Optical Fiber Communication

Source Copper wire, Air Destination

Basic A Tx Medium Rx B
Comm. 1 0 1 0

Optical Tx Optical Rx
Laser, LED
Decision
Light Circuit B
Optical Source Optical fiber 1 0

Comm. SMF, MMF

Optical Photo
A Mod. detector
1 0
PIN, APD
1 0

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 Example of
communication
systems in EM
spectrum

™ Same application (like

telephone) can be
transmitted via different
media: optical fibers, air
and twisted wire pairs.

Figure 1-1 from Gerd Keiser,

Optical Fiber Communication,
McGraw-Hill, 2000.
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 Multiplexing Schemes
• TDM: Time-Division Multiplexing
Same bit-rate Rb

Data1 Bit-rate = # data channels × Rb

Data2 TDM
Data3 Multiplexer
Data4

• FDM & WDM: Frequency- & Wavelength-Division Multiplexing

Any data bit-rate

Data1 Data2 Data3 Data4

0 f1 f2 f3 f4 Frequency, Hz

λ=c/f
λ1 λ2 λ3 λ4 Wavelength, nm
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 Carrier Frequency
Data stream_1 Data stream_2 Data stream_3 Data stream_4

0 f1 f2 f3 f4 Frequency, Hz

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

⇒ Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

• Carrier frequency f and wavelength λ are related through equation:

c = fλ where the speed of light in vacuum c = 3×108 m/s
• Example:
– AM radio broadcast: f = 1 MHz ⇔ λ = 300 m
– Mobile communication: f = 1800 MHz ⇔ λ = 16.7 cm
⇒ Optical fiber communication: λ = 1550 nm ⇔ f = 193.5 THz

Why the carrier frequency is so high for optical comm.? 4

Operating Wavelength Range

Depend on the characteristics

of 4 optical components:
• Optical fibers:
– Power attenuation
• Light sources:
– Emission range of material
– Resonance frequency of
the laser’s cavity
• Photodetectors:
– Device’s responsivity
– Absorption range of
material
• Optical amplifiers:
– Types and materials:
• Semiconductor devices
• Doped fiber amplifiers

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Evolution of Optical Fiber Communication
• 1966: Kao & Hockman proved optical waveguide was a viable
transmission medium (1000 dB/km attenuation).
• 1970: Kapron, Keck & Maurer (Corning Glass Works) fabricated
a silica fiber with 20 dB/km attn. near 1 μm λ.
• Early 1970s: λ = 0.85 μm, MMF, GaAs based laser.
• Late 1970s: λ = 1.3 μm, SMF (0.5 dB/km attn. @ 1.3 μm),
InGaAsP FP laser (multi longitudinal modes).
• Early 1980s: λ = 1.55 μm, SMF (0.2 dB/km attn. @ 1.55 μm),
InGaAsP DFB laser (single longitudinal mode).
• Late 1980s: Development of coherent detection to increase the
spacing between electronic repeaters (~ 60-70 km).
• Early 1990s: Invention of optical amplifiers to increase repeater
spacing (EDFAs spaced at 60-100 km apart) and
WDM technology to increase transmission capacity.
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 Silica Fiber Attenuation

-OH resonance

Figure 1-7. Optical fiber attenuation vs. wavelength. Figure 3-8. Spectra of three kinds of fiber
•Early fiber links used the 800-900nm range. attenuation in silica fibers.

•Achievement of lower attenuation shifted operations to the [Figures from Paul E. Green, Jr., Fiber Optic
Networks, Prentice Hall, 1993.]
longer-wavelength windows around 1310 and 1550 nm.
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 Pros and Cons of Using Optical Fiber
9 Large bandwidth:
Ö Increase transmission capacity via WDM
WDM
9 Lower transmission (attenuation) loss:
Ö longer distance Ö reduce # repeaters
Ö saving in equipment cost
9 Small size & light weight :
Ö hair-sized dimensions Ö can pack many
fibers in one duct
Ö favorable in aircraft, satellite and military
9 High degree of data security:
Ö optical signal is well confined within fiber
Ö attractive in banking, computer networks
and military systems
9 Immune to electromagnetic interference
(EMI): dielectric material
9 Abundant raw material: sand Æ silica
8 Expensive network:
Ö Must be used in combination with other Fiber optic cables
expensive optoelectronic components.
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 Applications
• High-speed data lines:
– Faster database access & web browsing
– Video teleconferencing
– Cable TV (100s Ch), High-Definition TV, movies on demand
– Enable live web casting
• Secured private networks:
– Provide confidential data transfer and file sharing
– Ex: banks, financial companies and military systems
• Transoceanic optical fibers:
– Global connectivity (see Alcatel’s fiber networks)
– Larger bandwidth Î Clear signals
– Efficient cost sharing per bandwidth Î Affordable services
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Map of Alcatel’s Global Fiber Networks

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Optical Network Topology
• Transoceanic trunk lines: point-point transmission
• Core, Back-bone networks: mesh topology
• Metro networks: ring topology
• Access networks: star topology

Trunk lines Back-bone

Metro
Back-bone

Access

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