Summary Ch# 1 Dated: February,27,2020

Name: Beenish Tariq

Registration No. 1421-316128

Program: BSCS

Semester: 8th (B.316) Group-II, Spring 2020

Subject: Optical Fiber Communications

Submitted to: Prof. Dr. M. Saleem Sheikh

Email: drsmsaleem@yahoo.com

Preston University Kohat,

Islamabad Campus

This chapter explains about fiber optics communication systems:

 What are they?

 What they do?
 Advantages of fiber optics communication systems over wired alternatives
 The configuration for point-to-point link and major devices in that link

Historical Perspective:

 Light has been used for communication when human beings first
communicated by using hand signals.
 Later for longer transmission paths, smoke signals were used for
communication.
 In 1880, Photophone was invented. It used sunlight reflected from a thin
voice-modulated mirror to carry conversation.
  A major breakthrough that led to high-capacity optic communications was
the invention of the laser, in 1960. The laser provided a narrowband source
of optic radiation suitable for use as a carrier of information.
 Unguided optic communication systems were shortly developed after the
discovery of laser. Communication over light beams travelling through the
atmosphere was easily accomplished.
 It was not until 1970 that the first low-loss fiber was developed and fiber
optic communications became practical. Guiding of light by a glass fiber and
by a stream of water are evidence of the same phenomenon (Total Internal
Reflection).

Q. why cladding is done in optical fiber?

 An optical fiber has two layers, the inner layer and the outer layer.
 The inner layer is called core.
 The data pass through a core. This core is made of dense of glass or plastic.
 The outer layer of a fiber is called cladding. It is also made of glass or
plastic. Its glass or plastic is less dense.
 Cladding is used in optical fiber for prevent any refraction while passing
data. 
 Cladding is one or more layers of materials of lower refractive index, having
a good intimate contact with a fiber of high refractive index.
 Both materials should have different refractive index.
 Cladding causes light to be confined to the core of the fiber by total internal
reflection at the boundary between two layers.

Features of buffer coating:

1. Coatings are layers that are added directly to the glass during the
manufacturing process.
2. Coatings are very hard which give high strength to cable bundle and safe
from the environment.
3. Coatings are used for protecting and enhancing the life of fibers because it
could be used at any temperature.
Buffer coating materials:

 Acrylate
 Fluoroacrylate
 Silicone
 Polyamide
 Carbons

CRITICAL ANGLE:

 By Snells’s Law, we have

n1sinθc = n2sinθr, here θr = 90 degree
So, above equation become
sinθc = n2/n1 (for n1>n2)
 The angle of incidence producing an angle of refraction equal to 90 degree
is the critical angle, θc.
 The intensity of the emerging beam reduces to zero.

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION:

 Total internal reflection can occur when light is directed from a medium
having a high index of refraction toward one having a lower index of
refraction.
 As the angle of incidence θ1 increases the angle of refraction θ2 increases
until θ2 is 90 degree.
 The dashed line indicates that no energy actually propagates in this
direction.
 For even larger angles of incidence total internal reflection occurs.

The Basic Communications Systems:

 The information travels from the transmitter to the receiver over the
information channel.
 Information channel can be divided into two categories:
1. Guided: point from one place to another
2. Un-Guided: in space
  Some conducting transmission lines:
1. Two-wire line
2. Coaxial cable
3. Rectangular wave guide

Block Diagram of optic fiber communication system:

Types of Modulation:

1. Analog Modulation
 Amplitude Modulation (AM)
 Frequency Modulation (FM)
 Phase Modulation (PM)
2. Digital Modulation
 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
 Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

Choices of light source:

 The major light sources available are the light-emitting diode and the laser
diode.
 The LED is cheaper and requires simpler circuitry. The laser diode provides
an output carrier that has a narrower output spectrum than and LED.
 The LD emission is more nearly of a single frequency, or coherent.
  Long systems with greater information-bearing capacity can be constructed
with carriers having narrower spectra.
 Laser diodes can also be modulated at higher rates than LED’s.

Choice of detectors:

 The designer must choose an appropriate photodetector for converting the

optic signal back into electrical form.
 The small size and low operating power of semiconductor photodiodes
make them the preferred detectors for fiber systems.
 The diode must be highly responsive at the wavelength of the light source.

Power Gain

 Power gain (G) is defined as the output power divided by the input power.
Pout
G = Pin

 Power gain is the ratio of output power to input power.

 Power gain has no units or dimensions.
 GdB is never confused with G, we attach the unit decibel (dB)

Decibel Power Gain

 Decibel power gain is defined as 10 times the common logarithm of the

power gain.
Pout
GdB = dB = 10log10 G = 10log10 ( Pin )

Pout
Where G = Pin

Pout Pout
dB/10 = log10 ( Pin ) OR 10dB /10 = Pin

 From above equation, the output power can be calculated as

Pout = pin 10dB /10

  When the power gain increases by a factor of 2, the decibel power gain
increases by 3dB
 When the gain increases by a factor of 10, the decibel power gain increases
by 10dB

Nature of light:

 Many light phenomenon can be explained if we look light as being an

electromagnetic wave having a very high oscillation frequency and a very
short wavelength.
 The wave nature of light is used to analyze how optic beams travel through
fibers.
 Results of such analyses show the conditions necessary for light to be
guided by a fiber.
 These analyses show the velocities at which the waves travel.
 The wavelength of light beam is given by

λ=v/f OR f=v/λ

where, v is the beam velocity and f is its frequency

 So far we have looked at light as being a wave.

 Sometimes light behaves unlike a wave and instead behaves as though it
were made up of very small particles called photons.
Wp = hf
 Where h = 6.6*10^-34 joule second and is called plank’s constant.
 Wp = energy of single photon.

Advantages of Optical Fiber Cable

Bandwidth
 Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. The amount of information
that can be transmitted per unit time of fiber over other transmission media is its most
significant advantage.

Low Power Loss

  An optical fiber offers low power loss, which allows for longer transmission distances. In
comparison to copper, in a network, the longest recommended copper distance is 100m while
with fiber, it is 2km.

Interference
 Fiber optic cables are immune to electromagnetic interference. It can also be run in electrically
noisy environments without concern as electrical noise will not affect fiber.

Size
 In comparison to copper, a fiber optic cable has nearly 4.5 times as much capacity as the wire
cable has and a cross sectional area that is 30 times less.

Weight
 Fiber optic cables are much thinner and lighter than metal wires. They also occupy less space
with cables of the same information capacity. Lighter weight makes fiber easier to install.

Security
 Optical fibers are difficult to tap. As they do not radiate electromagnetic energy, emissions
cannot be intercepted. As physically tapping the fiber takes great skill to do undetected, fiber is
the most secure medium available for carrying sensitive data.

Flexibility
 An optical fiber has greater tensile strength than copper or steel fibers of the same diameter. It
is flexible, bends easily and resists most corrosive elements that attack copper cable.

Cost
 The raw materials for glass are plentiful, unlike copper. This means glass can be made more
cheaply than copper.

Disadvantages of Optical Fiber Cable

Difficult to Splice
 The optical fibers are difficult to splice, and there are loss of the light in the fiber due to
scattering. They have limited physical arc of cables. If you bend them too much, they will break.

Expensive to Install
  The optical fibers are more expensive to install, and they have to be installed by the specialists.
They are not as robust as the wires. Special test equipment is often required to the optical fiber.

Highly Susceptible
 The fiber optic cable is a small and compact cable, and it is highly susceptible to becoming cut or
damaged during installation or construction activities. The fiber optic cables can provide
tremendous data transmission capabilities. So, when the fiber optic cabling is chosen as the
transmission medium, it is necessary to address restoration, backup and survivability.

Can’t Be Curved
 The transmission on the optical fiber requires repeating at distance intervals. The fibers can be
broken or have transmission losses when wrapped around curves of only a few centimeters
radius.