CCNA 4 Chapter 17

Optical Networking Fundamentals

By PRAVEENKUMAR P.J

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Objectives
Basics of optical networks Optical fibers Optical transmission and multiplexing

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Optical Business Drivers

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Fiber-Optic Transmission System

All communication systems have three things in common:
A signal source A medium for the signal to travel through A receiver

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Optical Transmitter
An optical transmitter is simply a source of light, like a light bulb. The optical receiver is a semiconductor that changes light into a corresponding electrical signal.
It is generically called an optical-to-electrical converter.

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Optical Transmission
In fiber optics, information is carried by modulating the light power, not the wavelength or frequency of the light. Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), allows more than one wavelength to be sent over a single fiber, thereby increasing the capacity of the fiber.

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Reflection and Refraction

Reflection is a light ray that bounces off the interface of two materials at the same angle it hits. Refraction is the bending of the light ray as it changes speed going from one material to another.

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IOR
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 denser materials (higher IOR) cause light to travel more slowly.

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Optical Fibers

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Fiber Types
A fiber-optic cable has three components:
Protective outer coating Also known as buffer coating. Inner cladding The cladding is of a different density than the core, so the light bounces against it. Fiber core The core is doped with chemicals that enhance its transmission properties.
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Multimode
Multimode fiber is used to transmit many signals per fiber. Multimode allows many paths or modes for the light.

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Single Mode
Single-mode fiber is used to transmit one signal per fiber. Single-mode fiber allows only one 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.

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Loss Factors
Connector loss Macrobending Microbending Absorption

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Attenuation
Attenuation refers to the decrease in the strength of a signal during transmission. Attenuation is a natural consequence of signal transmission over long distance. Two primary factors affect attenuation in optical fibers:
Length of the fiber Wavelength of the light
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Optical Filters
Optical filters are used to identify different wavelengths or lambdas. Fiber bragg grating and the dielectric filter are examples of optical filters.

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Optical Amplifier
The optical amplifier (OA) is a device that amplifies an input optical signal terahertz (THz) of optical bandwidth near 1550 nm.

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Optical Transmission and Multiplexing

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SONET
SONET is the standard for synchronous data transmission on optical media used in North America. SDH is the international equivalent of SONET. Service providers who are using a ring topology primarily deploy SONET. The two prevalent types of rings in networks today are unidirectional path-switched rings (UPSRs) and bidirectional line-switch rings (BLSRs).
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DWDM
DWDM is a technology that transmits multiple signals simultaneously at different wavelengths, allowing a single fiber to operate as if it were multiple fibers. DWDM works in conjunction with optical networks to make data transmission fast and cost effective.

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SONET Overhead Hierarchy

Section overhead (SOH) Line overhead (LOH) Path overhead (POH)

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SONET Rings

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SONET/SDHBased TDM Transport

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SONET Multiplexing Hierarchy

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E/O/E Conversion

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DWDM Data Transmission

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DWDM Advantages
Flexibility Transparency Scalability Dynamic provisioning

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Metro Versus Long-Haul DWDM

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