Light should travel from denser medium to rarer medium.
 The angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle of the denser
medium.
20. Why do we prefer step index single mode fiber for long distance communication?
Step index single mode fiber has
 low attenuation due to smaller core diameter
 higher bandwidth and
 very low dispersion.

21. What is the principle used in the working of fibers as light guides?
The phenomenon of total internal reflection is used to guide the light in the optical fiber.
To get total internal reflection, the ray should travel from denser to rarer i.e. from core to
clad region of the fiber and the angle of incidence in the denser medium should be greater
than the critical angle of that medium.

22. What is Snell’s law? What is the necessity of cladding for an optical fiber?
The relationship at the interface is known as Snell’s law and is given by
n1sinΦ1=n2 sinΦ2
 To provide proper light guidance inside the core
 To avoid leakage of light from the fiber
 To avoid mechanical strength for the fiber
 To protect the core from scratches and other mechanical damages

23. List any two advantages of single mode fibers.(Nov/Dec 2014)

 Long distance transmission
 Large bandwidth
 Dispersion not possible

UNIT-II

1. The optical power launched into the fiber is 10µW. the transmission distance is 10 km. the
optical power at the output of fiber is 2 µW.
a. Calculate the signal attenuation/ unit km length
b. Calculate the overall signal attenuation. (April/May 2010)
 p 
 dB L  10 log 10  i 
 po 
=698 µs/km
2. Define group velocity. (April/May 2010)

If L is the distance travelled by the pulse, β is the propagation constant along axis then
the group velocity in the velocity at which energy is a pulse travels along the fiber.
Vg = C. (dβ / dk)

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3. If the attenuation of an optical is 0.2dB/km, determine the output power of a 30 km long

fiber when the input power is 100 µW. (April/May 2011)

 pi 
 dB L  10 log 10  
 po  ; p o  25.2w

4. Define the attenuation coefficient of a fiber. (Nov/Dec 2011)

Signal attenuation within optical fibers can be defined as for a particular optical
wavelength as the ratio of the input optical power P i into a fiber to the output optical power
Po from the fiber.
Signal attenuation in number of decibal (dB) = 10log10(Pi/ Po)

5. Calculate the cut-off wavelength of an optical signal through a fiber with its core refractive
index of 1.50 and that of cladding=1.46. The core radius of 25µm. The normalized
frequency is 2.405. (Nov/Dec 2011)

2
 a  NA
V ;   22.47 m

6. A 30 km long optical fiber has an attenuation of 0.8 dB/km. if -7 dBm of optical power is
launched into the fiber, determine the output optical power in dBm. (May/June 2012)

 pi 
 dB L  10 log 10  
 po  ; po  0.03dB

7. What is Rayleigh scattering?

The index variation causes a Rayleigh type of scattering of light. Rayleigh scattering in glass
in the same phenomenon that scatters light from sun in the atmosphere, giving rise to blue
sky.

 The expression for Rayleigh scattering loss is given by

 αscat =(8π3/3λ2)(n2-1)2kBTfβT
 n = refractive index
 kB = boltzman constant
 βT= isothermal compressibility Tf =fictive temperature
 λ =operative wavelength

8. What factors cause Rayleigh scattering in optical fiber? (May/June 2012)

Rayleigh scattering is the dominant intrinsic loss mechanism in the low absorption
window between the ultraviolet and infrared absorption tails. It results from in
homogeneities of a random nature occurring on a small scale compared with the wavelength
of the light.

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9. What are the two reasons for chromatic dispersion? (Nov/Dec 2012)
 It arises due to the variation of the refractive index of core material as a function of
wavelength.
 This causes a wavelength dependence of the group velocity of any given mode.
10. What are the most important non-linear effects of optical fiber communication? (Nov/Dec
2012)
Non linear 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.
11. Define mechanical Splice. (May/June 2013)
Mechanical Splice alignment can be achieved by various methods like tube splices or V
grooves.
12. A continuous 12 kms- long optical fiber link has a loss of 1.5 dB/km. what is the minimum
optical power that must be launched into the fiber to maintain an optical power level of 0.3
µW at the receiving end? (Nov/Dec 2013)

 pi 
 dB L  10 log 10  
 ; p i  18.9 w
 po
13. Define dispersion in multimode fibers. What is its effect? (Nov/Dec 2013)
Dispersion of the transmitted optical signal causes distortion for both digital and analog
transmission along optical fibers. Dispersion classified as Intra Modal dispersion and Inter
Modal dispersion.

14. Identify the causes of scattering losses. (May/June 2014)

Scattering losses is due to the following factors
 Microscopic variation in material density.
 Compositional fluctuations.
 Structural inhomogeneities
 Structural defects occurring during fiber fabrication.
15. A fiber has an attenuation of 1.5dB/Km at 1300 nm. If 0.5 mW of optical power is initially
launched into the fiber, what is the power level in microwatts after 9Km? (May/June 2014)
 p 
 dB L  10 log 10  i 
 p o  p o  22 w
;

16. What is intermodal dispersion?

Intermodal dispersion is a pulse spreading that occurs within a single mode. The
spreading arises from finite spectral emission width of an optical source. it is called group
velocity dispersion or intermodal dispersion.

17. What is the measure of information capacity in optical wave guide?

It is usually specified by bandwidth distance product in MHz. For a step index fiber the
various distortion effects tend to limit the bandwidth distance product to 20MHz.

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18. Mention the losses responsible for attenuation in optical fibers.

 Absorption losses
 Scattering losses
 bending losses

19. What do you meant by extrinsic absorption? Define microscopic bending?

 Absorption phenomena due to impurity atoms present in the fiber.
 Fiber losses occur due to small bending arise while the fiber is inserted into a cable.

20. Define direct band gap materials and indirect band gap materials.
In direct band gap materials direct transition is possible from valence band to conduction
band.
e.g.GaAs,InP,InGaAs
In indirect band gap materials direct transition is not possible from valence band to
conduction.
e.g.silicon,germanium.

21. What are the types of fiber losses which are given per unit distance?
Dispersion losses are generally defined as per unit distantance. They are
 Inter modal dispersion
 Intramodal dispersion
 Polarization mode dispersion.

21. List the factors that cause intrinsic joint losses in a fiber.
Intrinsic joint losses are generally caused by two major absorption mechanisms at optical
wavelengths are Ultraviolet absorption and infrared Absorption.

UNIT-III

1. State the three key process of laser action. (April/May 2010)

1. Absorption
2. Spontaneous emission
3. stimulated emission.

2. A lens coupled surface-emitting LED launches 190µW of optical power into a multimode
Step index fiber when a forward current of 25mA is flowing through the device. Determine
the overall power conversation efficiency when the corresponding forward voltage across
the diode is 1.5 V. (April/May 2010)
I
p   hv
q ;   44.53
3. What are the advantages of double heterostructure optical sources? (April/May 2011)

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The heterojunction allows us to have a small active region where the light is produced. In
addition, the material in the active region usually has a higher refractive index than that of
the material surrounding it. This means that a mirror surface effect is created at the junction
which helps to confine and direct the light emitted.

4. List the advantages of quantum well lasers. (April/May 2011)

 Much shorter wavelengths can be obtained from quantum well lasers than from
conventional laser diodes using a particular semiconductor material.
 The efficiency of a quantum well laser is also greater than a conventional laser diode due
to the stepwise form of its density of states function.

5. Why silicon is not used to fabricate LED or Laser diode? (Nov/Dec 2011)
The properties of silicon and germanium, which are single-element semiconductors, have
band gaps that do not align in the way needed to allow photon emission. Hence the silicon is
not used to fabricate LED or Laser diode

6. Calculate the external differential quantum efficiency of a laser diode operating at 1.33 µm.
The slope of the straight line portion of the curve for the emitted optical power P versus
drive current 1 is given by 15 mW/mA. (Nov/Dec 2011)

7. What are the characteristics that a semiconductor laser diode should posses? (Nov/Dec
2011)
For optical fiber systems, semiconductor laser diodes are used as an optical source.
Because its output radiation is highly monochromatic and the light beam is very directional.

8. What are the advantages of LED? (May/June 2012)

 Simpler fabrication
 Simpler construction of the LED leads to much reduced cost.
 Reliability
 Less temperature dependence
 Simpler drive circuitary.
9. Photons on energy 1.53×10-19 J are incident on a photodiode which has a responsivity of
0.65 A/W. if the optical power level in 10 µW, find the photocurrent generated. (May/June
2012)

Ip
R
Po ; I p  6.5A

10. What is the significance of intrinsic layer in PIN diodes? (Nov/Dec 2012)

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PIN photo detector structure consists of p and n regions separated by a very lightly doped
intrinsic region. When the photodiode is reverse biased, the intrinsic region of diode is fully
depleted of carriers.
11. Compare and contrast between surface and edge emitting LEDs. (Nov/Dec 2012)
 Edge emitting LEDs emit a more directional light pattern than the surface emitting
LEDs.
 In surface emitting LEDs, the plane of active light emitting region is perpendicular to
the fiber axis.
 Coupling losses with surface emitters are greater and they have narrow bandwidths.
 Edge emitters couple 7.5 times more power into low NA fiber than a comparable
surface emitter.
12. Define detector response time. (May/June 2013)
The response time of a photodiode together with its output circuit depends on following
factors
 The transit time of a photo-carriers in the depletion region.
 The diffusion current of the photo-carriers generated outside the depletion region.
 The RC time constant of a photodiode and its associated ciruict.

13. Write two differences between a Laser diode and a LED. (Nov/Dec 2013)

Sl.No. LED LASER

1. Optical output is incoherent Optical output is coherent

2. No optical resonant cavity Optical energy from optical resonant cavity

3. Output radiation has broad spectral Highly monochromatic

width
4. No spatial and temporal coherence It has spatial and temporal coherence

14. For a photo diode define quantum efficiency-η and responsivity – R. (Nov/Dec 2013)
(April/May 2010)
Quantum efficiency:
It is defined as ratio of number of electron-hole pairs generated to number of incident
photons.
Responsivity:
It is defined as ratio of photo output current to incident optical power.
15. If the absorption coefficient of silicon is 0.05µm -1 at 860 nm, find the penetration depth at
which p(x)/Pin=0.368. (May/June 2014)
16. Define the internal quantum efficiency of LED. (May/June 2014)(Nov/Dec 2014)
The internal quantum efficiency in the active region is the fraction of electron hole pairs that
recombine radiatively. If the radiative recombination rate is Rr and non radiative

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recombination rate is Rnr, then the internal quantum efficiency η int is the ratio of the
radiative recombiantion rate to the total recombination rate.

17. What are direct band gap and indirect band gap semiconductors? (May/June 2014)
In direct band gap materials direct transition is possible from valence band to conduction
band. E.g InP, GaAs. Indirect band gap materials direct transition is not possible from
valence band to conduction band. E.g silicon, germanium

18. Define photocurrent.

The high electric field present in the depletion region causes the carriers to separate
and be collected across the reverse-biased junction. This gives to a current flow in the
external circuit, with one electron flowing for every carrier pair generated. This current
flow is known as photocurrent.

19. Define impact ionization.

In order for carrier multiplication to take place, the photo generated carriers must
traverse a region where a very high electric field is present. In this high field region, a
photo generated electron or hole can gain energy so that it ionizes bound electrons in the
valence band upon colliding with them. This carrier multiplication mechanism is known
as impact ionization.

20. Define avalanche effect.

The newly created carriers are accelerated by the high electric field, thus gaining
enough energy to cause further impact ionization. This phenomenon is called avalanche
effect.

21. Define ionization rate.

The average number of electron hole pairs created by a carrier per unit distance
travelled is called ionization rate.

22. What are the conditions to be met for a high signal- to- noise ratio in a photo detector?
• The photo detector must have a high quantum efficiency to generate a large sign al
power
• The p and amplifier noises should be kept as low as possible.

23. Define minimum detectable optical power.

It is defined as the optical power necessary to produce a photocurrent of the same
magnitude as the root mean square of the total current.

24. Define quantum noise.

It is not possible to predict exactly how many electron-hole pairs are generated by a
known optical power incident on the detector is the origin of the type of short noise
called quantum noise.

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UNIT-IV

1. Mention the benefits and drawbacks of avalanche photo diode. (April/May 2010) (Nov/May
2014)

The main advantages of the avalanche photodiode include:

 Greater level of sensitivity

The disadvantages of the avalanche photodiode include:

 Much higher operating voltage may be required.
 Avalanche photodiode produces a much higher level of noise than a p-n photodiode
 Avalanche process means that the output is not linear

2. Why are semiconductors based photo detectors preferred to other types of photo detectors?
(April/May 2011)
P-N photodiodes are not used to measure extremely low light intensities. Instead, if
high sensitivity is needed, avalanche photodiodes, intensified charge-coupled devices or
photomultiplier tubes are used for applications such as astronomy, spectroscopy, night
vision equipment and laser range finding.

3. Distinguish model noise and mode partition noise. (April/May 2011)

model noise mode partition noise

It arises when the light from a The model partition noise is associated with
coherent laser is coupled in to a intensity fluctuations in the longitudinal modes of
multimode fiber operating at a laser diode. It becomes more pronounced for
400Mbps and higher. It mainly the higher bit rates.
occurs due to mechanical
vibrations and fluctuations in the
frequency of the optical source

4. Define ‘quantum efficiency η’ of a photo detector and write the expression. (Nov/Dec 2011)

It is defined as ratio of number of electron-hole pairs generated to number of incident

photons.

Ip/ q
η = -------
Po/hv

5. Mention the error sources in fiber optic receiver. (Nov/Dec 2011) or List out various error
sources. (Nov/Dec 2012) or what are the receiver error sources? (May/June 2014)
 Quantum noise

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 Bulk dark current noise

 Surface leakage current noise
 Thermal noise
 Amplifier noise
6. Define Quantum limit. (May/June 2012) or Describe the term Quantum Limit. (May/June
2014)
It is possible to find the maximum received optical power required for a specific bit error
rate performance in a digital system. This minimum received power level is known as
quantum limit.

7. What are the methods used to measure fiber refractive index profile? (May/June 2012)
 Interferometric method
 Near field method
 Refracted near field method.
8. What is dark current? (Nov/Dec 2012)
It is the current to flow through the bias circuit of the device when no light is incident on
photo diode. Dark current = bulk current + surface current.

9. A digital fiber optic link operating at 1310 nm, requires a maximum BER of 10 -8. Calculate
the required average photons per pulse. (Nov/Dec 2013)
p r  0  e  N  10 8 ; N  18.42
10. The photo detector output in a cutback-attenuation set up is 3.3 V at the far end of the fiber.
After cutting the fiber at the near end, 5m from the far end, photo detector output read was
3.92 V. what is the attenuation of the fiber in Db/KM? (Nov/Dec 2013)
10 V
 dB  log 2
L1  L2 V1 ;  dB  0.148dB / KM

11. What is meant by chirping?

It means that the dynamic line broadening (line broadening is a frequency chirp) in the
laser which oscillates in the single longitudinal mode under CW operation when the injection
current is intensity modulated.

12. What is the best way to minimize the chirping?

It is to choose the laser emission wavelength close to the zero-dispersion of the
wavelength of the fiber.

13. What is reflection noise?

It is the optical power that gets reflected at the refractive index discontinuities such as in
splices, couplers and filters, or connectors. The reflected signals can degrade both the
transmitter and receiver performance.

14. What are the effects of reflection noise in high speed systems?
They cause optical feedback which leads to optical instabilities that may lead to

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intersymbol interference and intensity noise.

15. What are the system components of system rise time?

The 4 basic system components that contribute to the system rise time are:
 Transmitter (source) rise time
 Receiver rise time
 Material dispersion time of the fiber
 Modal dispersion time of the fiber link
All these 4 basic elements may significantly limit system speed.

16. Why the attenuation limit curve slopes downwards to the right?
As the minimum optical power required at the receiver for a given BER becomes higher
for increasing data rates, the attenuation limit curve slopes downward to the right.

17. What are the noise effects on system performance?

The main penalties are
 Modal noise,
 Wavelength chirp,
 Spectral broadening,
 Mode- partition noise.
18. What are the requirements of a good connector?
The requirements of a good connector are as follows:
 Low loss
 Repeatability
 Predictability
 Ease of assembly and use
 Low cost & reliability
 Compatibility

19. Give the 2 analysis that are used to ensure system performance?
 The 2 analysis that are used to ensure system performance are:
 Link power budget analysis
 rise time budget analysis

20. Explain briefly about link power budget analysis?

In the optical power loss model for a pt-to-pt link, the optical power rxed at the photo
detector depends on the amount of light coupled into the fiber & losses occurring in the fiber at
the connectors & splices. The link loss budget is derived from the sequential loss contribution of
each element in the link.
Loss=10 log (Pout) / (Pin)
The total optical power loss is,PT = PS - PR

21. Give the range of system margin in link power budget?

The system margin is usually (6-8) dB. A positive system margin ensures proper operation
of the circuit. A negative value indicates that insufficient power will reach the detector to achieve

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the required bit error rate, BER.

Mention the advantages of using transimpedance front and receiver configuration.
State the significance of maintaining the fiber outer diameter constant.

UNIT-V

1. What are the main parameters used for characterizing the performance of optical amplifiers
in a communication system? (April/May 2010)

It is possible to model (→ laser modeling) the essential performance aspects of fiber

amplifiers in various ways, normally using suitable fiber simulation software. Part of such a
model is typically a set of rate equations, with which the population densities for given
signal and pump intensities can be calculated. Such a rate equation model may be
incorporated in a more comprehensive model which then calculates the optical powers along
the fiber.

2. What is mode partition noise? How can it be reduced? (April/May 2011)

The model partition noise is associated with intensity fluctuations in the longitudinal modes
of a laser diode. It becomes more pronounced for the higher bit rates.

3. Define wavelength division multiplexing. (April/May 2011) (or) State the concept of
WDM (Nov/May 2014)

WDM is wavelength division multiplexing. The optical beam consists of different

wavelengths and several channel information is transmitted over a single channel.

4. Distinguish fundamental and higher order solitons. (April/May 2011)

A fundamental soliton is an optical pulse which can propagate in a dispersive medium

(e.g. an optical fiber) with a constant shape of the temporal intensity profile, i.e., without any
temporal broadening as is usually caused by dispersion. This can happen when the pulse has
a certain shape and an energy which is determined by the parameters of the medium (in
particular, by the dispersion and nonlinearity) and the pulse duration.

A higher-order soliton is a soliton pulse the energy of which is higher than that of a
fundamental soliton by a factor which is the square of an integer number (i.e. 4, 9, 16, etc.).
The temporal shape of such a pulse is not constant, but rather varies periodically during
propagation (see Figures 1 and 2). The period of their evolution is the so-called soliton
period

5. What are the three common topologies used for fiber optical network? Give the schematic of
any one network? (Nov/Dec 2011)
Common topologies are

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 Linear bus topology

 Ring topology
 Star topology
6. Calculate the number of independent signals that can be sent on a single fiber in the 1525-
1565 nm bands. Take the spectral spacing as per ITU-T recommendation G.692. (Nov/Dec
2011)
Band=1525-1565
N=No. of independent signals= velocity/lamda= 7.5  10 signals
15

7. Write the functions of transport and path overhead. (May/June 2012)

 Transport overhead includes section overhead, line overhead is used for communications
between adjacent network elements such as regenerators.
 Path overhead main function is to map the signals in to a format required by a line layer
and reading modifying the POH and interpreting.

8. What are the drawbacks of broadcast and select networks for wide area network
applications? (May/June 2012)
Power from each transmitter is collected and broadcast to all stations, even to those who
do not use it. This leads to a lot of wasted power. Since simple splitters and combiners are
used to split and combine signals, there is loss of 1/N for each such device. The overall loss
is 1/N2.

9. What were the problems associated with PDH networks? (Nov/Dec 2012)
PDH allows transmission of data streams that are nominally running at the same rate, but
allowing some variation on the speed around a nominal rate. By analogy, any two watches
are nominally running at the same rate, clocking up 60 seconds every minute. However,
there is no link between watches to guarantee they run at exactly the same rate, and it is
highly likely that one is running slightly faster than the other.

10. Enumerate the various SONET/SDH layers. (Nov/Dec 2012)

 Path layer
 Line layer
 Section layer
 Physical or photonic layer.

11. Illustrate interchannel cross talk that occurs in a WDM system. (Nov/Dec 2013)
It occurs when the crosstalk signal is at a wavelength sufficiently different from the desired
signal’s wavelength that the difference is larger than the receiver’s electrical bandwidth. This
form of crosstalk is called interchannel crosstalk.

12. Obtain the transmission bit rate of the basic SONET frame in Mbps. (Nov/Dec 2013)
The SONET STS-1 frame has an actual line rate of 51.84 Mbps that can be calculated as
line rate = 90 columns×8bits/byte×8000 Frames/sec = 51.84 Mbps

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13. List out the benefits of SONET over PDH networks. (May/June 2014)
 Support for high speed services
 Easy error contingency and isolation
 Point to point monitoring
 Increase in network reliability
14. Give the significance of solitons. (May/June 2014) or What is a soliton? (Nov/May 2014)
Solitons are narrow pulses with high peak powers and special shapes. The most
commonly used soliton pulses are called fundamental solitons.

15. What are the basic performances of the WDM?

 Insertion loss
 Channel width
 Cross talk
16. What is meant as bidirectional WDM?
A single WDM which operates as both multiplexing and demultiplexing Devices is said
as the bidirectional WDM.

17. Define Radiance.

Radiance (or brightness) is a measure, in Watts, of the optical power radiated into a unit
solid angle per unit area of the emitting surface.

16 MARK UNIVERSITY QUESTIONS

UNIT-1
1. (i) Give an overview of the different guided, radiation and leaky modes of optical fibers. (5)
(April/May 2011)
(ii) Give a brief note on linearly polarized modes of an optical fiber. (5) (April/May 2011)
(iii) Determine the fraction of average optical power residing in the cladding of a step index
fiber having a core radius of 25µm. The fiber operates at 1300nm and has a numerical
aperture of 0.22. (6)

2. (i) Draw and explain the structure of a graded index fiber with expressions for the refractive
index profile, numerical aperture and the number of guided modes. (10)(April/May 2011)
(ii) Calculate the number of modes supported by a graded index fiber having a core radius of
25µm and operating at 820nm. The fiber has a refractive index of 1.48 at the core axis and a
cladding index of 1.46. Assume a parabolic index profile. (6) (April/May 2011)

3. Explain mode propagation in circular waveguides. Obtain its wave equation and modal
equations for step index fibers. (16) (April/May 2010)

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4. A typical refractive index difference for an optical fiber designated for long distance
transmission is 1%. Determine the NA and the solid acceptance angle in air for the fiber
when the core index is 1.46. Calculate the critical angle at the core-cladding interface within
the fiber. (8) (April/May 2010)
5. Derive an expression for numerical aperture of a graded index fiber structure. (10)
(April/May 2010)
6. (i) What is the numerical aperture of an optical fiber? Deduce an expression for the same
(12) (Nov/Dec 2011)
(ii) Calculate NA of silica fiber with its core refractive index (n 1) of 1.48 and cladding
refractive index of 1.46. What should be the new value of 'n 1' in order to change the NA to
0.23 (4) (Nov/Dec 2011)

7. (i) Explain the phenomenon of total internal reflection using Snell's law with figure and
calculations (12) (Nov/Dec 2011)
(ii) Distinguish step-index from graded index fibers (4) (Nov/Dec 2011)

8. (i) Draw and explain the acceptance angle and numerical aperture of an optical fiber and
derive expressions for both. (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) A fiber has a core radius of 25micro meter, core refractive index of 1.48 and relative
refractive index difference (delta) id 0.01. If the operating wavelength of 0.84 micro meter,
find the value of normalized frequency and the number of guided modes. Determine the
number of guided modes if A is reduced to 0.003. (8) (may/june 2012)

9. (i) Draw and explain the refractive index profile and ray transmission in single mode and
multimode step index fibers and graded index fibers. Write the expressions for the numerical
aperture and number of guided modes for a graded index fiber. (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) A Step index fiber has a core diameter of 7 micro meter and core refractive index of
1.49. Estimate the shortest wavelength of light which allow single mode operation when the
refractive index difference for the fiber is 1%. (8) (may/june 2012)

10. (i) Starting from the Maxwell's equations, derive the expression for the wave equation of an
electromagnetic wave propagating through optical fiber (8) (nov/dec 2012)
(ii) Derive the ray theory behind the optical fiber communication by total internal reflection.
State the application of Snell's law in it.(8) (nov/dec 2012)

11. (i) A Si fiber with silica core refractive index of 1.458, v=75 and NA = 0.3 is to be operated
at 820 nm. What should be its core size and cladding refractive index? Calculate the total
number of modes entering this fiber. (8) (nov/dec 2012)

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(ii) Derive expression for the linearly polarized modes in optical fibers and obtain the
equation for V number. (8) (nov/dec 2012)

12. (i) With the help of the block diagram explain the different components of an optical fiber
link. (12) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Compare the optical fiber link with a satellite link. (4) (nov/dec 2013)

13. (i) Explain the differences between meridional and skew rays. (4)
(ii) Bring out the differences between phase and group velocities. (6)
(iii) Deduce an expression for NA of a fiber with the help of the neat figure showing all the
details. (6) (nov/dec 2013)
14.(i) Define the Normalized frequency for an optical fiber and explain its use. (8) (Nov/May
2014)
(ii)Discuss on the transmission of light through graded index fiber. (8) (Nov/May 2014)

15.(i)Explain the features of multimode and single mode step index fiber and compose them. (8)
(Nov/May 2014)
(ii)A single mode step index fiber has a core diameter of 7 micro meter and a core refractive
index of 1.49. Estimate the shortest wavelength of light which allows single mode operation
when the relative refractive index difference for the fiber is 1%
UNIT-2
1. (i) Explain the different factors that cause signal distortion in the single mode fiber with
necessary Expressions. (8) (April/May 2011)
(ii) Explain the scattering and bending losses of an optical fiber with neat diagrams and
expressions. (8) (April/May 2011)

2. With refractive index profiles and other relevant diagrams, explain standard single
mode, dispersion shifted and dispersion flattened fibers. (10) (April/May 2011)

3. Write a brief note on polarization mode dispersion. (8) (April/May 2011)

4. Write notes on:
i. Absorption (5)
ii. Scattering losses. (5)
iii. Bending losses occurring in optical fibers. (6) (April/May 2010)

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EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking ECE/VII semester

5. Explain the design optimization characteristics of single mode fibers in detail. (10)
(April/May 2010)
6. A multimode graded index fiber exhibits total pulse broadening of 0.1µm over a
distance of 15km. Estimate
(i) the maximum possible bandwidth on the link assuming no inter symbol interference.
pulse dispersion/unit length.
(ii) bandwidth-length product for the fiber. (6) (April/May 2010)
7. (i) What do you mean by mean pulse broadening? Explain its effect on information carrying
capacity of a fiber. (12) (Nov/Dec 2011)
(ii) An LED operating at 850nm has a spectral width of 45mm. What is th a pulse spreading
in ns/km due to material dispersion? What is the pulse spreading when laser diode having a
2mm spectral width is used? The material dispersion is 90 ps/nm km. (4)(Nov/Dec 2011)

8. (i) What is meant by 'fiber splicing'? Explain fusion splicing of optical fibers. (8) (Nov/Dec
2011)
(ii) Explain expanded beam fiber connector with a neat schematic. (8) (Nov/Dec 2011)

9. Explain the following with necessary diagram and expressions

(i) Non-linear scattering loss and fiber bend loss. (10) (may/june 2012)
(ii) Material dispersion in optical fiber. (6) (may/june 2012)

10. (i) Explain mechanical splices with neat diagrams (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) Write a brief note on fiber alignment and joint loss (8) (may/june 2012)

11. (i) Describe the linear and nonlinear scattering losses in optical fibres. (8)(nov/dec 2012)
(ii) An LED operating at 850nm has a spectral width of 45mm what is the pulse spreading in
ns/km due to material dispersion? What is the pulse spreading when a laser diode having
2nm spectral width is used? (8) (nov/dec 2012)

12. (i) Draw and explain the various fiber alignment and joint losses. (8) (nov/dec 2012)
(ii) Write short notes on fiber splices and connectors. (8) (nov/dec 2012)

13. (i) Discuss the attenuation encountered in optical fiber communication due to:

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EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking ECE/VII semester

(1) Bending
(2) Scattering
(3) Absorption (12) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Calculate the maximum transmission distance for a fiber link with an attenuation of
0.2dB/km if the power launched in 1mw and the receiver sensitivity is 50micro watt.
Calculate the attenuation for another link with same parameters and the distance of 26km.
(4) (nov/dec 2013)
14. (i) Clearly bring out the differences between intra and inter model dispersion. (12) (nov/dec
2013)
(ii) Find the maximum bit rate for the fiber link of 5km the numerical aperture is 0.25 and
the refractive index is 1.48. (4) (nov/dec 2013)

UNIT-3
1. (i) Explain the basic principle of operations of an injection laser diodes. (8) (April/May
2011)
(ii) Calculate the internal power generated in a LED operations at 1310nm with radiative
and nonradiative recombination time of 40ns and 100ns respectively. Assume the drive
current as 40 mA. (8) (April/May 2011)
2. (i) Explain the different issues and considerations involved in coupling the optical sources to
optical fibers. (8) (April/May 2011)
(ii) Explain the fiber splicing techniques with necessary diagrams. (8) (April/May
2011)
3. Describe with a neat diagram various LED structures and explain their characteristics. (16)
(April/May 2010)
4. (i) Explain how optical power is coupled and launched into the fiber. (8) (April/May 2010)
(ii) With examples describe the possible lensing schemes used to improve fiber coupling
efficiency. (8) (April/May 2010)
5. (i) Compare LED with a laser diode. (4) (Nov/Dec 2011)
(ii) With the help of a neat diagram explain the construction an dworking of a surface
emitting LED. (12) (Nov/Dec 2011)
6. (i) Explain the structure and working of a silicon APD. (12) (Nov/Dec 2011)
(ii) Define S/N ratio of a photo detector. What conditions should be met to achieve a high
SNR? (4) (Nov/Dec 2011)
7. (i) Draw and explain the surface and edge emitting LEDs. (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) Explain any two injection laser structures with neat diagrams. (8) (may/june 2012)
8. (i) Explain the operation of APD with neat diagram. (8) (may/june 2012)

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EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking ECE/VII semester

(ii) A silicon p-i-n photodiode incorporated into an optical receiver has a quantum efiiciency
of 60% when operating wavelength of 0.9 micrometer. The dark current in the device is
3nA and the load resistance is 4 K ohm. the incident optical power is 200 nW and the post
direction bandwidth of the receiver is 5 MHz. Calculate the root mean square (rms) shot
noise and thermal noise currents generated. (may/june 2012)
9. Draw and explain the structure of Fabry-Perot resonator cavity for a diode. Derive laser
diode rate equations. (16) (nov/dec 2012)
10. (i) Draw the structure and electrical fields in the APD and explain its working. (8) (nov/dec
2012)
(ii) What are the three factors that decide the response time of photodiodes? Explain them in
detail with necessary sketches. (8) (nov/dec 2012)
11. (i) Explain the working of n hetero structure of LED.(10) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Define internal quantum efficiency of a LED. Deduce the expression for the same. (6)
(nov/dec 2013)
12. (i) What do you understand by optical wave confinement and current confinement in
LASER diode? Explain with suitable structures. (10) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Briefly explain the different noise sources of a photo detector (6) (nov/dec 2013)
UNIT-4
1. (i) Explain the operation of pin photo detector with necessary diagrams and expressions. (8)
(April/May 2011)
(ii) Describe the different types of noise affecting the performance of a photo detector and
drive an expression for the signal to noise ratio. (8) (April/May 2011)
2. (i) Explain the working of a high impedance preamplifier using FET. Compare its
performance with a high high impedance preamplifier using BJT. (10) (April/May 2011)
(ii) Describe the different error sources affecting the optical receiver. (6) (April/May 2011)
3. (i) Explain the detection principle of avalanche photodiode. Obtain the relationship between
responsivity and quantum efficiency. (10) (April/May 2010)
(ii) A silicon avalanche diode has quantum efficiency of 65% at wavelength of
900nm. Suppose 0.5µW of optical power produces a multiplied photocurrent of 10µA. Find
the multiplication factor and primary photon current of the photodiode. (6) (April/May
2010)
4. (i) Discuss the various noise sources and disturbances that affect the optical pulse detection.
(8)(April/May 2010)
(ii) Explain with neat diagram the design of receiver preamplifiers. (8) (April/May 2010)
5. (i) Explain the fiber optic receiver operation using a simple model and its equivalent circuit.
(8)(Nov/Dec 2011)

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(ii) Explain the operation of a pre-amplifier built using a FET. (8) (Nov/Dec 2011)
6. Explain the measurement techniquer used in the case of (Nov/Dec 2011)
(i) numerical apreture
(ii) refractive index profile
(iii) fiber cut-off wavelength
(iv) fiber diameter
7. (i) Discuss the noise and disturbance affecting the optical detection systems. (6) (may/june
2012)
(ii) Draw and explain the operation of high impedance FET and BJT preamplifiers (10)
(may/june 2012)
8. Explain the following measurements.
(i) Attenuation measurement using cut back techniques. (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) frequency domain measurement of fiber dispersion. (8) (may/june 2012)
9. (i) Draw the front and optical amplifiers and explain. (8) (nov/dec 2012)
(ii) Considering the probability for received logic 0 and 1 signal pulses, derive the
expression for BER and error function. (8) (nov/dec 2012)
10. Write notes on the following
(i) Fiber refractive index profile measurement
(ii) Fiber cut-off wavelength measurement (8) (nov/dec 2012)
11. (i) Explain any two types of preamplifiers used in a receiver. (12) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Define the terms 'Quantum limit' and "Probability of error" with respect to a receiver
with typical values. (4) (nov/dec 2013)
12. (i) Explain the 'Insertion-Loss method' used for attenuation measurements. (8)(nov/dec
2013)
(ii) Explain the technique used in frequency domain intermodal dispersion measurements.
(8) (nov/dec 2013)
UNIT-5
1. (i) Describe the principle of operation and applications of Erbium doped fiber amplifiers
with neat diagrams. (10) (April/May 2011)
(ii) Explain the rise time budget for an optical digital transmission link. (6) (April/May
2011)
2. (i) Explain the SONET frame structures and SONET rings with nezat diagrams. (10)
(April/May 2011)

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EC 2402 Optical communication and Networking ECE/VII semester

(ii) Discuss the role of WDM and solitons in achieving high speed and high bandwidth
optical services. (6) (April/May 2011)
3. Write short notes on:
i. WDM (8)
ii. SONET/SDH network (8) (April/May 2010)
4. (i) Discuss in detail rise-time budget and link power budget used to evaluate the link
performance. (10) (April/May 2010)
(ii) What are the key system requirements and characteristics required in analyzing a point-
to=point link? (6) (April/May 2010)
5. Explain the architecture of SONET and discuss non-linear effects of Network Performance.
(16) (Nov/Dec 2011)
6. Write short notes on (i) Wavelength routed networks. (ii) optical CDMA. (Nov/Dec
2011)
7. Explain the principle of solitons and discuss the soliton parameters with necessary
expressions and diagrams. (16) (may/june 2012)
8. Write short notes with necessary diagrams on:
(i) Optical CDMA (8) (may/june 2012)
(ii) WDM and EDFA system performance. (8) (may/june 2012)
9. Discuss the concepts of media access control protocols in broadcast and select networks.
(16) (nov/dec 2012)
10. (i) Describe the non linear effects on network performance in detail. (8)
(ii) Explain the basic of optical CDMA systems. (8) (nov/dec 2012)
11. (i) What is a 'four-fiber BLSR' ring in a SONET? Explain the reconfiguration of the same
during node or fiber failure. (8) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) What is 'broad cast and select multichip network'? Explain (8) (nov/dec 2013)
12. (i) Explain the following requirements for the design of an optically amplified WDM link:
(1) Link band width
(2) Optical power requirements for specific BER (8) (nov/dec 2013)
(ii) Write notes on solitons. (8) (nov/dec 2013)

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