OPTICAL FIBERS

THE PRESENTATION
What this presentation is about?
This presentation is about giving a broad idea about the concepts of Optical Fiber.

Brief Flow of the Presentation.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What are Optical Fibers. Principle of optical fiber. Characteristics of optical fibers. Applications of optical fibers. Advantages / Disadvantages of Optical fibers.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

FROM ANCIENT GREEKS

TO

21ST CENTURY

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

*The Ancient Greeks polished their shields to send signals during battle. *In 1880 Alexander Graham Bell created the Photophone.The device allowed for the transmission of sound on a beam of light.

Introduction

An optical fiber is essentially a waveguide for light It consists of a core and cladding that surrounds the core The index of refraction of the cladding is less than that of the core, causing rays of light leaving the core to be refracted back into the core.

PRINCIPLE USED IN OPTICAL

FIBER.

Total internal reflection is used in fibre

optics which are used in: medicine ; cable television ; internet ; telephone access.

FACTS ABOUT OPTICAL FIBERS ?

Optical Fibers are thins long (km) strands of ultra pure glass (silica) or plastic that can transmit light from one end to another without much attenuation or loss.

The glass used to make Optical Fibers is so pure that if the Pacific Ocean was filled with this glass then we would be able to see the ocean bottom form the surface.!!!! This is to be believed as repeater distances on long routes for optical fibers vary from 50 to 150 km.

Why Optical Fibers ?

As mans need and hunger for communication increased, the amount of bandwidth required increased exponentially. Initially we used smoke signals, then horse riders for communicating. But these ways were way to slow and had very little bandwidth or data caring capacity. Then came the telephone and telegraph that used copper wires for communication. But soon demand out striped the capacity and capability of copper wires and data transport got added to voice communication. Then came Coaxial copper cables, VHF and UHF Radios, Satellite but demand still outstripped the supply. It was not until Optical Fibers came on the scene that large amount of communication bandwidth became economically and easily available to everyone. As an example 50,000 voice / data circuit copper cable is massive in size and very expensive, while a single Optical Fiber, the diameter of human hair, can carry 5,00,000 circuits of voice and data. This capacity is increasing day by day as supporting electronics is developing. In itself the capacity of Optical Fibers is limitless.

APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBERS

1. LONG DISTANCE COMMUNICATION BACKBONES 2. INTER-EXCHANGE JUNCTIONS

3. VIDEO TRANSMISSION
4. BROADBAND SERVICES 5. COMPUTER DATA COMMUNICATION (LAN, WAN etc..)

6. HIGHT EMI AREAS

7. MILITARY APPLICATION 8. NON-COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS (sensors etc)

ENDOSCOPE
Controls End probe containing coherent bundle, incoherent bundle, lens and surgical instruments

Eyepiece

Light injected here

This is an endoscope image of the inside of the throat. The arrows point to the vocal chords

An endoscope consists of two bundles of optical fibres: the LIGHT GUIDE and the IMAGE GUIDE The purpose of the LIGHT GUIDE is to send light (but not heat!) INTO the patient
The IMAGE GUIDE brings light back, allowing the doctor to see inside the body Light travels along both of these bundles by TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

1. 2. 3. VERY HIGH INFORMATION CARRING CAPACITY. LESS ATTENUATION (order of 0.2 db/km) SMALL IN DIAMETER AND SIZE & LIGHT WEIGHT

4.

LOW COST AS COMPARED TO COPPER (as glass is made from sand..the raw material used to make OF is free.)
GREATER SAFETY AND IMMUNE TO EMI & RFI, MOISTURE & COROSSION

5.

6.
7. 8. 9.

FLEXIBLE AND EASY TO INSTALL IN TIGHT CONDUICTS

ZERO RESALE VALUE (so theft is less) IS DILECTRIC IN NATURE SO CAN BE LAID IN ELECTICALLY SENSITIVE SURROUNDINGS DIFFICULT TO TAP FIBERS, SO SECURE

10. NO CROSS TALK AND DISTURBANCES

DISADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

1. The terminating equipment is still costly as compared to copper equipment. 2. Of is delicate so has to be handled carefully. 3. Last mile is still not totally fiberised due to costly subscriber premises equipment. 4. Communication is not totally in optical domain, so repeated electric optical electrical conversion is needed. 5. Optical amplifiers, splitters, MUX-DEMUX are still in development stages. 6. Tapping is not possible. Specialized equipment is needed to tap a fiber. 7. Optical fiber splicing is a specialized technique and needs expertly trained manpower. 8. The splicing and testing equipments are very expensive as compared to copper equipments.