TCOM 503

Fiber Optic Networks

Spring, 2007

Thomas B. Fowler, Sc.D.

Senior Principal Engineer
Mitretek Systems
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Topics for TCOM 503

 Week 1: Overview of fiber optic communications

 Week 2: Brief discussion of physics behind fiber optics
 Week 3: Light sources for fiber optic networks
 Week 4: Fiber optic components fabrication and use
 Week 5: Fiber optic components, modulation of light
 Week 6: Optical fiber fabrication and testing of components
 Week 7: Noise and detection
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Topics for final exam (revised)

 Principles of fiber optic cable and devices (reflection, refraction,

interference, diffraction)
 Types of fiber optic cable
 Types of distortion and other problems involved with optical fiber
 Operation of LEDs and lasers
 Operation of detectors
 Operation of EDFAs
 Resonant couplers/wavelength selective couplers & splitters
 Other optical devices
– Isolators - Fabry-Perot filters
– GRINs - Dielectric filters
– FBGs - Modulators & Modulation types
 Optical fiber construction, fabrication
 Optical test instruments and how to interpret their displays
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Optical fiber standard dimensions

 Core, cladding, jacketing standardized

 Jacket: 245 µ m
Source: Corning
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Requirements for fabricating useful

optical fiber
 Materials must be extremely pure
– Impurity < 1 part per billion for metals
– Impurity < 1 part per 10 million for water
– About 1000 times more pure than traditional chemical
purification techniques allow
 Dimensions must be controlled to extremely high degree
– Core size, position, cladding size tolerances ~ 1 micron
or less
– Roughly 1 wavelength of light
– Refractive indices must also be very precisely
controlled
 Must be made in long lengths
 Must have tensile strength
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Purification of silica a two step process

 First: use distillation

– Heat silica to boiling point (2230o C), condense gas
– Metals are heavier and do not boil at this temperature
– Yields impurity levels of ~ 10-6
 Second stage takes place when fiber fabricated
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Fiber fabrication process

 Called “Outside Vapor Deposition Process” or OVD

process
 Stages
– Laydown
– Consolidation
– Drawing
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First stage: Laydown

 Vapor deposition from ultrapure vapors

 Soot preform made when vapors exposed to burner and
form fine soot particles of silica and germanium

(From particles of silica and germania)

Source: Corning
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Laydown (continued)

 Particles deposited on surface of rotating bait rod

– Core first
– Then silica cladding
 Vapor deposition process purifies fiber material as
impurities do not deposit as rapidly
 Preform is somewhat porous at this stage
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Second stage: consolidation

 Bait rod removed

 Placed in high-temperature consolidation furnace
– Water vapor removed
– Preform sintered into solid, dense, transparent glass
 Has same cross-section profile as final fiber, but is much
larger (1-2.5 cm, final: 125 µ m = .0125 cm)
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Third stage:
drawing
 Done in “draw tower”
 Glass blank from 1850-2000o C

consolidation stage lowered

into draw furnace
 Tip heated until “gob” of
glass falls Source: Corning
– Pulls behind it a thin
strand of glass
 Gob cut off
 Strand threaded into
computer-controlled tractor
assembly
 Sensors control speed of
drawing to make precise
diameter
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Drawing (continued)

 Diameter measured hundreds of times per second

– Ensures precise outside dimension
 Primary and secondary coatings (jackets) applied
 At end, fiber wound onto spools for further processing

Gob forming,
Source: Corning
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Draw tower

Source: Axsys
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Other methods used to make fiber

 Vapor phase axial deposition (VAD)

– Batch process
– Preforms can be drawn up to 250 km
– Flame hydrolysis
• Soot formed and deposited by torches
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VAD process (continued)

Source: Dutton
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Other methods used to make fiber

(continued)
 Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD)
– Silica formed inside silica tube in gaseous phase reaction
– Soot deposited on inside of tube
– Burners traverse tube
• Sinters soot
• Produces highly controllable RI profile
– At end, tube evacuated, sides collapse
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MCVD process

Source: Fotec
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Types of optical fiber

 Single mode glass—long distance communications

 Multimode glass—short distance communications
 Plastic—consumer short distance, electronics & cars
 Hybrid or polymer clad (glass core, plastic cladding)—
lighting, consumer applications
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Basic structure of all optical fiber

 Core—carries most of light

 Cladding—confines light to core
 In some fibers, substrate glass layer to add strength
 Inner jacket or primary buffer coating—mechanical protection
 Outer jacket or secondary buffer coating—mechanical
protection

Source: Optical Cable Corporation

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Plastic optical fiber (POF)

 1000 µ m diameter, 980 µ m core

 Strong
 Uses LEDs in visible range, 650 nm
 Not suitable for long-distance uses
 Does not transmit infrared

Source: Pofeska/Mitsubishi Rayon Co.

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Numerical aperture

 Light must fall at an angle such that it can enter fiber core,
before total internal reflection takes over
 This angle is called “numerical aperture”

www.corning.com/opticalfiber/discovery_center/tutorials/fiber_101/aperture.asp
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Basic cable construction: types

 Tight buffered
– No room for fibers to move inside of cable
 Loose tube
– Multiple fibers loose inside of outer plastic tube
– Advantage is that with extra length of fiber inside tube
due to curling, less likelihood of damage in sharp bends
 Loose tube with gel filler
– Multiple fibers immersed in gel inside of plastic tube

Source: Dutton
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Typical indoor cable

 Single core or double core
– Utilize substrate for additional strength (aramid or
fiberglass)

Source: Dutton
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Tight buffered indoor cable

 Application: building risers

 6 or 12 fibers typically
 Central strength member supports weight of cable
 Tight buffering means that fibers are not put under tension
due to their own weight

Source: Dutton
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Outdoor cable
 More rugged, larger number of fibers per cable
– 6 fibers/tube, 6 tubes = 36 fibers
– 8 fibers/tube, 12 tubes = 96 fibers
 Steel or plastic used for strength member
 Outer nylon layer in locations where termites are a problem

Source: Dutton
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Outdoor cable (continued)

Source: Dutton
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Submarine cable
 Smaller number of fibers because mechanical requirements
much greater
– 4 to 20 typically
 Must withstand high pressure, damage from anchors,
trawlers, etc.
 Cables for shallow water are in greatest danger
– Typically heavily armored

Source: Dutton
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MM 0.90/ft
SM 0.53/ft
Indoor/
Outdoor
Armored
Direct bury MM 6.65/ft
SM 2.45/ft

Source: Mohawk/CDT
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Splicing: fiber geometry parameters

 Always necessary to splice fiber

 3 parameters are most important to making good splices
– Cladding diameter tolerance
• Must be tight so that cores meet
• Typical spec is 125 µ m + 1.0 µ m, removes this as
problem
– Core/cladding concentricity
• Must be tight so that cores meet
– Fiber curl
• Must be minimal so that cores meet
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Fiber geometry parameters

(continued)
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Cable connecting and splicing

 Problem of splicing and joining fibers

– Core is very small
– Any irregularity can lead to significant loss of power or
complete failure
• Light is not like electricity
• Travels in waveguide and is a guided wave
 Requirements for good connection
– Precisely square cuts
– Ends polished flat
– Ends butted together
– Nearly exact matchup
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Ways of joining fibers

 Fusion splicing (welding)

– Commonly done in field
 Index matching epoxy glue
– Common done in field
 Mechanical connectors
– Used in field, but connectors attached in factory
– Not suitable for fiber breaks
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Dangers to fiber optic cable

 Excessive tension
 Bends of small radius
– Not generally problem with outdoor or undersea cables
because physical size keeps bend radius to ~3 feet
 Physical damage from animals, earth moving equipment
 Installation damage
– Lifting
– Pulling through conduits
 Water inflo
 Lightning
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Cabling environments

 Long-haul outdoor
– Usually direct bury
 Campus area outdoor
– Direct bury
– Conduit
 Outdoor overhead
 Undersea
– Most difficult environment
 Indoor
– Benign environment
– Installation usually most difficult problem
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Fusion splicing

 After cutting and polishing, ends are butted and then fused
by heat
 Requires high temperature
 Can yield losses as low as 0.1 db (~loss on 1 km of fiber)

Source: Dutton
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Steps in fusion splicing

 Strip primary coating on each fiber

 Cleave ends square
 Position ends a few mm from each other and clamp
 Align ends and bring closer together
 Electric arc started and melts glass, joining fibers
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Problems with splicing

 When fiber ends melted and touched together, surface

tension effects tend to align outside of cladding
– Result is OK for multimode fibers with larger cores
– May not work for single mode fibers
 Single mode fibers require more precise alignment
– Use of laser shining into one fiber with detector in the
other
– One fiber moved with precision actuator to position it
– Other problems can occur during join
• Surface tension can change fiber position as join is
made
– Other systems use magnified image of fiber ends
displayed on a screen
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Problems with splicing (continued)

 Heating is difficult
– Best results when glasses melt and fuse
• Can change refractive index and hence cause losses
– Idea is to melt only a very thin layer on each end
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Joining with epoxy glue

 Ends cleaved and polished, space between them filled with

epoxy resin
– Same RI as fiber core
– Fibers held in place mechanically
 Low cost but subject to many problems
– Concentricity
– Differing outside diameters
– Circularity of outside
– Tolerances of alignment device
– Long-term stability of epoxy
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Mechanical spicing and bonding

 Fibers inserted into silica sleeves

 Aligned as with welding method
 Bonded with epoxy
 High quality but costly
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Losses in fiber splices

 Extrinsic—caused by joining method but unrelated to fiber

properties
 Intrinsic—Caused by some inherent property of the fiber
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Extrinsic losses
 Longitudinal misalignment
– Some light not within NA
– Endfaces form Fabry-Perot
interferometer
 Lateral misalignment
– 2.5 microns ~ 1 db loss
 Ends not square
– Surfaces cannot be joined closely
 Angular misalignment
– Losses due to NA
– 2o ~ 1 db
 Fiber end rough or irregular
Source: Dutton – Scattering
– No close contact
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Intrinsic losses
 Concentricity
– Axes of core and fiber differ
– Greater for SM
 Core shape
– Not problem for MM
– For SM, causes fiber to be birefringent
• Different RIs for different
polarizations
• Leads to PMD
 Core diameter
– Losses traveling from large to small
diameter
 Cladding diameter
– If diameters differ, cores cannot be
aligned
 NA and Refractive Index
– Some light reflected if these differ
Source: Dutton
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Purely mechanical connectors

 Today’s most common interconnection device

– Not fitted in field, as equipment expensive ($100K) and
process difficult
 Early connectors were poor
 Latest generation much better
 Components
– Ferrule: long thin cylinder for alignment
– Connector body: holds ferrule
– Cable attachment mechanism: holds cable in body
– Coupling device: where cables mate
• Fiber optic cables generally do not use male/female
connection method common for electronic cables
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Purely mechanical connectors

Source: Goff
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Connector evolution
Parameter/ Feature 1st Generation 2nd Generation 3rd Generation 4th Generation

Coupling Method Threaded Bayonet Push-Pull Push-Pull

Ferrule Material Steel, Brass Steel, Ceramic Ceramic, Plastic Ceramic, Plastic

Alignment Sleeve Often Loose Captive Captive Captive

Beryllium, Copper, Beryllium, Copper,

Sleeve Material Plastic Beryllium, Copper
Ceramic Ceramic

Body Material Metal Metal, Plastic Metal, Plastic Plastic

Size Large Large Moderate Small
Rotation Prevention No Yes Yes Yes
Repeatability Poor Good Very Good Excellent
Installation Ease Poor Good Very Good Excellent
Insertion Loss High Moderate Low Low
Backreflection Not Addressed Moderate Low Low
Cost High Moderate Low Low
Multimode Use Very Good Very Good Very Good Excellent
Single-mode Use Unusable Good Very Good Excellent
Example SMA 906 STTM SC LC

Source: Goff
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Commonly used fiber optic connectors

CONNECTOR INSERTION REPEATABILITY FIBER TYPE APPLICATIONS
LOSS
BICONIC
0.60-1.00 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

D4

0.20-0.50 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

EC/RACE
0.10-0.30 dB 0.10 dB SM High-speed Datacom

ESCON

0.20-0.70 dB 0.20 dB MM Fiber Optic Networks

FC
Datacom
0.50-1.00 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

FDDI
0.20-0.70 dB 0.20 dB SM, MM Fiber Optic Networks

HMS-10

0.10-0.30 dB 0.10 dB SM Test Equipment

Source: Goff; Fotec

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LC
0. 15 dB (SM) 0.2 dB SM, MM High-density Interconnects

0.10 dB (MM)
MT ARRAY
0.30-1.00 dB 0.25 dB SM, MM High-density Interconnects

SC
0.20-0.45 dB 0.10 dB SM, MM Telecommunications

SC DUPLEX 0.2-0.45 dB 0.10 dB SM, MM Datacom

SMA 0.40-0.80 dB 0.30 dB MM Military

ST 0.40 dB (SM) 0.40 dB (SM) SM, MM Campus, Security, Military (Navy)

0.50 dB (MM) 0.20 dB (MM)

MT-RJ

3M Volition

Panduit Opti-Jack

Source: Goff; Fotec

Siecor/IBM SC-DC or SC-QC
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Connectors (continued)

L to R: SC-DC, LC, MT-RJ, SC, Volition, Opti-Jack

Source: Fotec
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Fiber optic connector selection guide

Connector Fiber Generation Typ. Insertion Loss Cost
Type Type (db) MM SM
ST SM, MM 2 0.20-0.60 $2.80-$6.35 $6.95-$11.85

SC SM, MM 3 0.15-0.30, 0.20-0.30 $6.00-$9.45 $8.35-$13.95

D4 SM, MM 2 0.30 $11.00-12.95

Biconic SM, MM 2 0.60 $9.35-$12.60 $21.95-$34.40

SMA MM 1 0.60-0.80 $3.50-$6.50 N/A

FC SM, MM 2 0.20-0.50 $3.75-$8.95 $8.40-$16.00

ESCON MM 3 0.15 $15.00 N/A

FDDI MM 3 0.60 $16.20 N/A

LC SM, MM 4 0.15, 0.10 N/A

MT SM, MM 4 0.30-1.00 N/A

MT-RJ 4

3M Volition SM, MM 4

Panduit Opti- 4
Jack

SC-DC/ SC-QC 4
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Typical data sheet

hansonfiber.com/pdf/DS1063%20MTRJ.pdf

Source: Johanson
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Typical fiber optic cable prices

 Indoor, multimode, duplex, with connector ~$50 + 0.50/ft

 Outdoor, MM, 6 fibers/cable: 0.90/ft
 Outdoor, MM, 96 fibers/cable: 6.65/ft
 Outdoor, SM, 6 fibers/cable: 0.53/ft
 Outdoor, SM, 96 fibers/cable: 2.45/ft
 Submarine: ~$65,000/km installed
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Testing of optical fiber

 Overview
 Standards
 Equipment
 Cable plant testing
 Network testing
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Overview of testing
 Definition: process of verifying the performance parameters
of fiber optic components, links, systems and networks and
troubleshooting their problems
 Basic measurements
– Optical power emanating from a fiber
– Continuity or optical loss of fiber, cable, connectors and
splices
– Bandwidth or dispersion
• Determines the information carrying capacity of fiber
or cable
 Most tests must be repeated to determine changes in
measured parameters under environmental stress
 Testing also includes finding problems in installed fiber optic
cable plants
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Tests and equipment

Test Equipment used

Optical power Fiber optic power meter

Attenuation or loss Fiber optic power meter & source

Source wavelength, backscatter Optical loss test set, optical

spectrum analyzer

Fault location Optical time domain

reflectometer, visual cable fault
locator
Bandwidth & dispersion Bandwidth tester, simulation
software
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Fiber optic power meters

 Measure average optical power emanating from fiber

 Basic components
– Detector (Si, Ga, or InGaAs)
– Signal conditioning circuitry
– Digital display
– Connectors for coupling to fiber
 Calibration
– Normal power units: mw, microw, nw (linear scale)
– Power referenced to 1 mw or microw in db (dbm)
– Broad dynamic range (1 million to 1 or 60 db)
– Normal range of measurements: 0 dbm to –50 dbm
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Fiber optic power meters (continued)

 Measurements require source with known duty cycle, or

knowledge of duty cycle of signal
– Typically source has 2 kHz square wave output
 Uncertainty typically +5%
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Typical optical power meter

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Optical multimeter

Source: Tektronix
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Fiber optic test source

 Standard signal source

 Compatible with type of fiber in use
– Single mode
– Multimode
– Wavelength
 Ability to connect to fiber and couple signal
 Same light source (LED or laser)
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Typical fiber optic test source

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Optical time domain reflectometer

(OTDR)
 Uses phenomenon of fiber backscattering to characterize
fibers, find faults and optimize splices
 OTDR sends out into the fiber a high powered pulse and
measures the light scattered back toward the instrument
– Works since scattering is one of primary loss factors in
fiber (the other being absorption)
– Pulse is attenuated on outbound leg and backscattered
light is attenuated on the return leg
– Returned signal is function of twice the fiber loss and
the backscatter coefficient of the fiber
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OTDR (continued)

 If one assumes the backscatter coefficient is constant,

OTDR can be used to measure loss
 Gives a graphic display of status of fiber being tested
 Requires access to only one end of the fiber, as opposed to
both ends for power meters
 Not a new device: models exist for microwave (CATV) and
similar electronic applications
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Typical OTDR
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OTDR typical display

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OTDR specifications
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Tektronix OTDR
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Use of OTDRs
 Basic architecture:

Pulse

Source: Fotec
Backscattered
light
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Operation of OTDRs
 Pulse from high-powered laser sent down fiber
– Pulse width ~ 200 mm/ns
 Response measured on time scale
 Backscatter from pulse is what is sensed
 Longer distances require longer pulses
– Decreases accuracy
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OTDR trace
Reflection from
first connector

Noise typically
seen here

Source: Fotec
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More OTDR traces

Source: Fotec
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More OTDR traces

Source: Fotec
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OTDR performance limitations

 Accuracy limited by several factors

– Pulse width
• Long pulse for long cables ~100 ns or longer
• Short pulse for short cables ~10 ns
– Speed of light variations among fibers
• 1-2% ~ 10-20 m/km
– Backscatter not constant between fibers
– Initial saturation means minimum distance measurement
~100 to 1000 m unless precautions taken
• Requires “launch cable” to allow transients to die out
 Long fibers: resolution ~250-500 m
 Short fibers: 5-10 m
 Limited usefulness for in-building testing
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Signal analyzer

 Used to measure performance parameters of optical

systems
– Q-factor
– Extinction ratio
– Optical power
– Signal-to-noise ratio
– Jitter
– Duty cycle
– Eye diagrams
 High-performance models directly calculate parameters
– Work on Return-to-zero (RZ) and non-return-to-zero
(NRZ) signals
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Typical high-performance signal analyzer

Source: Tektronix
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Visual cable tracers and fault locators

 Many problems in connection of fiber optic networks are

related to making proper connections
 Since light used in systems is invisible, one cannot see the
system transmitter light
 By injecting light from a visible source, such as a LED or
incandescent bulb, one can visually trace the fiber from
transmitter to receiver
– To insure correct orientation
– To check continuity
 Simple instruments that inject visible light are called
“visual fault locators”
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Typical fault tracers

Source: Fotec
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Fiber optic inspection microscopes

 Inspecting connector finish during polishing

 Inspecting installed connectors for dirt or scratches
 Inspecting bare fiber before splicing.
 Assures only properly cleaved fibers are used for splices
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Inspection microscope

Source: Fotec
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Optical spectrum analyzer

 Shows graphically how power is distributed as function of

wavelength or frequency

Source: Agilent
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Typical unit

Source: Agilent 86140B

www.agilent.com/cm/rdmfg/osa/86140b/index.shtml
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Close up of trace

Source: Agilent 86140B

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Controls

Source: Agilent 86140B

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Typical traces from spectrum analyzer

EDFA
FP laser
Source: Agilent
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Optical power in common

communications applications

Network Wavelength Power Range, Power

Type nm dBm Range, W

50 nW to
Telecom 1300, 1550 +3 to -45 dBm
2mW
665, 790, -10 to -30
Datacom 1 to 100uW
850, 1300 dBm
250 uW to
CATV 1300, 1550 +10 to -6 dBm
10mW

Source: Fotec
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Causes of error in fiber optic power

measurement
 Imperfect optical coupling
 Reflection from coupled surfaces
 Dirt and other contaminants on optical surfaces
 Wavelength calibration
– Most meters are calibrated for particular wavelength or
set of wavelengths
 Excessively high or low levels
– Exceed linear range of meter
– High levels: saturation
– Low levels: noise interference
 Field measurements typically
made to 0.1 db accuracy Source: Fotec
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Fiber types

Source: Fotec
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Testing attenuation

 Basic setup
 Method
– Insert modal condition
(if multimode fiber)
– Measure power at end
– Calculate
– If multimode, remove
conditioner by cutting
back and remeasure

Source: Fotec
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Modal distribution problems

 In multimode fiber, strength of modes is function of length

– In single mode fiber, there is only one mode
 Zero order mode:
straight-through path
 Higher-order modes: paths
which bounce off of cladding
– Travel longer distance
– Experience more attenuation
because path is longer
 “Equilibrium modal distribution”
(EMD) refers to modes in long
fiber, where higher-order modes
lost through attenuation
Source: Fotec
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Modal distribution problems

(continued)
 Modal distribution depends on many factors
– Source
– Fiber
– Components encountered (splices, connectors, etc.)
 Accurate and reproducible measurement of power in
multimode fiber depends on knowing (or standardizing)
modal distribution
 Also a function of type of coupling used
 Mode conditioners
– Strippers (remove unwanted cladding mode light)
– Scramblers (equalize power in modes)
– Filters (remove higher-order modes to simulate long
distances)
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Fiber mode distribution attenuation

Source: Fotec
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Testing bandwidth and dispersion

 Modal dispersion
– Use narrow spectral width laser, high-speed receiver
– Modulate laser with sine waves (sweep generator)
– Measure attenuation
– Alternate method: measure degradation of pulse
risetime
 Chromatic dispersion
– Compare pulse transit times as function of wavelength
– Requires several different laser sources of different
wavelengths
 Equipment needed is very expensive
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Fiber optic link performance

parameters

Link type Source/Fiber Wave- Transmit Receiver Margin

length (nm) Power (dbm) Sensitivity (dbm) (dB)

Telecom laser/SM 1300 +3 to -6 -40 to -45 34 to 48

1550 0 to –10 -40 to -45 40 to 45

Datacom LED/MM 850 -10 to –20 -30 to -35 10 to 25

1300 -10 to -20 -30 to -35 10 to 25

CATV(AM) laser/SM 1300 +10 to 0 0 to -10 10 to 20

Source: Fotec
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Fiber optic link testing and

troubleshooting
 Use power source and meter to test end-to-end power loss
and power levels
– If there is a problem, work back from receiver to
transmitter
 Types of tests
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Fiber optic link testing and

troubleshooting (continued)
 Many systems and components can be tested with
loopback