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Chapter 17
Optical Networking Fundamentals
Internet traffic is exploding at a rate that far outpaces the growth of traditional voice
traffic. IP bandwidth demands on a network backbone push a service provider’s network
architecture to its limits and sometimes even beyond its capacity.
Service providers need the capability to provision new services quickly, to deliver high-
value applications at a fraction of the time and cost, and to build scalable fail-safe
infrastructures at reduced operating costs. The answer lies in fiber-optic technology.
Optical networks are an extremely efficient means of conveying data such as text, video,
and voice.
This chapter describes the key business drivers of optical networks and the features of
fiber-optic systems. It also discusses the components of optical transmission and their
features.
To understand how fiber-optic media work, it is crucial to have basic knowledge of some
important characteristics of how light is transmitted (propagated) through materials such
as glass. This chapter describes two main types of fiber: single-mode and multimode. It
also discusses possible fiber geometry problems, loss factors in fiber optics, and causes of
attenuation. In addition, this chapter introduces two fiber filter technologies: fiber bragg
grating and dielectric filter.
This chapter also introduces SONET/SDH technology, the SONET overhead hierarchy,
and the SONET/SDH multiplexing hierarchy. In addition, this chapter describes how
DWDM systems work and discusses their benefits.
Concept Questions
Demonstrate your knowledge of these concepts by answering the following questions in
the space provided.
1. List and describe some of the key business drivers of optical networks.

Fiber optics offers the highest bandwidth capacity for network traffic. As demand
increases for high-bandwidth capacity and high transmission speeds, it is expected that the
usage of fiber optics will grow very quickly.
The burgeoning Internet economy and surging amounts of data traffic call for scalable,
multiservice platforms with the capability to support next-generation, IP-based services
and security. Today, service providers demand certain characteristics from their networks
such as, Capacity/scalability, Reliability, Accelerated profits, Broad coverage, End-to-end
flexibility, Space efficiency, and Security.

2. List and describe some of the communication components in an

optical communication system.
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All communication systems have three things in common: a signal source, a medium for
the signal to travel through, and a receiver. In fiber optics, the transmitter is a light source,
the medium is a light guide (optical fiber), and the receiver is an optical sensor
3. Explain some of the important design characteristics of fiber and the
index of refraction.

Refraction is the bending of the light ray as it changes speed going from one material to
another. When a light ray hits another material at a steep enough angle, most of the light
goes through the interface into the other material. If there is a difference in density
between the materials, the light bends, or refracts, at a fixed angle. This angle of refraction
depends on the difference in density of the two materials. One of the most important
design characteristics of fiber is its index of refraction (IOR). The IOR is the ratio of the
speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a fiber, as follows:

IOR = C (Velocity of light in a vacuum) / V (Velocity of light in a glass)

IOR is a measure of the density of a fiber because more dense materials (higher IOR)
cause light to travel more slowly. For optical fiber, the typical IOR values are between 1.4
and 1.5.

4. List and describe the main components of a fiber-optic cable.

A fiber-optic cable has three components:

• A protective outer coating: This is also known as buffer coating.

• An inner cladding: The cladding is of different density than the core, so the
light bounces against it.
• A fiber core: The core is doped with chemicals that enhance its transmission
properties.

5. Describe the features of multimode fiber.

Multimode fiber is used to transmit many signals per fiber. Multimode

allows many paths or modes for the light. The larger core of multimode
fiber allows light to break up into many different modes. Some modes
will make it to the far end faster than others, causing the original signal
to be broadened out in time.

6. Describe the features of single-mode fiber.

Single-mode fiber is used to transmit one signal per fiber. Single-mode fiber allows only
one single path for the signal to travel down the middle of the fiber. The entire signal
travels the length of the fiber at the same rate, allowing for much higher data rates. Typical
single-mode rates are in the millions and billions of bits per second (bps).
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7. Describe some ways to obtain the greatest capacity from optical fiber.

The optical amplifier (OA) is a device that amplifies an input optical signal without
converting it to electrical form. The OA provides 4 terahertz (THz) of optical bandwidth
near 1550 nm, nearly ideal noise performance, low signal distortion and crosstalk, and
high-output saturation power; it is also simple and efficient. The optical pulse begins to
deteriorate the further it travels, so to prevent this deterioration, an electrical regenerator
is used to perform the three R’s: restore the signal level, reshape the pulse, and retime the
pulse. Electrical regenerators are expensive, introduce latency, and are channel specific.
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Vocabulary Exercise
Define the following terms as completely as you can. Use the online curriculum or Chapter
17 of the Cisco Networking Academy Program CCNA 3 and 4 Companion Guide for help.

FDDI - Fiber Distributed Data Interface. LAN standard, defined by ANSI X3T9.5,
specifying a 100-Mbps token-passing network using fiber-optic cable, with transmission
distances of up to 2 km. FDDI uses dual-ring architecture to provide redundancy.
Compare with CDDI and FDDI II.

FDM - Frequency-division multiplexing. Technique whereby information from multiple

channels can be allocated bandwidth on a single wire based on frequency. Compare with
ATDM, statistical multiplexing, and TDM.

Megabits per second - Abbreviated Mbps. This is a standard measurement of the amount
of data transferred over a network connection, in millions of bits per second.

Megabytes per second - Abbreviated MBps. This is a standard measurement of the

amount of data transferred over a network connection, in millions of bytes per second.

Multicast - Single packets copied by the network and sent to a specific subset of network
addresses. These addresses are specified in the destination address field.

Multiplexing - Scheme that allows multiple logical signals to be transmitted

simultaneously across a single physical channel. Compare with de-multiplexing.

PRI - Primary Rate Interface. ISDN interface to primary rate access. Primary rate access
consists of a single 64-Kbps D channel plus 23 (T1) or 30 (E1) B channels for voice or
data.

Statistical multiplexing - Technique whereby information from multiple logical channels

can be transmitted across a single physical channel. Statistical multiplexing dynamically
allocates bandwidth only to active input channels, making better use of available
bandwidth and allowing more devices to be connected than with other multiplexing
techniques. Also referred to as statistical time-division multiplexing or stat mux.

Synchronous transmission - Term describing digital signals that are transmitted with
precise clocking. Such signals have the same frequency, with individual characters
encapsulated in control bits (called start bits and stop bits) that designate the beginning
and end of each character.

TDM - Time-division multiplexing. Technique by which information from multiple

channels can be allocated bandwidth on a single wire based on preassigned time slots.
Bandwidth is allocated to each channel regardless of whether the station has data to
transmit.
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X.25 - ITU-T standard that defines how connections between DTE and DCE are
maintained for remote terminal access and computer communications in PDNs. X.25
specifies LAPB, a data link layer protocol, and PLP, a network layer protocol. Frame
Relay has, to some degree, superseded X.25.

Microbending – Microbending causes the light to exceed the critical angle and leak out
of the core. Microbending appears as a wrinkle in the fiber caused by temperature
variations during manufacturing.

Macrobending - A macrobend is a bend you can see. When you bend fiber, you can cause
some of the light rays to exceed the critical angle, allowing light to leak out of the core
and into the cladding.

IOR - The IOR is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a
fiber. IOR is a measure of the density of a fiber because more dense materials (higher IOR)
cause light to travel more slowly.

SONET - Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) is the standard for synchronous data
transmission on optical media used in North America and Japan. SONET is deployed by
service providers using a ring topology. The two prevalent types of rings in networks
today are unidirectional path-switched rings (UPSR) and bidirectional line-switched rings
(BLSR).

SDH - Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) is the international equivalent of SONET.

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CCNA Exam Review Questions

The following questions help you review for the CCNA exam. The answers appear in
Appendix A, “Answers to CCNA Exam Review Questions.”
1. Which of the following is not a key driver of optical networks?

A. Efficiently meet capacity and scalability requirements in

both metropolitan and long-haul network infrastructures
B. Reduce costs and accelerate profitable new service revenue
simultaneously
C. Reach long distances
D. Be adaptable through a closed-system architecture
2. Which of the following is true of IOR?

A. It stands for index of reflection.

B. It is a light ray bouncing off the interface of two materials.
C. It is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light
in a fiber.
D. Two fibers with different IOR values cannot work together.
3. True or false: Light current is the electrical noise that naturally occurs
in the circuit.

A. True
B. False
4. Which of the following is not a wavelength value used in fiber optics?

A. 850 nm
B. 1300 nm
C. 1450 nm
D. 1550 nm
5. Which of the following describe(s) fiber optics? (Choose all that
apply.)

A. High-speed transmission
B. Long transmission distance
C. More reliability than copper wires
D. All of the above
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6. Which of the following methods can amplify an input optical signal

within the fiber?

A. OA
B. SONET
C. ROL
D. EDFA
7. What is the typical multimode transmission rate?

A. Hundreds of megabits per second

B. Hundreds of kilobits per second
C. Hundreds of gigabits per second
D. None of the above
8. Which of the following is true of single-mode fiber?

A. The signal travels through a single-mode fiber at a different rate.

B. Single-mode fiber has a lower data rate than multimode fiber.
C. Single-mode fiber allows multimode to travel down the fiber.
D. Single-mode fiber allows one mode to travel down the fiber.
9. Which of the following are possible problems of the fiber core?

A. The core can be slightly off center from the cladding center.
B. The cores might be slightly different sizes.
C. The core might be noncircular.
D. All of the above.
10. Which of the following is/are causes of attenuation? (Choose all that
apply.)

A. Scattering
B. Stress from the manufacturing process
C. Physical bending
D. All of the above
11. Which of the following is a not a component of fiber-optic cable?

A. A fiber core
B. An inner cladding
C. An outer cladding
D. A protective outer coating
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12. SONET was designed to standardize which of the following?

A. Synchronous networking-enhanced operations,

administration, maintenance, and provisioning
B. Asynchronous networking-based operation, administration,
maintenance, and provisioning
C. Protections to the SONET facilities at the application layer
D. Transmission standards for ATM
13. Which of the following is not one of the three levels of overhead
channel for maintenance?

A. SOH
B. COH
C. LOH
D. POH
14. True or false: SONET defines a technology for carrying one signal
through a synchronous, flexible, optical hierarchy.

A. True
B. False
15. Which of the following could be a client-side device for a DWDM
system?

A. LAN switches
B. Bridges
C. Routers
D. Hubs
16. What device in the DWDM system is used to convert the
SONET/SDH-compliant optical signal?

A. Transceiver
B. Transformer
C. Converter
D. Transponder
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17. From technical and economic perspectives, what is the most obvious
advantage of DWDM technology?

A. The capability to transmit a lot of data at one time

B. The capability to provide potentially unlimited transmission
capacity
C. Easy installation
D. Low cost
18. What are the most compelling technical advantages of DWDM?
(Choose all that apply.)

A. High flexibility
B. Scalability
C. High capacity
D. Transparency
E. Low maintenance
19. Which of the following does not describe metro DWDM?

A. It is very similar to long-haul DWDM.

B. It supports subwavelength TDM and wavelength services.
C. It is driven by demand for fast service provisioning.
D. It maximizes service density per wavelength.