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Training Manual
FIBER OPTIC
FUNDAMENTALS

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 1

 Where Fiber Optic Systems are Employed
Training Manual

• Carrier Systems - Interexchange Carriers (IXCs) like AT&T, MCI, and Sprint

• Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) - Bell Companies, bypass carriers (electric companies,
Metropolitan Fiber Systems), CATV

• LANS (Local Area Networks) - hospitals, campuses, airports, military bases

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Fiber Optic Advantages

Training Manual
Wide Bandwidth - Optical fiber allows the transmission of an enormous amount of
information between two points. It has a potential useful range up to 1 THz. This large
bandwidth allows a high bit rate, resulting in more voice channels per cable. An example
would be a 1.2 Gb/s system that could possibly transmit 16,128 voice channels.

Low Loss - Attenuation in coaxial cable and twisted pair wires increases with frequency, but
in fiber optic cable the attenuation remains constant over a wide range of frequencies.
Therefore, the number of repeaters needed in fiber optic systems is much lower.

Electromagnetic Immunity (EMI) - Optical fibers will not pick-up or radiate electromagnetic
radiation like copper cables. Any copper conductor acts like an antenna by either transmitting
or receiving energy. A burst of EMI may appear in the bit stream and cause bit errors.
Crosstalk, a real problem for copper, is not an issue with fiber optics.

Security - Fiber optic cable is very secure because it is so difficult to tap. The process involves
removing layers of protective materials that actually surround the fiber cable. The fiber then
has to be bent to allow light to escape to an optical receiver. This bending attenuates the signal
because light is escaping. If the system is being monitored, this attenuation can be detected.

Reliability - Fiber optic cable is very reliable once the system is turned up. Most of the
problems with these systems occur during installation and test acceptance. Once the system
is running, usually the only problems that would occur would be due to cable breaks or cuts.

Lightweight and small - A typical single conductor fiber optic cable weighs 9 lb./kft. A
comparable coaxial cable weighs about 80 lb./kft. Fiber cable greatly exceeds the
information capacity of coaxial cable while being about 10 times smaller.

Intrinsic safety - A fiber is a dielectric; it doesn’t carry electricity. Therefore, it presents

no arc or fire hazard. Fiber optic cable can’t cause explosions or fires like faulty copper cable
can in an industrial environment. Fiber is especially attractive where intrinsic safety is an
issue, such as in chemical plants and oil refineries.

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 3

 Refraction
Training Manual

The refractive index (symbolized as n) of a material is defined as the ratio of the speed of light
in a vacuum to the speed of light in the material. Light is bent as it passes through a surface
where the refractive index changes, for example, as it passes from air to glass. This
“bending” of light is called refraction. The amount of bending depends on the refractive
indexes of the two materials and the angle at which the light strikes the surface between them.

Light Normal

Air

Glass
I = Angle of Incidence
R = Angle of Reflection

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Light Guiding

Training Manual
Core and Cladding
Optical fiber is composed of two major sections, the core and the cladding. The core is the
center of the fiber, and is the path for the light to travel. The cladding surrounds the core.

When light strikes a boundary with a lower refractive index at a particular angle, it can’t get
out and is reflected back into the material with the higher refractive index. Because the
cladding has a lower refractive index than the core, light is guided down the fiber by the
principle known as total internal reflection. If the angle at which the light strikes the cladding
is to steep, light will be lost.

Jacket

Jacket
Ref. Index
Cladding 1.46
Core Ref. Index
1.48
Cladding Ref. Index
1.46
Jacket

Cladding (n2)

Core (n1) Light at less than

Angle of
Incidence = Angle of
Reflection
critical angle is
absorbed in Jacket
Light is propagated by total
internal reflection

Internal Reflection in an Optical Fiber

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 5

 Numerical Aperture
Training Manual

The Numerical Aperture (NA) of a fiber is the maximum angle that light can be accepted into
the fiber. The acceptance angle will vary depending on the refractive indexes of the core and
the cladding. Fibers having a large N.A. enter the fiber at a steeper angle, which results in light
taking more time to propagate down the fiber. This decreases the bandwidth and increases
the attenuation. Fibers having a small N.A. enter the fiber at less of an angle, which results
in light taking less time to propagate down the fiber. This increases the bandwidth and
decreases the attenuation.

Jacket
Ref. Index
Cladding 1.46
Acceptance Core Ref. Index
Angle 1.48
Cladding Ref. Index
1.46
Jacket

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Training Manual
Types of Fiber

There are two types of fiber optic cable: multimode and singlemode. The following is
a comparison between the two types of cable:

Multimode – 850/1300 nm wavelength Singlemode – 1300 nm or 1550 nm wavelength

• Used heavily in LANS originally. • Deployed in carrier, local loop, and

• 850 nm wavelength can travel
approximately 3 miles before
regeneration. 1300 nm wavelength
can travel approximately 8 miles.
LANs.
• 1300 nm wavelength can travel
approximately 25 miles before regen-
eration. 1550 nm wavelength can travel
apapproximately 50 miles.

• Commonly uses LEDs as power source.

• Large core diameter: 50/125 µm or
62.5/125 µm.
• Limited bandwidth per kilometer
≅ 600 MHz for 1 km
• Originally the least expensive fiber
produced.
• Commonly uses LASERs as power
source.
• Small core diameter: 8/125 µm or
10/125 µm.
• Unlimited bandwidth. Singlemode is
specified by dispersion instead of
bandwidth. Singlemode's upper limits
on bandwidth is in the THz.
• Currently costs less than multimode.

As you can see, singlemode has advantages over multimode in cost, bandwidth, and the
distance the signal can be transmitted without adding repeaters. So why are multimode
systems desirable in the LAN?

• Multimode fibers usually incorporate LEDs instead of LASERs because of the short
distance the signal needs to travel, which results in a large cost savings.

• When splicing fiber or installing connectors it is much easier to align the multimode
fiber than singlemode fiber because the core of the glass is much larger.

• The amount of training and expertise on multimode fiber is less critical.

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 7

 Multimode vs Singlemode
Training Manual

Input Output Dispersion Refractive

Pulse Pulse Index
Profile
n1

100 140 µm

n1
Multimode Step Index Core
Cladding

n1

62.5 125 µm

n1
Multimode Graded Index

n1

8 125 µm

n1
Singlemode Step Index

Multimode Step Index - Original fiber production, no longer used for telecommunications.
Light travels in different modes or paths causing excessive spreading of the pulse because
longer paths have a longer propagation time.

Multimode Graded Index - Advanced multimode. The refractive index is decreased

gradually as it gets closer to the cladding. Light will travel faster at the lower refractive
indexes. Therefore, pulse spreading is not as great because the indexes are graded so light
can be received at roughly the same time.

Singlemode - Essentially one path for the light to travel. The spreading of the pulse is
negligible.

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Transmission Windows

Training Manual
10

8
Attenuation (dB/kM)

6 Window 1

OH
4
Window 2 Window 3
OH
2
OH

700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

Fiber optic systems usually use the 850, 1300, and 1550 nm wavelengths for transmission
because losses are lower at these wavelengths due to properties inherent to the glass.

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 9

 Dispersion
Training Manual

Pulse dispersion, or spreading of the pulse, increases with distance, therefore limiting the
transmission rate of the fiber system. There are two types of dispersion: modal and
chromatic.

Modal Dispersion
Modal dispersion limits bandwidth in multimode fiber. Multimode fiber, which has a core
seven times as large as singlemode fiber, has multimodes (many paths) for the light to travel.
The core in singlemode fiber has only one mode for the light to travel, so modal dispersion
isn’t a problem. Because there are many modes for the light to travel in multimode fiber, the
light pulses spread out as they are transmitted down the fiber. If the pulse spreads too much,
errors in the transmission information can occur. Modal dispersion is the major limitation
in multimode fiber.

Logical Input 1 0 1

Transmitted Light Pulses

Received Light Pulses

Electrical Output

Logical Output 1 1 1

Modal Dispersion Results in Bit Errors

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Chromatic Dispersion

Training Manual
Chromatic dispersion is the sum of waveguide dispersion and material dispersion. Material
dispersion depends on the glass composition and waveguide dispersion occurs because light
moves faster in the lower index cladding than in the higher index core. Chromatic dispersion
is close enough to zero that it is not an issue with today’s long distance applications that use
1300nm LASER’s as their sources.

40

30

20

10
Dispersion (ps/nm km)

–10

–20

–30
1200 1300 1400
Wavelength (Nanometers)

Waveguide Material Total

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 11

 Attenuation
Training Manual

Attenuation, or loss of light, of fiber optic cable is expressed in dB/km. The greater the
wavelength, the lower the attenuation. Therefore, 1300nm has more attenuation per dB than
1550nm. So, why not use 1550nm as the LASER source? Chromatic dispersion is well above
zero at this wavelength and would become a problem. One way to solve this problem would
be to use a single frequency laser that emits only one frequency. Another way would be by
using dispersion shifted fiber. By changing properties inherent to the glass, the zero
dispersion wavelength can be shifted to 1550nm. Unfortunately, these alternatives can be
difficult and costly to perform.

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Microbends

Training Manual
Fiber optic cable has an inherent amount of attenuation due to imperfections in the glass.
These impurities are called microbends and they can deflect light and cause attenuation. The
effects of microbends are more serious at the shorter wavelengths.

Cladding

Core

Cladding

Impurities in the Glass

Light Scattering

Scattering of light caused by impurities in the glass itself causes inherent attenuation in fiber
optic cable. Scattering occurs in all directions and decreases substantially at the longer
wavelengths. Therefore, the longer the wavelength, the farther the signal can be transmitted
with fewer regenerators.

Light Ray
Imperfection

FIBER OPTIC FUNDAMENTALS • Version 3.0 September 1994 • 13

 Macrobends
Training Manual

Macrobends are physical bends in a fiber optic cable that allow light to escape from the core
and cladding causing attenuation. The loss due to macrobends is more severe at longer
wavelengths.

Excessive Bending of the Cable

Macrobend

Fresnel Reflections

When light passes from one refractive index to another, such as glass to air, a small portion
of light is always reflected back into the glass. These reflections are called Fresnel
Reflections. An example of this would be if you were to look out a window. You can see
outside but you can also see your own reflection in the glass. This is comparable to a Fresnel
Reflection in fiber optics. These reflections commonly occur at two locations: connectors
and mechanical splices that don’t contain refractive index gel. Reflections can cause errors
in high speed fiber optic systems. Return loss measurements are performed to detect
excessive reflections.

Glass Air

4%
(14dB) 96%
Reflection Transmission

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