Lecture 17

Optical Fiber Communication Systems

Propagation of Light through Fiber
Mode of Propagation
Mode the number of paths for the light rays in the cable
Single mode Carries a single mode, as with the mode on
a transmission line or waveguide. Requires the fiber
diameter to be small relative to a wavelength. If there is
only one path.
Multi-mode Has a fiber diameter that is large relative to
a wavelength. It operates on the principle of total internal
reflection (critical angle effect). If there is more than one
path
Mode of Propagation

Single mode

Multi-mode
Number of Modes
2

12 22

Where N = number of propagating modes

d = core diameter (meters)
= wavelength (meters)
n1 = refractive index of core
n2 = refractive index of cladding
Index Profile

A graphical representation of the magnitude of the

refractive index across the fiber
Basic types of index profiles
Step Index Fiber
both the central core and the cladding indexes are uniform in
its distribution
cladding index is always slightly less than the core (n1> n2)
Graded Index Fiber
core and cladding indexes are not uniform
density is highest at the center and gradually decreases
towards the edges
Configuration of Fiber
Single mode Step-index Fiber

Advantages
Only one mode is allowed due to diffraction/interference
effects.
Allows the use high power laser source
Facilitates fusion splicing similar fibers
Low dispersion, therefore high bandwidth (a few GHz).
Low loss (0.1 dB/km)
Disadvantages
Cost
Single mode Step-index Fiber
Multimode Step-index Fiber

Advantages
Allows the use of non-coherent optical light source, e.g. LED's
Facilitates connecting together similar fibers
Imposes lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors.
Cost effective
Disadvantages
Suffer from dispersion (i.e. low bandwidth (a few MHz)
High power loss
Multimode Step-index Fiber
Multi mode Graded-index Fiber

Advantages:
Allows the use of non-coherent optical light source, e.g. LED's
Facilitates connecting together similar fibers
Imposes lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors.
Reduced dispersion compared with STMMF
Disadvantages:
Lower bandwidth compared with STSMF
High power loss compared with the STSMF
Multi mode Graded-index Fiber
END