OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS – THE ORIGINS OF THE STATE OF THE
ART
Abstract
The development and application of Optical
∗ expectation that its advantages would generate
Communication Systems and Optical Fiber
Communication Systems has been rapid. The
first theoretical prediction of practicality
occurred in 1966, system experiments in 1976,
and economically practical system deployments
in 1980. The challenge of lightwave
transmission system development was to make
systems sensible so they can be installed,
operated and maintained by telecommunication
technicians, economically relative to alternative
systems. An additional challenge to the
development of lightwave systems has been the
continued rapid evolution and improvement in
this technology. Do we introduce today’s
technology or do we wait for tomorrow’s ?
Optical Fiber or Lightwave Communication
Systems have offered important advantages
which include large bandwidth and low
transmission loss. These advantages will be
discussed and analyzed. Special considerations
for installation, maintenance and repair of these
systems are presented. In the end the nature
of lightwave communication systems will be
discussed with an example of a past, present
and future effort toward implementation. The
economic feasibility of this technology and the
versatility as an open system architecture will
then be presented with a view toward the
future.
The Nature of Optical
Communications
There are no technical barriers to the
application of Lightwave Communication
Systems ranging from those on customer
premises to undersea links. Telecommunication

This paper was written as a thesis proposal for
a Computer Engineering course requirement.
No new concepts are introduced except to provide
the reader with origins of this technology and the
technical reasons for the benefits.
companies have made a major commitment to
lightwave technology in the past, in the
new products and services. [1] A long history
can be traced of upgrading the communication
capacity of transmission media. As an example
wire pairs which initially carried a single voice
channel would now carry 24 to 48 channels in
the T1 and T1C systems. Coaxial units which
initially carried 660 voice channels in the L1
system later carried 13,200 voice channels in
the L5E system. This tradition of applying
technological advances to already installed
transmission media was certain to continue in
the case of fiber optics. The best way to
ensure the availability of tomorrow’s technology
was to proceed with the application of the
day’s latest technology where it was
economically justified and operationally feasible.
[2].
Lightwave Systems - An Overview
At the outset a word about terminology is
appropriate. The expression “Lightwave
Communication” was once adopted to describe
the use of optical signals as a carrier of
information. [1] This expression is consistent
with other telecommunication media such as
microwaves and millimeter waves. Further
definition is required because its colloquial
usage includes phenomena related to vision.
Lightwave had the advantages of being
accurate, descriptive and more readily
understandable. In telecommunications , glass
fibers that carried lightwave communications
were called “lightguides”.[1]
Lightwave systems possessed several unique
characteristics, and consequently offered unique
opportunities. Their use presented special
considerations not encountered with conventional
copper-based systems. These unique
characteristics were a result of two factors : the
development of low-loss, low-dispersion glass
fibers and the work on semiconductor optical
sources such as lasers and high-radiance light
emitting diodes (LEDs). The most important
characteristics are summarized below in Table 1.
[1] From a telecommunications viewpoint the
system characteristics in the table all have
positive consequences.
Table 1. System Characteristics of Glass Fibers and their Consequences
Glass Fiber System Characteristic
Low Transmission Loss
Large Bandwidth
Small Cable Size and Weight
Immune to Electromagnetic
Interference
Non-Inductive
different from splicing copper wires. The fiber
splicing technique and training are more
involved, and the tools and methods for fiber
are not the same as copper. However, lightguide
cables require fewer splices than copper, so the
total splice time may actually be less. In fact,
the lightguide cable design chosen by the
original Bell System used factory attached
mass splice connectors. [1] This approach
reduced the required time and effort. Finally,
lightguide cables were more expensive than
copper cables and twenty years ago all
communication systems almost always required
optical to electrical interfacing. Because of this,
future applications of lightwave technology
would be used in situations where the
“consequences” listed in Table 1 yielded an
economic benefit to the user , which was greater
than the usual conventional approaches.
A chronology of some notable events in the
advancement of optical and laser technology
follows. [1] [3]
1958 : Invention of the laser by Schawlow and
Townes , also Alec Reeves begins investigating
optical communications at Standard
Telecommunications Laboratories (STL).
1965: Low-Noise Avalanche Photo-Detector was
a solid state device that converted light into a
strong , clear electrical signal.
Important differences exist between
lightwave systems and copper systems. For
example, the splicing of glass fiber is
Glass Fiber System Consequence
Long Repeater Spacings , Reduced
Outside Plant Expense
High Data Rates , Large Message
Capacity
Space Efficiency , Ease of Handling
Low Signal Noise, Can be Used in
Noisy Environments
No Crosstalk , No Hazard , Secure
Communications
1966 : Charles K. Kao ( head of Optical
Communications at STL ) discovers that fiber
loss could be reduced below 20 decibels per
kilometer for inter-office communications.
1970 : The Double Heterostructure
Semiconductor Laser. was a small
manufacturable source of light that operated
continuously at room temperature.
1972 : The Modified Chemical Vapor
Disposition (MCVD) Process produced a glass-
fiber material with a precisely controlled
composition and high purity.
1972 : John Fulenwider proposed a fiber-optical
communication network to carry video and
other signals to homes at the International Wire
and Cable Symposium.
1973 : A Laboratory demonstration of a 50
Mbit/s lightwave link proved the feasibility of
high-capacity lightwave transmission.
1973 : The first low-loss fiber made by the
MCVD process showed the manufacturability of
a high quality lightguide.
1975 : The Single-Fiber Molded Connector
developed was an inexpensive device for
linking fibers with light sources and detectors.
1976 : Atlanta Experiment. A working lightwave
transmission system was installed on the
grounds of Western Electric’s Atlanta Works.
1977 : The First Commercial Traffic carried
over a lightwave system was by Illinois Bell
as a test trial in Chicago.
1979 : The First Telecommunication Service
over a permanent route was executed in
Connecticut by Southern New England
Telephone (SNET).
1980 : The first standard lightwave system, the
FT3 was scheduled to go into service with
Southern Bell Company in Atlanta.
1980: AT&T asked the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to approve the Northeast
Corridor system from Boston to Washington.
The system was designed to carry three
different wavelengths through graded-index
fibers at 45 Mbit/s.
1985: A single-mode fiber had spread across
the country to carry long-distance telephone
signals at slightly over 400 million bits per
second.
1986: AT&T had sent 1.7 billion bits per
second through single-mode fibers originally
installed to carry 400 million bits per second.
1996: Fujitsu, Nippon Telephone & Telegraph
Labs, and Bell Labs all reported sending one
trillion bits per second through single optical
fibers in separate experiments using different
techniques.
Lightwave or Optical Communication
technologies were once considered at infancy,
whereas competing and conventional
technologies were at maturity or approaching it.
As time passed it was predicted the cost of
lightwave systems ( both first cost and life-
cycle cost ) would come down as the cost of
copper based systems would increase . When
improved designs of lightwave systems were
developed , their value had increased. This was
due to several factors. One reason for this was
manufacturing grew to be more efficient as
experience was acquired and as production
volume increased. In the meantime the material
costs of copper rose steadily . By the time this
occurred, lightwave systems were able to offer
new services.
About twenty-five years ago the Bell
System invested $80 billion in the plant
services portion of the network it was building.
Five years later the Bell System spent 25
percent of its construction budget on outside
plant services. Ten years later that pecentage
increased significantly with more emphasis on
maintenance. The FT3 lightwave system
introduced by Southern Bell in Atlanta reduced
the need for regenerators. Increases in repeater
spacing and the higher data rates enabled this
reduction to occur. Also most of the electronic-
optical interfacing was outside the central
office. As a result lightwave systems helped
telecommunication companies avoid high
operating costs and prevented them from
spending on unnecessary construction projects to
replace cables and ducts. [1]
In 1960 the best fibers had an attenuation
of 1 dB/m. This was fine for medical imaging
but too high for communications.[13] After
1970 the progress of optical fiber transmission
had been rapid and abundant. By this time a
fiber loss of 20 dB/m was achieved at the 633
nm helium-neon line.[3] Reductions in fiber
transmission loss and improvements in
reliability was due to improved fabrication
methods and shifts to longer wavelengths where
fibers had lower attenuation. Fiber losses were
in the wavelength region of 0.850 µ m. At the
same time AlGaAs LEDs and injection laser
emissions had been reduced to 1 and 2 dB/km.
In 1978 the lowest losses reported was 0.47
dB/km at 1.2 µ m. [4] Figure 1 on the
following page illustrates the decrease in fiber-
loss at 0.82 µ m over the decade 1968 to 1978.1
During this same time period the reliability of
the AlGaAs injection laser, operating at room
temperature, improved dramatically. See Figure 2
on the following page.2 A projected mean-life
in excess of 106 hours based on temperature-
accelerated aging tests had been reported.
Progress in the field of optical fiber
communications was rapidly advancing. A few
applications of these advances involving optical
fibers, sources, and detectors will be discussed
in detail later. What strongly influences the
economic viability of optical fiber systems are
the transmission properties of optical loss and
pulse spreading dispersion mechanisms. These
dispersion mechanisms are discovered in
commercially produced fiber cables.3 Generally
1
Li, Tingye, “Optical Fiber Communications – The State of
the Art”, I E E E Transactions on Communications, July
1978, vol. com-26, no. 7, pg. 946.
2
Ibid., 947.
3
Note that signal distortion in an optical waveguide is
caused by several dispersive mechanisms : waveguide
dispersion, material dispersion, and profile
dispersion. In addition the signal suffers degradation
from multimode “distortion”, which is often
( erroneously ) referred to as multimode “dispersion.”.
low-loss means long repeater spans and small
dispersion implies large transmission bandwidth
over longer distances. The different areas of
application does depend heavily on these
properties and this in turn will influence the
selection of devices and components for specific
optical system applications. [4].
For example, the data links within a
building could have operated at transmission
rates in the range of 10 Mbits/s over distances
of several hundred meters in 1978. In this case,
fiber losses as high as 100 dB/km and pulse
spreading as much as 100 ns/km could have
been acceptable at the time depending on the
desired applications. LEDs and photodetectors
without internal gain were also suitable as
transmission sources and receiving detectors. [4]
The situation would be different for local or
municipal applications, where distances would
be several kilometers with transmission rates of
1 to 100 Mbits /s. Loss would be less than 10
dB/km and pulse spreading below a few
ns/km. LEDs and PIN photodiodes may have
been operational acceptable at a few Mbits/s.
Lasers and avalanche photodiodes have internal
gain, but should have been used for the higher
speed systems.[4] Further experimentation was
still being conducted in this area.
The next generation of fiber systems
surfaced in the mid-1980’s. These systems used
InGaAsP lasers, which emitted at 1.3
micrometers. Fiber attenuation reached 0.5 dB/
km and pulse dispersion was lower than 850
nm. [3]
Most glass materials have intrinsic losses
called Rayleigh scattering losses.4 Absorption 5
losses occur when there is a loss of signal
energy during data transmission. Still other
types of losses may be acquired by these
materials during the cable manufacturing
process or from using the fiber cable in the
field.
4
In fiber optics light can be scattered by refractive index
fluctuations that are small with respect to the
wavelength .
5
Absorption also occurs in an optical waveguide when
there is attenuation resulting from the conversion of
optical power into heat.
Figure 1. Progress in Reduction of Transmission Loss In Optical Fibers. Cross
Represents Lowest Value Achieved.

Figure 2. Progress in Improvement of Reliability of AlGaAs Injection Lasers.

1000 O 1000

LOSS AT λ = 0.82µ m ( db / km )
FIBER LOSS
( λ = 0.82 µ m )
100 O 100

O 20

10

O 4
2.2
O 1.6
1 O
0.47 x ( λ = 1.2 µ m )

CROSS
0.1
’68 ’70 ’72 ’74 ’76 ’78 ’80 ‘82
YEAR

Represents Lowest Value Achieved.

1M “AlGaAs SEMICONDUCTOR LASER 1M

ROOM TEMPERATURE
CW OPERATION ”
100k
100k
( HOURS )

10k

2k
MEAN LIFETIME

1k

100

10

2
1

’70 ’71 ’72 ’73 ’74 ’75 ’76 ’77 ‘78

YEAR
Macroscopic imperfections in the bulk,
irregularities at the core cladding interface,
insufficient cladding thickness, and microbends
can add different types of losses and should be
avoided as much as possible.[4]
Overall Optical Fiber Communications
emerged as a major innovation in
telecommunications. Its feasibility was
demonstrated first in field experiments then in
trials. The impact of this technology upon the
communications field was going to depend on
the economic practicality of fiber systems when
compared to present and alternative systems in
various applications.
The Use of Feedback to Control Noise
Noise is inherent in any communication
system, likewise noise is inherent in an Optical
Communication System. Poisson-distributed
noise is typical of that found in a laser
communication system. 6 Reducing this noise is
of paramount importance to ensure reliable and
dependable transmission at required energy
levels. Since communication systems can be
classified as either one-way or two-way, we
can assume a two-way communication system
to analyze how feedback controls noise. As
shown in Figure 3, information may be
transmitted from A to B and from B to A. In
6
There are other noise distributions, but the Poisson
Distribution best fits the model for this discussion.
At the beginning of transmission Sf(t) is set to
be V , and the pulse beam is simply amplitude
CLOCK
T
∆ T= N A B
BASEBAND
SIGNAL s(t) LASER
TRANSMITTER
Sf (t)
TRANSCEIVER 1
Figure 3. Block Diagram of Optical Feedback Communication System
( With Poisson Distribution of Noise )
this model feedback can be incorporated to
improve performance. The block diagram of an
Optical Feedback Communication System can
be shown below. [5] See Figure 3. 7
Transceiver 1 transmits information over a
noisy optical forward channel to Transceiver 2,
and Transceiver 2 transmits back to transceiver
1 over a noiseless feedback channel. The
physical nature of the feedback channel is of
no consequence. That is , the system can be
designed using other materials other than optical
fibers. 8
S(t) is the baseband signal that is
transmitted. It is a binary sequence with an
interval T and two discrete voltage levels ( ±
V ). The clock signal then divides the interval
T into N sub-intervals, each of duration
∆ T = T / N where N ≥ 2 .
During each subinterval, the laser transmitter
sends light pulses of duration ∆ T , and the
peak power P can be determined as follows :
P = PP ( PP > 0 ) if S(t) = V and Sf (t) =V
P = 0 if S(t) = -V or Sf(t) = -V
7
Kazovsky , Leonid G. , “On Noise Immunity of
Feedback Communications Systems”., I.E.E.E.
Transactions on Communications, October , 1980, vol.,
com-28, no.10, pg. 1844.
8
The following derivation is taken from Kazovsky’s
article to prove mathematically how noise can be
minimized in an optical communication system just
as it can in a typical feedback control system.
modulated by the baseband signal. Transmitter
light pulses are then sent into a communication
BACKGROUND NOISE
OUTPUT
COMMUNICATION OPTICAL RECEIVER
DETECTOR
CHANNEL
( Forward Channel )
FEEDBACK , S f (t)
FEEDBACK
TRANSMITTER
TRANSCEIVER 2
channel where background noise of power PB is
added. The optical detector converts the light
signal in the output of the communication
channel into a sequence of electrons ( electrical
current ). It can then be assumed that the
number of photoelectrons emitted from the
detector is Poisson-distributed :
P(K,δ )=
[ ( P + PB) δ ⁄ hν] K
exp { − ( P +PB) δ ⁄ hν }
K! ( Eq. 1)
where : P ( K , δ ) is the probability that
K photoelectrons will be emitted during time δ
;
h = Planck’s constant ;
ν = the laser frequency ; and
P and PB are powers of laser transmitter and
background. Information about the transmitted
signal is contained in time intervals between
adjacent electrons. The receiver extracts the
information in this manner. Signal space is
divided into acceptance regions GK ( K = 0,1 )
and an intermediate region B. If the signal lies
in the region GK, the decision is accepted and
Sf (t) was transmitted. The decision is then
transferred to the output of Transceiver 2 and
Transceiver 1 is notified that a decision has
been made and transmission may be stopped. To
do this, the receiver makes the feedback
transmitter send S f (t) = -V. But if the signal
lies in region B, no final decision is made and
the transmitter is requested to send additional
information. To do that , the receiver makes the
feedback transmitter send S f (t) = V. Further it
is proven that :
PP ≥ e PB ( Eq. 2 )
Pe
where Pe is the required error probability. The
required error of the system design is :
Pe = ½ exp [ - PPT ] ( Eq. 3 )
hν
PPT is not equal to the average transmitter
signal energy per bit because the transmitter
output is changed by the feedback signal during
transmission.
Average transmitter energy per bit can be
calculated by the equation :
ET = PPT • 1 - exp ( − PPT / hν ) ( Eq 4)
N 1 - exp ( − PPT / Nhν )
As N → ∞ we have from above :
ET =
PPT (1−exp[−PPT/hν])• Lim[N(1−exp[−PPT/Nhν ])] -1
. N→ ∞
= hν (1 − exp [−PPT/hν ]) ( Eq 5)
Substituting the value of PPT/hν derived from
( Eq 4) into ( Eq 5) yields :
ET = hν ( 1 – 2Pe ) ( Eq. 6)
The dependence of normalized average
transmitter energy per bit can be expressed by:
the expression below.
EN = ET / hν ( Eq. 7)
The required error probability can be seen in
Figure 4 on the following page.[5] For
comparison, the figure also shows a similar plot
for a typical optical communication system
( without feedback ). This is computed using the
equation :
ET = hν • ln. 1 / 2Pe (Eq. 8)
Feedback allows an arbitrarily low error
probability to be obtained while retaining a
finite value of transmitter average energy. This
value depends solely on the communication
channel and its intrinsic noise. As shown in
Figure 4 the error probability becomes greater
without the use of feedback, and with the use
of feedback more energy is proportionally
saved. This does not mean that an arbitrarily
low error probability at constant energy-to-noise
ratio per bit can only be achieved with
feedback. The same condition can be
accomplished without feedback by other means
if the bit rate is less than the channel capacity.
EN = ET (dB)
hν POISSON DISTRIBUTED NOISE

+20

Systems Without Feedback Energy Saving

+10

Feedback Systems
0

-10

-20
10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10 -5 10 -6 10-7 10-8 Pe
 Figure 4. Dependence of Normalized Average Transmitter Energy Per Bit.
ET / hν on the Required Error Probability - the Case of Poisson Noise.
m (t)
( me s s age ) TRANSMITTER
Fundamental Limitations of Optical
Communication Systems
LOCATION A
There are fundamental limitations on the
ability to communicate over optical fibers as
well as optical free space channels. There are
receiver sensitivity limitations caused by
background light, dark current, post detection
amplifier noise and transmitter imperfections.
These limitations should be considered in the
design of any optical communication system.
Figure 5 below represents a general optical
communications link. [6]
The purpose of this link is to transfer
information orginating at location A to location
B. To better analyze the system operation, the
system can be reduced to the
for receiver sensitivity can be obtained
analytically , these limits are not physically
realized in actual receivers.[6]
There are other factors which affect the
received signal level required to obtain a
desired performance. Depending onFigure 5. A Typical systems
the system
requirements there are filtering and
EN =
( CHANNEL ) RECEIVER
following system components; the optical
transmitter, the optical channel, the optical
LOCATION B
receiver , and the interconnections between these
parts. Note that there are limitations at optical
frequencies that are negligible at radio
frequencies and vice versa. [6]
Receiver sensitivity may be identified as
the minimum optical receiver power required to
achieve a given error between the original
message and the estimate. The error may be
specified in terms of error probability for
digital systems or mean square error for analog
systems. Even though values
m( t )
reconstruction methods that can improve signal
( m e s s a g eFor a
quality and provide good workarounds.
e s t i m which
price workarounds can be designed ate)
eliminate these limitations.
One limitation that surfaces in practical
Optical is
Link
called “dark current” At room
temperature receiver sensitivity can be limited
by the presence of dark current.9 This can
occur depending upon the construction or
composition of the detector material . The noise
of electronic amplifiers when used as optical
detectors is another limitation of optical
communication systems. [6]
One well-known and commonly used
optical light source discussed earlier is the
LED. This device is used for short distances
and is essentially a broadband noise source. A
gallium arsenide component that operates at
room temperature might have a center
wavelength of 0.85 µ m and a bandwidth of 4
percent of its center frequency ( 1013 Hz of
bandwidth ). This source emits light in a very
large number of independent spatial modes ,
with only a small amount of power per mode (
less than 1µ W ). The noise of the LED output
imposes a fundamental limitation on the
performance of an optical link when this device
is used as a transmitter. [6] If the output field
of a noise-filled bandlimited source at a fixed
point is sampled, the result can be represented
as follows : [6]
vsample (t) = Re { ( A + jB ) exp (j 2π f t )} (Eq - 9)
where f is the nominal source frequency, t is
the sampling time and A and B are
independent Gaussian random variables with
zero-means and identical variances. [6]
Another important limitation associated with
optical transmitters is the maximum modulation
rate. These modulation rates depend on the
device used and its circuitry.[6]
Not all of the potential limitations of fiber
optical systems have been discussed. But an
effort has been made to discuss a few
important factors which does control the desired
performance of optical communication systems.
Design criteria should be taken into account,
along with limitations that go beyond the scope
of this paper before a realistic optical
communication system can be proposed.
9
In fiber optics dark current occurs under specific
biasing conditions and flows in a photosensitive
detector when there is no incident radiation.
Past, Present, and Future Planning
of Applications
Past Endeavors by Western Electric
Toward Implementation
Twenty years ago there was an ambitious
effort by one of the nation’s largest
manufacturers of telecommunications equipment.
Western Electric announced plans to construct a
full-scale manufacturing facility for lightguide
cable and related components. The facility
occupied 50,000 square feet at the Atlanta
Works and represented an investment of over
$10 million .[1]
The implementation of this commitment by
Western Electric was a complex activity and
required planning and coordination with many
other organizations within the Western Electric
structure. With this goal in mind, new
departments were created and new procedures
and methods were established.
One organization set up to implement this
technology was the Bell Sales Lightwave
Engineering Task Force. This organization
consisted of representatives from Western
Electric’s seven Bell regions , ( Eastern ,
Northeastern , Southern , Central , Mountain-
Northwestern, Pacific and Southwestern ). The
Task Force provided centralized control of
lightwave system implementation through a core
of specialized engineers. The goal of this Task
Force was to assist with the formation of
lightguide engineering groups in all regions.[7]
The vision of twenty years ago has progressed
into the current optical fiber system known
today.
Optical Systems in Submarine
Communications
Research efforts are underway by the
Department of Defense to develop a Blue /
Green transmission window in the ocean and
devise a strategic laser communication system
operating between an orbiting satellite and a
submerged submarine. Use of Very Low
Frequency (VLF) radio to communicate with
submarines imposes operational restrictions on
speed, depth and course. In reality, enemy
surveillance systems do not pose any threat to
the survival of U.S. submarines because of the
presence of an antenna at or near the surface.
However, there should be a device in place
that reduces anything observable as much as
possible. The ideal communication system
would be one that permits the submarine to
receive messages at any depth or speed, while
pursuing any course. [8]
An antenna should not extend beyond the
normal streamlined envelope of the submarine.
The submarine communication system should
be able to deliver the required messages in the
assigned timeframe. To accomplish these aims,
a laser communication approach was selected as
an alternative to radio frequency (Rf)
communication.
Blue light, which is about 625 Thz,
penetrates water better than any other
frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum.
This light has and emits the concentration of
power density on the ocean surface that will
enable information to be detected by a receiver
at any depth. The system devised was a light
source in space projecting pulsed optical power
onto the crest of the ocean. The size of the
ocean surface varied from ten to thousands of
kilometers in diameter. To reach the
submerged receiver, the light was required to
travel through a transmission channel
consisting of the atmosphere. The detector,
which has a large area and bandpass filter,
can be mounted on top of the submarine. The
acceptance or field of view in turn should be
large enough to capture most of the energy in
the down dwelling beam.[8]
The operational requirements for this
system consisted of sending a message of a
specified length to every receiver in a
specified area within a specified timeframe.
This is accomplished by positioning the spot
of light at successively new positions until the
entire area has been covered. Desired system
performance and quality can be improved for
a given channel and characteristic receiver by
making balanced corrections. Reducing the spot
size for instance, increases the depth that can
be reached. However this also increases the
length of time required to cover an ocean area
in question. The depth reached can be
increased if the energy per pulse is increased,
and the time required to cover the entire area
can be reduced if the spot size is increased.[8]
Trade-offs and compromises would be
necessary before the desired performance could
be achieved.
The transmission channel used differs from
Rf or microwave channels since there are
variations in signal transmission over short
periods of time and over short distances. There
will always be some channel conditions where
reception will not be clear or established
because the desired depth cannot be reached.
In these cases, either the system will be
unavailable or further depth restrictions must
be placed on the submarines.[8]
Laser Communication Technology in New
York City’s Transit System
The New York City Transit Authority has
embarked upon a very ambitious venture. Mass
transportation planners, electrical engineers and
specialists in the field of lasers and optical
communications have come together to
propose a complete subway system
modernization plan. This plan includes creating
new and larger subway tunnels, replacing the
present fleet of subway cars with a new
generation of “smart cars” and upgrading the
present maintenance techniques with computers,
lasers and optical technology. This 21st century
subway system will use the latest in computer
and laser technology. [9]
Experimentation and testing of at least 600
new subway cars is presently underway. These
new subway cars will use computer
communications to improve communications
between the train operator and the transit
command center. In maintaining, the 1,320
miles of subway track, the Transit Authority
plans on using a vehicle called the geometry
train. This geometry train is really a mobile
computer and laser communications laboratory.
On the undercarriage of the first car will be
five fixed high power lasers. These devices
will scan the rails for proper alignment. The
technicians riding in the geometry train will
analyze data sent to the computers by the five
high powered lasers. Infrared technology will
also be used to record potential debris on the
tracks that can cause fires. The new generation
of “smart” cars will have computer automated
navigation and guidance systems resulting from
a laser guided device that can be part of the
undercarriage of each car. Tracking information
for each train will be forwarded to a
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)
command center. Operational testing of this
device is currently underway for all types of
weather conditions that a New York City
subway car might encounter.
Implementation of this technology is still
far in the future. However , when completed
the transit command center will know the
location of each subway train in the system.
Distances between trains will be better
monitored and track space will not be wasted.
The time estimates between trains will be
more accurate, improving service and safety
concerns as well.
Economic Feasibility of
Telecommunications
Cost Analysis of an Optical Fiber System
Critical to the implementation of any
Optical Communication System is the economic
feasibility involved. The desired optical fiber
transmission systems to be developed should
take into account optical fiber costs,
marketability and demand estimates.
The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
(NTT) public utility conducted a study in the
late 1970’s and early 1980’s where the process
of introducing optical fiber transmission systems
was considered feasible. In the first step,
approximately 32 Mbit /s and 100 Mbit /s digital
transmission systems were employed for short
and medium-haul trunks with heavy traffic
using graded index optical fibers. A large
capacity long-haul digital transmission system ,
such as a 400 Mbit /s system using graded
index or single-mode optical fiber was
introduced next. The cable costs where fiber
systems become economical depend mostly
upon the application area. For short and
medium-haul systems, $.40 cents per meter per
core was required, but $2 per meter per core
was adequate sufficient for large capacity,
long-haul systems. For a short-haul system
operating at approximately 1.5 Mbits /s or 6
Mbits /s , the advantages of its introduction
greatly depended on optical fiber costs that
should have been less than 20 cents per meter
per core. [10]
Coaxial digital systems were predicted to
display a remarkable growth after a turning
point in 1982. This is based on NTT’s plan to
completely digitize its transmission networks.
While there were still expected demands for
analog frequency division multiplexing (FDM)
transmission systems, there would also be a
desire to replace these systems with optical
fiber systems. These replacements could have
only been realized slowly due to the poor
linearity and low signal-to-noise ratio of optical
sources and detectors. [10]
Coaxial cables are destined to still be
installed on most routes with a mix of analog
and digital transmission systems. In these areas
optical fiber systems will not be used until the
traffic capacity on existing coaxial pairs is
overloaded.
Cost Effectiveness with Lightwave
Communication Systems
Corporate telecommunication costs on the
average amount to one percent of net sales for
a large corporation. The services provided are
balanced against cost, and therefore is of
paramount importance when making business
decisions regarding corporate
telecommunications. When properly applied
formulas are used ; planning for
telecommunications costs can yield meaningful
operating cost reductions. Since businesses are
adapting more to an information-based, internet-
oriented society, telecommunications costs are
becoming more important for increasing
productivity. The selection criteria that a
company uses to devise a communications
network should include cost savings, better
control of a corporate communications budget,
transmission of high-speed data services and
teleconferencing-transportation trade-offs.[11]
A high-capacity lightwave access line was
installed as part of Lockheed Martin’s ( formerly
Martin Marietta ) corporate network in
September 1980. [10] The significance of this 6-
mile aerial, repeaterless link was its ability to
control over 20 computer augmented design and
manufacturing (CADAM) , interactive graphic
terminals from the centralized computer
database facility in Orlando, Florida. In addition
to this computer data transmission function, the
access line transmitted multiplexed voice and
low-speed data traffic with a capacity of 112
Bell-compatible 1.544 Mbit /s circuits ( four
times the initial capacity of the system ). This
is an early application of wavelength division
multiplexing – an optical frequency division
multiplexing scheme superimposed on the
electronic Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
system. The access line was part of a 360%
productivity improvement schedule over
traditional product design and drawing methods
at Martin Marietta. [11]
In Martin Marietta’s case, the new access
lines and local distribution provided more cost-
effective utilization of the corporate network.
This telecommunication planning has produced
inflationary control measures and productivity
improvements.
Conclusion
A sincere attempt has been made to present
the nature, some origins of the state-of-the-art,
and the early practical influences Optical
Communications has made. Since the spectrum
of Optical Communications is broad, several
views of this technology have been discussed.
Concentrating on telecommunications , the term
Lightwave System is defined.
Lightwave systems have an enormous
information-carrying capability that encourages a
wide variety of new Information Age services,
such as voice and video teleconferencing ,
electronic messaging, shopping, banking and
financial services. The medical and dental
communities, the manufacturing industry, science
and the military have all benefited greatly
from this technology. While current transmission
systems handle a variety of services, lightwave
improves the quality of the transmitted
information or material, due to fiber’s immunity
to electrical interference and cross-talk.
Currently a new generation of single-mode
systems are finding applications in
telecommunications. They operate at 1.55 µ m
where fiber loss is 0.2 to 0.3 dB/ km, allowing
even greater repeater spacings. [13] The 1995
introduction of wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM) where many wavelengths of laser light
travel simultaneously down a single optical
fiber, increased the capacity of fiber by four-
fold. This single event enabled the internet to
spread worldwide dramatically.[12]
Since the early 1970’s the research
departments of numerous telecommunication
companies and universities have contributed to
the advancement and progress of Optical
Communications and Fiber Optics. Standard
Telecommunication Laboratories (STL), Bell
Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs) , the British
Post Office Research Laboratory, General
Telephone and Electronics (GTE), Lucent
Technologies, AT&T and Georgia Institute of
Technology are a few of the larger companies
that have pioneered different aspects of the
fiber optics field. Today there are many
companies and sub-divisions that market various
high performance optical components and
related products. Their customers consist of
industry, government, military, academia , other
countries, and the public.
The impact lightwave and optical
communication technology has had can be
compared to that which electronics has had on
the manufacture of telecommunications
equipment and to that which large scale
integration (LSI) has had on electronics. This
means the functionality of a product will
increase, thereby making it possible to produce
new systems having the same capabilities as
old systems with less labor, floor space and
capital investment. This technology also
demonstrates a versatility as an open system
architecture, which is valuable in the
marketplace. In the end it will be the needs of
leading- edge businesses which will create the
spawning grounds for the more advanced uses
of lightwave technology and optical
communications.