OPTICAL FIBER

SYSTEMS
Carlos Pupiales Y.
chpupiales@utn.edu.ec
Outline

• Introduction

• What is F.O

• Types of F.O

• Elements of an Optical System

• Advantages/disvantages

• Applications

• Statistics

• Extra Information
Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 3
Introduction

• Continuous growth in demand for communication capacity.

• More bandwidth requirements.

• Access to Internet has grown very quickly.

• User requirements (Speed, Security)

• Limitations of other technologies

• Limitations of electronics (data processing)

• Cost reduction of fiber and components.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 4

What is F.O?
• The optical fiber is a cable made of glass used to transmit information using photons
instead of electrons.

• Relation between Wavelength and Frequency:

• Where ∆𝒇 and ∆𝝀 are the channel spacing in a WDM system, is the central wavelength.
𝒄 is the speed of light.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 5

What is F.O?
• High frequencies used as carrier (THz)

• It allows high modulation rates.

• Current rates are 2.5, 10, 40, and 100 Gbps.

• Tipically an optical system is point-to-point; however, all-optical network is being

developed.

• The electromagnetic spectrum used in the communications are in or close to the

infrared region.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 Also possible 6

What is F.O?

• Operational windows provide low and/or constant attenuation.

• The third window has the lowest attenuation and allows to use EDFAs.

• 1st and 2nd windows are used in MM applications, 3rd for SM.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 7

Types of F.O
• Silica Fibers:
• Both core and cladding are made of glass
• Germanium and Phosphorus is used to increase the refraction index.
• Impurities cause attenuation and scattering.

• Plastic Fibers:
• Core and cladding are made of plastic Attenuation Spectrum of Silica Fibers
Source: Miya,T.,Y.Tenuama, Thosaka, and T Miyashita ,
“ An ultimate low loss single mode fiber at 1.55 mm,”
• Flexible and light Electron. Letts, Vol 15, 106, 1979)

• Widely used in short distances

• Which is better?
• Plastic is less expensive, flexible and lighter.
• Plastic is larger in diameter, so easy to connect across joints.
• Plastic is less efficient than silica.
• Plastic has more attenuation, and less bandwidth Attenuation Spectrum of Plastic Fibers.
Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 8
(Source: http://www.av.it.pt/conftele2009/Papers/31.pdf)
Multimode Fibers
• Light propagates in different modes.
• Not suitable for long distances and high data rates.

• Step-Index:
• The refractive index of the core is constant, so pulse spreads out loosing the
defined shape.
• Graded-Index:
• The refractive index diminishes gradually from the center axis out toward the
cladding.
Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 9
Single Mode Fibers
• The number of light reflections created when light passes through the core
decreases; therefore, signal can travel faster and farer.

• The small diameter of the fiber allows the light travels following only one mode.

• This propagation way eliminates Intermodal dispersion.

• Suitable for long distances and high data rates.

• It requires less regenerators/amplifiers than multimode fiber.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 10

Diameters

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 11

Elements of an Optical System
• Transmitter:
• Laser, Diode
• Detector
• Optical Fiber
• Optical components:
• Coupler, MUX/DEMUX
• Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG).
• Filter, isolator, circulator.
• Optical SW
• Optical Amplifiers, Regenerators

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 12

Elements: Transmitters
• A source of light should have features such as narrow spectral width, high reliability,
and capability to couple efficiently power to fiber.

• Gas Sources (Laser):

• Long distance and high data rate. Eg. Core network.

• High power

• Expensive.

• Semiconductor Sources (LED):

• Short distance and low data rate. Eg. access networks.

• Low power

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 13

Elements: Passive Optical Couplers
• Devices which operate in the optical domain to split and combine light streams.

• They can be made fusing two fibers.

Source: Optical Networks, R. Ramaswami

• NxN couplers are made from 2x2 couplers.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 14

Elements: Passive Optical Couplers
• Star Couplers

• NxN Star Coupler 𝑁

𝑁𝑥𝑁 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑟 = 𝑁𝑐 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑁
2
• Can be made cascading 2x2 couplers.
• Example:
• Construct a 32 x 32 coupler using 2x2 couplers.
• How many elements are needed?

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 15

Elements: Isolators and Circulators
• Isolator:

• It allows the transmission in one direction and block the other one.

• It’s used mainly to avoid reflections in optical amplifiers.

• Circulator:

• Very similar to an isolator, but it has multiple ports where light may travel
through each port.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 16

Elements: Isolators and Circulators

Source: Optical Networks, R. Ramaswami

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 17

Elements: Filters and FBG
• Filter:

• Separate one wavelength from multiple wavelengths .

• Fiber Bragg Grating:

• FBG is designed to reflect a specific wavelength and let pass others.

• 𝝀 will be reflected back if the following condition is met:

• 𝝀=2𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑓 ᄷ

• Where 𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑓 is the average refraction index between the core and cladding. ᄷ is
the grating period (periodicity of the index variation).

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 18

Elements: Regenerator and Amplifier
• Regenerator:

• It converts the optical signal into electrical one in order to regenerate it.

• Specific for one bit rate and modulation format.

• It works for a specific wavelength.

• Amplifier:

• It works in the optical domain to amplify the optical signal.

• Insensitive to bit rate and modulation format.

• Useful for WDM systems.

• It introduces additional noise.

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 19

Applications of F.O
• Telecommunications Networks
• Long-haul Networks.
• Submarine Cables
• Access Networks
• GPON/EPON
• Core Networks
• Data Centers
• Medical Applications
• Endoscopy

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 20

Advantages and Disadvantages
• High bandwidth
• Low losses
• Security
• Low price
• Lighter and smaller than cooper
• Less heat dissipation
• Components are expensive
• Fragile
• Well trained technicians
• Switching and routing is hard

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 21

How is F.O made?

• Let’s watch this video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CqT4DuAVxs

• More info about that?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjRqGKU9cUU

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MwMkBET_5I

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 22

Statistics
Fiber Connections in Total Broadband Subscriptions

Source: OECD – Business Insider

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 23

Statistics
• Submarine Cables:

• https://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/

• By 2014, more than 35k kilometers of fiber

was deployed in Ecuador. (Source: El Telegrafo)

• By 2016, CNT had rolled-out more than 18k kilometers

of fiber in Ecuador. (Source: Los Andes)

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 24

Sources of Information
• Magazines:
• http://www.lightreading.com/
• http://www.heavyreading.com/
• http://www.pyramidresearch.com/
• http://www.osa.org/

• Manufactures:
• http://www.3m.com
• https://www.anritsu.com/en-GB/
• http://www.fujitsu.com/global/
• https://networks.nokia.com/solutions/optical-networking
• http://carrier.huawei.com/en/products/fixed-network/sub-solution-access/gigafiber
• https://www.fiberbroadband.org/
Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 25
Next class: Propagation

Carlos Pupiales Y. - 2018 26