SEMINAR REPORT ON

FIBER OPTICS BASED COMPUTER NETWORK

INTRODUCTION
In recent years it has become apparent that fiber-optics are steadily replacing copper wire as an appropriate means of communication signal transmission. They span the long distances between local phone systems as well as providing the backbone for many network systems. Other system users include cable television services, university campuses, office buildings, industrial plants, and electric utility companies. A fiber-optic system is similar to the copper wire system that fiber-optics is replacing. The difference is that fiber-optics use light pulses to transmit information down fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses to transmit information down copper lines. Looking at the components in a fiber-optic chain will give a better understanding of how the system works in conjunction with wire based systems.

FIRST A BIT HISTORY

In 1870, John Tyndall demonstrated that light follows the curve of a stream of water pouring from a container, it was this simple principle that led to the study and development of applications for this phenomenon. John Logie Baird patented a method of transmitting light in a glass rod for use in an early colour TV, but the optical losses inherent in the materials at the time made it impractical to use. In the 1950's more research and development into the transmission of visible images through optical fibres led to some success in the medical world, as they began using them in remote illumination and viewing instruments. In 1966 Charles Kao and George Hockham proposed the transmission of information over glass fibre, and they also realised that to make it a practical proposition, much lower losses in the cables were essential. This was the driving force behind the developments to improve the optical losses in fibre manufacturing, and today optical losses are significantly lower than the original target set out by Charles Kao and George Hockha

WHAT IS OPTICAL FIBER

A technology that uses glass (or plastic) threads (fibers) to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves. An optical fiber (or fibre) is a glass or plastic fiber designed to guide light along its length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with such optical fibers. Optical fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communication, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of wired and wireless communications. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals propagate along them with less loss, and they are immune to electromagnetic interference. Optical fibers are also used to form sensors, and in a variety of other applications. In fibers with large core diameter, the confinement is based on total internal reflection. In smaller core diameter fibers, (widely used for most communication links longer than 200 meters) the fiber acts as a waveguide. There are many different designs of optical fibers, including graded-index optical fibers, step-index optical fibers which are characteristics of an optical fiber and different types of optical fiber as singlemode fibers (SMF) in which there are three kinds of fibers, non-dispersion shifted fibres (NDSF), nonzero dispersion-shifted fibers (NZDSF) and dispersion-shifted fibers (DSF), multimode fibers (MMF), birefringent polarization-maintaining fibers (PMF) and more recently

photonic crystal fibers (PCF), with the design and the wavelength of the light propagating in the fiber dictating whether or not it will be multi-mode optical fiber or single-mode optical fiber. Because of
the mechanical properties of the more common glass optical fibers, special methods of splicing fibers and of connecting them to other equipment are needed. Manufacture of optical fibers is based on partially melting a chemically doped preform and pulling the flowing material on a draw tower. Fibers are built into different kinds of cables depending on how they will be used.

ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS

Because of the Low loss, high bandwidth properties of fiber cable they can be used over greater distances than copper cables, in data networks this can be as much as 2km without the use of repeaters. Their light weight and small size also make them ideal for applications where running copper cables would be impractical, and by using multiplexors one fibre could replace hundreds of copper cables. This is pretty impressive for a tiny glass filament, but the real benefits in the data industry are its immunity to Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI), and the fact that glass is not an electrical conductor. Because fibre is nonconductive, it can be used where electrical isolation is needed, for instance between buildings where copper cables would require cross bonding to eliminate differences in earth potentials. Fibres also pose no threat in dangerous environments such as chemical plants where a spark could trigger an explosion. Last but not least is the security aspect, it is very, very difficult to tap into a fibre cable to read the data signals. fiber optic systems have many attractive features that are superior to electrical systems. These include improved system performance, immunity to electrical noise, signal security, and improved safety and electrical isolation.

Fiber optic transmission systems - a fiber optic transmitter and receiver, connected by fiber optic cable offer a wide range of benefits not offered by traditional copper wire or coaxial cable. These include: The ability to carry much more information and deliver it with greater fidelity than either copper wire or coaxial cable. Fiber optic cable can support much higher data rates, and at greater distances, than coaxial cable, making it ideal for transmission of serial digital data. The fiber is totally immune to virtually all kinds of interference, including lightning, and will not conduct electricity. It can therefore come in direct contact with high voltage electrical equipment and power lines. It will also not create ground loops of any kind. As the basic fiber is made of glass, it will not corrode and is unaffected by most chemicals. It can be buried directly in most kinds of soil or exposed to most corrosive atmospheres in chemical plants without significant concern. Since the only carrier in the fiber is light, there is no possibility of a spark from a broken fiber. Even in the most explosive of atmospheres, there is no fire hazard, and no danger of electrical shock to personnel repairing broken fibers.

Fiber optic cables are virtually unaffected by outdoor atmospheric conditions, allowing them to be lashed directly to telephone poles or existing electrical cables without concern for extraneous signal pickup. A fiber optic cable, even one that contains many fibers, is usually much smaller and lighter in weight than a wire or coaxial cable with similar information carrying capacity. It is easier to handle and install, and uses less duct space. (It can frequently be installed without ducts.) Fiber optic cable is ideal for secure communications systems because it is very difficult to tap but very easy to monitor. In addition, there is absolutely no electrical radiation from a fiber. Fiber optics is a particularly popular technology for local-area networks. In addition, telephone companies are steadily replacing traditional telephone lines with fiber optic cables. In the future, almost all communications will employ fiber optics.

DISADVANTAGES
Because of the relative newness of the technology, fiber optic components are expensive. Fiber optic transmitters and receivers are still relatively expensive compared to electrical interfaces. The lack of standardization in the industry has also limited the acceptance of fiber optics. Many industries are more comfortable with the use of electrical systems and are reluctant to switch to fiber optics. However, industry researchers are eliminating these disadvantages. Standards committees are addressing fiber optic part and test standardization. The cost to install fiber optic systems is falling because of an increase in the use of fiber optic technology. Published articles, conferences, and lectures on fiber optics have begun to educate managers and technicians. As the technology matures, the use of fiber optics will increase because of its many advantages over electrical systems.

HOW FIBER WORKS

Fiber optic technology is based on the use of light energy to transmit data. Basically, the encoded data is converted from electrical signals to optical light pulses and then transmitted through the medium to its destination, where it is then converted back. From this, we can see that there are basically three main elements in any fiber optic data link: a transmitter, an optical cable (the transmission medium), and a receiver. The transmitter handles the conversion from electrical to light energy, the optical cable carries the light waves, and the receiver handles the conversion from light pulses back to the original electrical format. After translating the electrical signals, the transmitter uses either a light emitting diode (LED) or an injection laser diode (ILD) to generate the light pulses. Using a lens, this light energy is then sent down the fiber optic cable. The principle that makes this possible is referred to as total internal reflection. According to John Huber in an article in R&D Magazine, this principle of total internal reflection states that when the angle of incidence exceeds a critical value, light cannot get out of the glass; instead, the light bounces back in (Huber 115). This happens when two materials with different refractive indices

cause the angle of incidence to be too large for refraction (bending) of light to take place. Since the light cannot be bent and exit the material, this means that 100 percent is reflected back. Thus, when a fiber optic cable, which consists of a glass or plastic core surrounded by a cladding with a lower refractive index, receives a light ray, the light ray is confined and travels down the core to the receiving end. Simply put, the difference in the materials used for the core and the cladding make an extremely reflective surface at the point where they interface, which makes the principle of total internal reflection possible. This is the fundamental concept behind all fiber optic transmissions. In addition to the core and the cladding, a fiber optic cable also has an outer jacket that protects it from abrasion and other forces. Most high end cabling will also have a protective buffer and strength material between the cladding and the outer jacket. These outer layers are added to help protect the fragile core and cladding from damage. There are two common types of cabling used for most fiber optic applications: single-mode and multi-mode. Single-mode fiber is generally used for long distance communications. It has a narrower core diameter, generally 8-10 microns, with a 125-micron cladding. Single-mode optical fiber only allows one mode of light to travel down its core. On the other hand, multimode fiber generally has a 62.5-micron core diameter, with a 125-micron cladding. In order to receive the signal and then convert it back to its original format, a fiber optic receiver uses a phototransistor to convert the light energy into an electrical current. This current is then sent into an amplifier in order to boost the electrical signal back to its original level, and then a digitizer circuit is used to convert the signal into the appropriate digital voltage levels to be used by the external logic. At this point, the electronic signal is ready to be received by the communications device, whether it is a switch, router, computer, etc.

APPLICATION IN DIFFERENT FIELDS

Optical fiber communication
Optical fiber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fiber with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters. Additionally, the light signals propagating in the fiber can be modulated at rates as high as 40 Gb/s and each fiber can carry many independent channels, each by a different wavelength of light (wavelength-division-multiplex WDM). In total, a single fiber-optic cable can carry data at rates as high as 14.4 Pb/s (circa 14 million Gb/s). Over short distances, such as networking within a building, fiber saves space in cable ducts because a single fiber can carry much more data than a single electrical cable. Fiber is also immune to electrical interference, which prevents crosstalk between signals in different cables and pickup of environmental noise. Also, wiretapping is more difficult compared to electrical connections, and there are concentric dual core fibers that are said to be tap-proof. Because they are non-electrical, fiber cables can bridge very high electrical potential differences and can be used in environments where explosive fumes are present, without danger of ignition. Although fibers can be made out of transparent plastic, glass, or a combination of the two, the fibers used in long-distance telecommunications applications are always glass, because of the lower optical attenuation. Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are used in communications, with multi-mode fiber

used mostly for short distances (up to 500 m), and single-mode fiber used for longer distance links. Because of the tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between single-mode fibers (core diameter about 10 micrometers), single-mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other components are generally more expensive than multi-mode components. Optical fibers can be used as sensors to measure strain, temperature, pressure and other parameters. The small size and the fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote location gives the fiber optic sensor advantages to conventional electrical sensor in certain applications. Optical fibers are used as hydrophones for seismic or SONAR applications. Hydrophone systems with more than 100 sensors per fiber cable have been developed. Hydrophone sensor systems are used by the oil industry as well as a few countries' navies. Both bottom mounted hydrophone arrays and towed streamer systems are in use. The German company Sennheiser developed a microphone working with a laser and optical fibers. Optical fiber sensors for temperature and pressure have been developed for downhole measurement in oil wells. The fiber optic sensor is well suited for this environment as it is functioning at temperatures too high for semiconductor sensors (Distributed Temperature Sensing). Another use of the optical fiber as a sensor is the optical gyroscope which is in use in the Boeing 767 and in some car models (for navigation purposes) and the use in Hydrogen microsensors. Fiber-optic sensors have been developed to measure co-located temperature and strain simultaneously with very high accuracy. This is particularly useful to acquire information from small complex structures. A fiber-optic Christmas Tree Optical fiber is also used in imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used, sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called an endoscope, which is used to view objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical procedures (endoscopy). Industrial endoscopes are used for inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors. An optical fiber doped with certain rare-earth elements such as erbium can be used as the gain medium of a laser or optical amplifier. Rare-earth doped optical fibers can be used to provide signal amplification by splicing a short section of doped fiber into a regular (undoped) optical fiber line. The doped fiber is optically pumped with a second laser wavelength that is coupled into the line in addition to the signal wave. Both wavelengths of light are transmitted through the doped fiber, which transfers energy from the second pump wavelength to the signal wave. The process that causes the amplification is stimulated emission. Optical fibers doped with a wavelength shifter are used to collect scintillation light in physics experiments.

Optical fiber can be used to supply a low level of power (around one watt) to electronics situated in a difficult electrical environment. Examples of this are electronics in high-powered antenna elements and measurement devices used in high voltage transmission equipment.

TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBER

Understanding the characteristics of different fiber types aides in understanding the applications for which they are used. Operating a fiber optic system properly relies on knowing what type of fiber is being used and why. There are two basic types of fiber: multimode fiber and single-mode fiber. Multimode fiber is best designed for short transmission distances, and is suited for use in LAN systems and video surveillance. Single-mode fiber is best designed for longer transmission distances, making it suitable for long-distance telephony and multichannel television broadcast systems. Multimode Fiber Multimode fiber, the first to be manufactured and commercialized, simply refers to the fact that numerous modes or light rays are carried simultaneously through the waveguide. Modes result from the fact that light will only propagate in the fiber core at discrete angles within the cone of acceptance. This fiber type has a much larger core diameter, compared to single-mode fiber, allowing for the larger number of modes, and multimode fiber is easier to couple than single-mode optical fiber. Multimode fiber may be categorized as step-index or graded-index fiber. Multimode Step-index Fiber The principle of total internal reflection applies to multimode step-index fiber. Because the cores index of refraction is higher than the claddings index of refraction, the light that enters at less than the critical angle is guided along the fiber. Three different lightwaves travel down the fiber. One mode travels straight down the center of the core. A second mode travels at a steep angle and bounces back and forth by total internal reflection. The third mode exceeds the critical angle and refracts into the cladding. Intuitively, it can be seen that the second mode travels a longer distance than the first mode, causing the two modes to arrive at separate times. This disparity between arrival times of the different light rays is known as dispersion, and the result is a muddied signal at the receiving end. For a more detailed discussion of dispersion, see "Dispersion in Fiber Optic Systems;" however, it is important to note that high dispersion is an unavoidable characteristic of multimode step-index fiber. .

Single-mode Fiber Single-mode fiber allows for a higher capacity to transmit information because it can retain the fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances, and it exhibits no dispersion caused by multiple modes. Singlemode fiber also enjoys lower fiber attenuation than multimode fiber. Thus, more information can be transmitted per unit of time. Like multimode fiber, early single-mode fiber was generally characterized as

step-index fiber meaning the refractive index of the fiber core is a step above that of the cladding rather than graduated as it is in graded-index fiber. Modern single-mode fibers have evolved into more complex designs such as matched clad, depressed clad and other exotic structures. Single-mode fiber has disadvantages. The smaller core diameter makes coupling light into the core more difficult. The tolerances for single-mode connectors and splices are also much more demanding. What's the difference between single-mode and multi-mode? With copper cables larger size means less resistance and therefore more current, but with fibre the opposite is true. To explain this we first need to understand how the light propagates within the fibre core.

Light propagation Light travels along a fiber cable by a process called 'Total Internal Reflection' (TIR), this is made possible by using two types of glass which have different refractive indexes. The inner core has a high refractive index and the outer cladding has a low index. This is the same principle as the reflection you see when you look into a pond. The water in the pond has a higher refractive index than the air, and if you look at it from a shallow angle you will see a reflection of the surrounding area, however, if you look straight down at the water you can see the bottom of the pond. At some specific angle between these two view points the light stops reflecting off the surface of the water and passes through the air/water interface allowing you to see the bottom of the pond. In multi-mode fibres, as the name suggests, there are multiple modes of propagation for the rays of light. These range from low order modes which take the most direct route straight down the middle, to high order modes which take the longest route as they bounce from one side to the other all the way down the fibr This has the effect of scattering the signal because the rays from one pulse of light, arrive at the far end at different times, this is known as Intermodal Dispersion (sometimes referred to as Differential Mode Delay, DMD). To ease the problem, graded index fibres were developed. Unlike the examples above which have a definite barrier between core and cladding, these have a high refractive index at the centre which gradually reduces to a low refractive index at the circumference. This slows down the lower order modes allowing the rays to arrive at the far end closer together, thereby reducing intermodal dispersion and improving the shape of the signal.

OPTICAL COMPUTING
An optical computer is a computer that uses light instead of electricity (i.e. photons rather than electrons) to manipulate, store and transmit data. Photons have fundamentally different physical properties than electrons, and researchers have attempted to make use of these properties to produce

computers with performance and/or capabilities greater than those of electronic computers. Optical computer technology is still in the early stages: functional optical computers have been built in the laboratory, but none have progressed past the prototype stage. Most research projects focus on replacing current computer components with optical equivalents, resulting in an optical digital computer system processing binary data. This approach appears to offer the best short-term prospects for commercial optical computing, since optical components could be integrated into traditional computers to produce an optical/electronic hybrid. Other research projects take a nontraditional approach, attempting to develop entirely new methods of computing that are not physically possible with electronics. An optical computer is a device that uses visible light or infrared beams, rather than electric current, to perform digital computations.Optical computers promise speeds, which will be thousands, even millions of times faster than those of today's most efficient supercomputers.The optical computer could revolutionize computing in much the same way that the semiconductor chip revolutionized electronics 30 years ago.An electric current flows at only about 10 percent of the speed of light.

OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTORS

Fiber optic connectors have traditionally been the biggest concern in using fiber optic systems. While connectors were once unwieldy and difficult to use, connector manufacturers have standardized and simplified connectors greatly. This increasing user-friendliness has contributed to the increase in the use of fiber optic systems; it has also taken the emphasis off the proper care and handling of optical connectors. Fiber-to-fiber interconnection can consist of a splice, a permanent connection, or a connector, which differs from the splice in its ability to be disconnected and reconnected. Fiber optic connector types are as various as the applications for which they were developed. Different connector types have different characteristics, different advantages and disadvantages, and different performance parameters.

CONNECTOR CLEANING
Another important thing to remember in handling fiber optic connectors is that the fiber end face and ferrule must be absolutely clean before it is inserted into a transmitter or receiver. Dust, lint, oil (from touching the fiber end face), or other foreign particles obscure the end face, compromising the integrity of the optical signal being sent over the fiber. From the optical signals point-of-view, dirty connections are like dirty windows. Less light gets through a dirty window than a clean one. It is hard to conceive of the size of a fiber optic connector core. Single-mode fibers have cores that are only 8-9 m in diameter. As a point of reference, a typical human hair is 50-75 m in diameter, approximately 6-9 times larger! Dust particles can be 20 m or larger in diameter. Dust particles smaller than 1 m can be suspended almost indefinitely in the air. A 1 m dust particle landing on the core of a

single-mode fiber can cause up to 1 dB of loss. Larger dust particles (9 m or larger) can completely obscure the core of a single-mode fiber. Fiber optic connectors need to be cleaned every time they are mated and unmated; it is essential that fiber optics users develop the necessary discipline to always clean the connectors before they are mated. Connector damage can occur if foreign particles are caught in the end face area of mated connectors.Connector cleaning is simply completed by wiping the connector ferrule and end face with some isopropyl alcohol and a lint free tissue. Another option for connector cleaning is the cassette type cleaners which use a dry tape system where the tape is advanced every time the cassette is opened ensuring the clean section of tape is used each time.

CONCLUSION
The applications of the fiber optics field are still emerging and developing so rapidly that, it is impossible to keep track each and every innovations and inventions. All the above compilations gives idea about the tremendous potential associated with this field.The future is not so distant when scientists and researchers will come up with more and more futuristic products and applications using optical fibers.