Optical Communications

Chapter 1: Introduction

Textbooks
[1] G. Keiser, Optical Fiber Communications, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2000 [2] G. P. Agrawal, Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, John Wiley & Sons, 1992 [3] R. Ramaswami and K. N. Sivarajan, Optical Networks A practical Perspective, 3rd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2010 [4] J. Powers, Introduction to Fiber Optic Systems, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1999

Content
Why optical communications? Major Milestones in Optical Fiber Communication Evolution of Optical Communication Systems 1st and 2nd generation optical networks

Why optical communications?

Increasing Need for High-Capacity & Broadband Services

Cisco Forecasts of IP Traffic in 2012

Why optical communications?

Increasing Need for High-Capacity & Broadband Services

Cisco Forecasts of Global Consumer Internet Traffic in 2012

Why optical communications?

Increasing Need for High-Capacity & Broadband Services
Transport of video on demand, Internet video streams and downloads, and the exchange of video and other files through P2P.

Optical Fibers with DWDM Systems Technologies can provide needed solutions

Why optical communications?

Greater bandwidth Small size and weight Low attenuation Freedom from EMI and crosstalk Safety & Electrical Isolation Security (non-invasive tapping impossible)

Major Milestones in Optical Fiber Comm.

1960: T. Maiman demonstrated first laser at Hughes Research Laboratories. 1966: Kao and Hockham proposed the use of optical glass fibers as waveguide for laser light transmission. 1970: Corning developed single-mode fiber with loss of 17dB/km at 633nm. Bell Labs developed first room temperature semiconductor lasers. 1987: University of Southampton developed Erbium doped fiber amplifier operating at 1550nm. 1988: First Trans-Atlantic fiber-optic cable, TAT-8, in service. 1996: Fujitsu, NTT Labs, and Bell Labs all reported sending 1 Tb/s through single optical fiber. 2002: 2.65-Tb/s (Tyco), 3.2-Tb/s (Fitel), 4.27-Tb/s (Alcatel) transmission demonstrated in research laboratories

Evolution of Optical Communication Systems

1960s
Experiments demonstrated the capability of free-space transmission of light signals

1970s
Invention of low-loss optical fibre Deployment of systems using LEDs and multi-longitudinal mode (MLM) lasers over multi-mode (MM) fibres Repeater spacing is several km due to modal dispersion

1980s
MLM laser over single mode (SM) fibre in the 1.3 m band is used Regenerator spacing is about 40km and bit rate is several hundred Mb/s A later system using the 1.55 m band for lower loss, and using SLM DFB laser to overcome chromatic dispersion limits to increase bit rate to > 1 Gb/s

Emergence of 1st generation optical networks

Evolution of Optical Communication Systems

1990s
Development and Deployment of WDM systems operating with 8-32 wavelengths at a bit rate of 2.5 Gb/s Replacement of regenerators with EDFAs Experiments demonstrating > 2 Tb/s transmission over a single fibre

Experiments on 2nd generation optical networks

1st and 2nd generation optical networks

1st generation Optical networks
Optical fiber is used purely as a transmission medium Mainly serving as a replacement for copper cable All the switching and processing of the bits is handled by electronics Widely deployed today in all kinds of telecommunication networks, except in residential access networks
Examples: FDDI, SONET/SDH

2nd generation Optical networks

More than just a direct replacement of copper with fiber Perform some switching and routing functions optically Both OTDM and WDM approaches are being investigated WDM are expected to be deployed not only in interexchange networks but also in local exchange & access networks in the next few years

1st and 2nd generation optical networks

Optical transmission system capacity

Course content
Optical fiber chapter 2 Source chapter 3 Receiver chapter 4 Point-to-Point link chapter 5 SONET/SDH (1st generation) chapter 6 WDM (2nd generation) chapter 7

Block-diagram of an Optical System