Introduction

The rapidly changing face of data communications and telecommunications has seen a
continued growth in the need to transfer enormous amounts of information across large
distances. The technologies that were used extensively in the past say 20 years, such as
coaxial cable, satellite and microwave radio for transferring information were, very
quickly running out of capacity. The demand for transmission capacity was far
outstripping its availability.
There was a growing requirement to provide a communications medium that was
more suitable to the noisy industrial environment where the need for data
communications and networking of control systems was rapidly expanding. With the
introduction of fiber optic communications systems, the solution to the problems of
transmission capacity shortage and to noisy industrial environments has been successfully
found.
An optical fiber is simply a very thin piece of glass which acts as a pipe, through which
light can pass. The light that is passed down the glass fiber can be turned on and off to
represent digital information or it can be gradually changed in amplitude,fi*equency,or
phase to represent analog information.
Fiber optic transmission has become one of the most exciting and rapidly changing
fields in telecommunications engineering. To most of us, who have not previously
encountered this technology, it can look like a form of black magic and one that is best
left to experts. However, in reality it is a relatively simple communications technology.
Compared to copper cable transmission and particularly radio and microwave
transmission (which really are black magic!), fiber optic transmission systems are far
easier to design and understand.
Fiber optic transmission systems have many advantages over more conventional
transmission systems. They are less affected by noise, do not conduct electricity and
therefore provide electrical isolation, carry extremely high data transmission rates and
carry data over very long distances. These and other advantages are discussed in detail
throughout this book.
Fiber optic transmission systems are not perfect and there are difficulties involved in
designing, implementing, and operating fiber optic communications systems. This book is
designed to provide a thorough background to fiber optic communications systems and to
illustrate the design and installation of these systems. The many pitfalls associated with
2 Practical Fiber Optics

the implementation of fiber optic systems are discussed and workable solutions to these
problems are provided.
The objective of this book is to provide a thorough, detailed, and practical reference to
the reader. It contains information that is of practical use and avoids the trap many texts
on the subject fall into of getting involved in the maze of technical and mathematical
irrelevance.
A brief overview of the basic concepts involved in fiber optic communications,
historical background to fiber optics and a comparison of copper and optical fiber
transmission mediums is provided in this chapter.

1.1 Historical bacliground to fiber optics

Fiber optic technology did not advance enough to be a commercially viable proposition
for communication purposes until the 1980s. However, there were evolving international
telecommunications standards that were predicting very high data rate requirements.
Although transmission capacity could be obtained from conventional cable, microwave
and satellite technologies, there was a definite shortage of transmission capacity for the
term data transfer requirements. Fiber optic transmission systems have provided the
enormous capacity required overcoming the potentially disastrous short falls.
A brief chronological description of the main events in the technological history that
have shaped the development of fiber optic communications is given here:

Prehistoric Early societies used signal fires to send digital messages to distant
locations. Polybious, a Greek mathematician, developed a method of
sending characters using fires by setting up a matrix of characters
where one set of fires represented rows of the matrix and the other set
represented the columns of the matrix.

1700 Isaac Newton discovered the diffraction of light and that light is
constructed of a spectrum of many different colors.

1790 French engineer Claude Chappe developed the first optical telegraph
system using semaphores. Messages were relayed from one hill to the
next using moving semaphore arms.

1800 William Herschel discovered that a certain part of the spectrum of

light contained infrared energy. French mathematician Augustine
Fresnel developed the first mathematical model to explain the
properties of light. His proposal was based on the premise that light is
constructed of sinusoidal waves. Physicist James Maxwell laid the
foundations for the development of the study of light transmission in
the form of electromagnetic waves. Maxwell's equations are still used
to explain the behavior of radio and light waves in transmission
systems.

1854 British physicist John Tyndall set up an experiment whereby he

passed light down a beam of water, demonstrating the transmission of
a signal by total internal reflection.
 Introduction 3

1880 The famous inventor Alexander Bell invented a device called

Photophone, which contained a membrane made of reflective
material. When sound caused photophone to vibrate, it would
modulate a light beam that was shining on it and reflect this light to a
distant location. The reflected light could then be demodulated using
another photophone. Applying this method, Bell was able to
communicate to a maximum distance of 213 meters. American
engineer William Wheeler designed a lighting system for a building
that was based on a series of pipes and ducting. Light was injected
into one end and the internal reflection through pipes carried the light
rays to a number of pipe ends that emanated in rooms where the light
was to be diffused. Although the system would probably have never
worked efficiently, the idea was sound and eventually led to the
advent of fiber optic communications.

1907 A chemist named Round discovered that by forward biasing different

types of silicon carbide crystals, they emitted yellow, green, orange,
or blue light.

1910 Two physicists, Hondros and Deybe, published an important paper on

the transmission of electromagnetic waves in dielectric solids.

1923 Lossew, a physicist, developed the light emitting diode (LED)

1927 Baird, an engineer, proposed the use of uncoated fibers to transmit

images for television purposes.
1934 A T & T engineer Norman French first patented the idea of
transmitting communications signals down a thin piece of glass. At
that time, there were no transparent materials available with
sufficiently low attenuation to make the technology feasible.

1955 An RCA engineer Braunstein developed a device made of gallium

arsenate that emitted an infrared signal.

1956 NS Kapany, an American company, first used the term 'fiber optics'.
It has the credit of having invented the glass rod for the first time.

1960 Theodore Maiman, an engineer firom Hughes Aircraft, developed the

first operating gas laser. IBM, General Electric, and Massachusetts
Institute of Technology all virtually simultaneously developed
injection laser diodes.

1966 Two researchers at STL in Harlow developed a glass fiber that had an
attenuation of approximately 1000 dB/km.

1970 The Coming Glass Works company developed a technique for

manufacturing glass fibers that exhibited an attenuation of 20 dB/km.
Bell laboratories, RCA, and scientists in the then Soviet Union
developed continuous operation semiconductor injection lasers.
4 Practical Fiber Optics

1972 Signal attenuation in optical fibers was reduced to 4 dB/km.

1976 Rediffusion installed the first commercial fiber optic system for
transmission of analog television signals.

1980 Fiber optic communication systems became commercially available.

1.2 Comparison of fiber optic and copper cabling systems

Fiber optic technology will definitely be used in the future as the main medium for
information transmission. It is one of the reasons for the massive increase in international
telecommunications and arguably the perception of the apparent 'shrinking planet'. This
technology has been the backbone that has enabled the Internet to become the incredible
information medium it is today. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not everything
to all people. There are still many limitations to fiber optic systems and many challenges
yet to overcome.
Before discussing the theory of fiber optic transmission, this section will compare
copper cables to fiber cables and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using each.

1.2.1 Bandwidth
Fiber
Fiber optic cables have enormous bandwidth with transmission speeds up to 40 Gbps
operating today and over 100 Gbps is expected in the near future. The factors presently
limiting an increase in data speeds are: firstly, the time responses of the source and
detectors are slow compared to the pulse periods for high data rates; secondly, the
wavelength of light is close enough to the pulse period to cause differentiation problems
at the detectors. Methods of multiplexing several wavelengths onto one fiber (referred to
as wave division multiplexing (WDM)) increase combined transmission speeds over a
single fiber to over several Tbps.
To provide a feel for what this represents in terms of information transfer, a fiber optic
link operating at approximately 1 Gbps per second can carry over 30 000 compressed
audio telephone calls simultaneously. A link operating at 30 Gbps can carry up to 1
million telephone calls simultaneously on a single glass fiber!
Copper
Coaxial cables with diameters of up to 8 cm can carry speeds reaching 1 Gbps over
distances of 10 km. The limiting factor is the very high cost of copper.
Significant research is presently going on into increasing transmission speeds on
twisted pair cables. Speeds of 100 Mbps are now quite common in many local area
networks. Commercial systems are also available that operate up to 1 Gbps. Laboratory
tests have successfully been carried out at 10 Gbps and products are nearing commercial
release. The reason for such active development in this area is to make use of the over
abundance of twisted pair cable infrastructure already installed and hence provide
significant cost savings associated with trenching, ducting and laying of new fiber optic
cables. For this reason, twisted pair cable technology is presently very competitive
compared to fiber optic technology as both have many common applications.
 Introduction 5

1.2.2 Interference
Fiber
Fiber optic cables are completely unaffected by electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio
frequency interference (RFI), lightning and high voltage switching. They do not suffer
from capacitive or inductive coupling problems. If designed correctly, fiber optic cables
should be unaffected by nuclear magnetic pulses from nuclear explosions, and they
should be unaffected by background nuclear radiation. (The greater majority of the
population will be comforted by this knowledge after a nuclear war!)
As an adjunct to this fact, fiber optic cables do not emit any electromagnetic
interference or radio frequency interference. This characteristic is very important in the
areas of computing, video, and audio, where low noise environments are increasingly
more vital for increased performance and production quality.
Copper
Copper cables are affected by external interference. Depending on the type of cable and
the amount of shielding around the cable, they are affected to varying degrees by EMI
and RFI through inductive, capacitive, and resistive coupling. Copper cable-based
communications systems are permanently destroyed by nuclear magnetic pulses.
Copper cables also emit electromagnetic radiation, which can cause interference to
other copper cable-based communications systems. The amount of radiation they emit
depends on the magnitude of the signal they are carrying and the quality of the shielding.

1.2.3 Electrical isolation

Fiber
Fiber optic cables provide complete galvanic isolation between both ends of the cable.
The characteristic of non-conductivity of fibers makes the cables immune to voltage
surges. This eliminates interference that may be caused from ground loops, common
mode voltages, as well as shifts and shorts in ground potential. The fiber optic cable acts
like a long opto-isolator. A further advantage is that because optical fibers do not emit
radiation and are not affected by interference, there is no cross talk between cables (that
is, emission of radiation from one communications cable interfering with another cable,
which is running next to it).
Copper
Copper cables, simply working in their designed purpose, provide an electrical
connection between both their ends. Therefore, they are susceptible to ground loops,
common mode voltages, and ground potential variations. They will also suffer from
potential cross talk problems.

1.2.4 Transmission distances

Fiber
As for cheap simple fiber optic systems, distances up to 5 km between repeaters are
possible. For high-grade commercial systems, distances up to 300 km between repeaters
are now readily available. Systems have been installed between two end points (where
repeaters were not required) for distances upto 400 km. Distances close to 1000 km have
been achieved in the laboratory but have not made it into the commercial world as yet. A
European company has claimed that it is presently developing a fiber cable that could be
laid completely around the larger diameter of the earth, and without any repeaters, and
6 Practical Fiber Optics

can carry a signal from one end to the other! How is this possible? Using a slightly
radioactive cladding, the incoming low energy light photons excite electrons in the
cladding, which in turn release higher energy light photons. Thus, a form of self-
amplification occurs. The chapters that follow will help the reader to understand these
terms.
Copper
Distances upto 2.4 km between repeaters at data speeds of 4 Mbps are commercially
available as for twisted cables. Distances upto 25 km between repeaters at speeds of less
than 1 Mbps are possible in case of coaxial cables.

1.2.5 Size and weight

Fiber
Compared to all other data transmission cables, fiber optic cables are extremely
lightweight and very small in diameter. A four-core fiber optic cable will weigh
approximately 240 kg/km and a 36-core fiber optic cable will weigh only about 3 kg
more. Because of their small size compared to copper cables of the same transmission
capacity, they are generally easier to install in existing conduits, and installation time and
cost are generally reduced since they are light in weight and easier to handle.
Copper
Copper cable might weigh from 800 k/km for a 36 twisted pair sheathed cable to 5 tons
for a kilometer of high quality large diameter coaxial cable.

1.2.6 Use in hazardous gas areas

Fiber
Multimode fibers operating with LED light sources are suitable for use in hazardous gas
areas. Until recently, it was thought that all fibers were suitable for use in hazardous
areas; research has however, shown that certain fiber links with powerful light sources
(lasers) can raise the temperature of a metal surface they are shining on to the point of gas
ignition or, they may cause sparks under certain conditions.
Copper
Unless copper cable transmission systems are very stringently designed and adhere to
strict intrinsic safety standards, they are not suitable for use in hazardous gas areas.
Copper cables that are carrying even small currents can form sparks or arc between
cables, unless current limiting controls are applied to the transmission circuits.

1.2.7 Security
Fiber
It is almost impossible to hook across a fiber optic cable and 'bug' the data transmission.
The fibers have to be physically tapped to extract the data, which will decrease signal
levels and increase error rates, both of which are easily detected. With presently available
technology, fiber optic systems are considered highly secure systems. It is anticipated that
this will change in the near fiiture, as methods of multidropping of fibers improve.
 Introduction 7

Copper
Tapping into a copper cable transmission system is simply a matter of hooking across the
cable with an equivalent high impedance cable. Copper cables are not considered highly
secure systems.

1.2.8 Multidropping for LANs

Fiber
At present, there are a few methods of multidropping from a fiber optic transmission
system, but they are not very effective. They are difficult to implement, and are very
costly. Significant research is presently being undertaken into this area but cost effective
systems are probably still some years away.
Optical fiber cables are also difficult to install, delicate and must be kept clear of
possible physical stress that may damage them.
Copper
Multidrop copper-based systems are commonplace, simple to install and are very cost
effective. Twisted pair cables, in particular, are cheap, easy to install and terminate,
reliable and robust.

1.2.9 Jointing and connectors

Fiber
Jointing of optical fibers is relatively difficult and requires specialized training and tools.
These days, most short distance cables are bought pre-terminated, where machines in
factories apply the terminations. The costs of connectors and tools are relatively high.
Copper
Jointing of twisted pair cables is comparatively easy and relatively cheap. Coaxial cables
can be difficult to terminate and components are relatively expensive but not to the extent
of fiber optic systems.

1.2.10 Terminal equipment

Fiber
The biggest single factor limiting the mass distribution of fiber optic systems is the very
high costs of the terminal transmission and receiving equipment. For high-speed systems,
the costs can be between four and ten times those of equivalent copper-based systems.
Slower speed systems are gradually reducing in cost but are still generally slightly more
expensive than their equivalent copper-based systems.
Copper
The electronics of the terminal equipment for copper-based systems is significantly easier
to design and manufacture than fiber optic terminal equipment and is therefore,
significantly cheaper.

1.2.11 Test equipment and testing (fiber and copper)

Both fiber optic and copper system test equipment is complicated and generally very
cumbersome and expensive. The only exception is in copper systems that have low speed
transmission links.