ECE506: Optical Fiber

Lecture 1
Dr. Fatma Khallaf
Email: [email protected]
Spring 2025
 Course Code

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 General Information

Code/ Course Name ECE506: Optical Fiber

Pre-requisite ECE 402: Communications Engineering 1
Credit Hours 3 Hours
No. of Weeks 10 Weeks
Day/ Time/ Place Sunday/ 11.00-13.00/ Annex 01
Grades (100%) • 40% Final Exam
• 30% Mid-term Exam
• 10% Lab-Exam
• 20% Others
✓ Quizzes
✓ Assignments
✓ Attendance

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 Course Materials

References:

1. Fiber Optic Communication Systems Third Edition

https://www.academia.edu/37325995/Fiber_Optic_Communication_Systems_
3rd_ed_2002_pdf

2. Understanding Optical Communications

https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/D71/%CE%A3%CE%B7%C
E%BC%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%8E%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%82/
Understanding%20Optical%20Communications.pdf

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 Course Contents

• Optical versus radio frequency communications

• Optical fibers
• Ray representation in optical fibers
• Model analysis in step and graded index optical fibers
Signal degradation
• Optical receivers
• Optical properties of III – V semiconductors
• Emitters: SC laser diodes, light emitting diodes.
• Photo detectors PIN and avalanche photo diode (APD).
 Outlines

• Introduction
• Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications
• Optical Communication Systems

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 Introduction
• A communication link can be made with a variety of media, including
twisted-wire pair, coaxial cable, RF(radio frequency) or IR (infrared)
wireless signal transmission, or optical fiber cable.
• Optical fiber systems use pulses of light traveling through an optical
fiber to transmit data. This method offers many advantages over
copper wire, some of which are not available with other technology:

1. Complete input/output electrical isolation.

2. No electromagnetic interference (EMI) along the transmission
media.
3. Broad bandwidth over a long distance.
4. Light-weight, small-diameter cables.
5. Equal to the cost of copper wire and connectors (except when
copper wire is already installed).
 Introduction

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 Introduction

• Increase in bit rate–distance

product BL during the period
1850–2000.

• A commonly used figure of

merit for communication
systems is the bit rate–distance
product, BL, where B is the bit
rate and L is the repeater
spacing.

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 Introduction
Types of transmission media:

Transmission Media Description

Twisted Pair Cable Used in telephone lines, LANs, and DSL

(Wired) Media

connections.
Guided

Coaxial Cable Used for cable TV, broadband internet, and Ethernet
networks.
Fiber Optic Cable Uses light signals for high-speed and long-distance
communication.
Radio Waves Used in FM/AM radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and
(Wireless) Media

mobile networks.
Unguided

Microwave Transmission Used in satellite communications and cellular

networks.
Infrared (IR) Waves Used in remote controls and short-range
communication.
Twisted Pair Cable Radio Waves

Coaxial Cable Microwave Transmission

Fiber Optic Cable Infrared (IR) Waves

 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• Wireless communications relies on the transmission and reception of

RF/microwave signals modulated with the information to be
carried while optical communications uses modulated light beamed
through fiber-optic cables.

• In the case of fixed wireless communications, the infrastructure is

installed in discrete locations, with line-of-sight (LOS) paths
between the locations so that radio waves can propagate through
the atmosphere without obstructions. The extreme example of a
long LOS wireless link is a satellite, with a clear path between an
earth station and the satellite orbiting Earth.
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 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• The infrastructure of an optical communications system, on the other

hand, is distributed from one communications location to another. Fiber-
optic cables must be installed from one point to the next to enable optical
communications.
• A fixed microwave link sends information through the air between two
points, a fiber-optic link depends upon these cables, which must be
installed with care and then maintained over time.
• Optical cables can break or be cut and must be repaired, and this is not a
trivial task. Business models for laying fiber-optic cables typically assume
a 50-year lifespan for the capital investment of installing the optical
network equipment, which may also include links to individual
subscribers, known as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) optical communications.
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 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• In terms of pure communications speed, fixed wireless links typically

provide faster connections than optical links. The connection speed is
usually measured in terms of a system’s latency, which is essentially
the time required to receive and respond to a signal. It takes into account
signal switching and any delays through the propagation medium.

• The latency of a fiber-optic system is typically longer than that of a fixed

wireless link for the same distance, and increases significantly with
increases in link distance compared to a fixed wireless link.

• Radio waves travel at the speed of light in air, around 3*108 m/s.
• Light in fiber is much slower, around 2*108 m/s.

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 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• The key differentiator between fixed wireless links and optical

communications systems is in bandwidth.
• Fiber-optic cables are capable of supporting almost unlimited
bandwidth, which translates to Gb/s data rates.
• Fixed wireless links, since they are sending signals through free
space rather than through an optical fiber or other confined
medium, operate within fixed segments of frequency spectrum that
must be licensed for different applications to avoid interference from
too many signals within the same frequency range in the same
location. As a result, the limited bandwidth of any wireless system
will also limit the amount of data that can be transferred between
points
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at any one time.
 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• The bandwidth of an optical fiber is potentially as wide as the

optical portion of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, or
about 10 THz or more.
• The components for an optical transmitter, such as a light-
emitting diode (LED) or laser transmitter, and a photodiode-
based receiver are slow, the data speeds of systems using
these components is still limited to the low Gb/s range rather
than the Tb/s range.

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 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• Similar to the way that frequency bandwidths are divided in

wireless systems using frequency division multiplex (FDM),
optical communications systems use forms of wavelength
division multiplexing (WDM) to increase capacity over optical
fiber lines by using different wavelengths through the cable for
different carriers.

• By multiplexing or combining different carriers at the

optical transmitter and demultiplexing or extracting the separate
carriers at the optical receiver, the data rate of a single fiber
line can be dramatically increased into the Tb/s range.
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 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• Wireless communications systems are licensed for their use of

frequency bandwidth to avoid congestion within one band.

• Some bands become overcrowded, such as 2.45 GHz, because

of the low cost of implementing hardware at that frequency
compared to higher frequencies. But licensing of frequency
spectra by different agencies, such as the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S., is meant to
organize different wireless applications, including communications
systems, into different bands.
 Optical Vs. Radio Frequency Communications

• Just as some optical energy is lost as a function of distance

through an optical cable, some EM energy is lost by
microwave signals propagating through the atmosphere,
with loss increasing as a function of distance.

• Because of the difficulty of “eavesdropping” on a fiber- optic

network, optical communications systems are often used as
the communications backbone for surveillance systems in
buildings.

• For the difficulty of installing a fiber-optic network, it has its

rewards of amazing bandwidth and robustness.
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 Optical Communication Systems
• Optical communication systems differ in principle from microwave
systems only in the frequency range of the carrier wave used
to carry the information. The optical carrier frequencies are
typically ∼ 200 THz, in contrast with the microwave carrier
frequencies ( ∼ 1 GHz). An increase in the information capacity of
optical communication systems by a factor of up to 10,000 is
expected simply because of such high carrier frequencies used for
lightwave systems.

• Optical communication systems have the potential of carrying

information at bit rates ∼ 1 Tb/s. It is this enormous potential
bandwidth of optical communication systems that is the driving force
behind the worldwide development and deployment of lightwave
systems.
 Optical Communication Systems

• Optical communication systems can be classified into two

broad categories: guided and unguided.

• In the case of guided lightwave systems, the optical beam

emitted by the transmitter remains spatially confined.

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 Optical Communication Systems

• In the case of unguided optical communication systems, the

optical beam emitted by the transmitter spreads in space,
similar to the spreading of microwaves. However, unguided
optical systems are less suitable for broadcasting applications
than microwave systems because optical beams spread
mainly in the forward direction (as a result of their short
wavelength).

• Their use generally requires accurate pointing between the

transmitter and the receiver.

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 Optical Communication Systems

• The telecommunication applications can be broadly classified

into two categories, long-haul and short- haul, depending
on whether the optical signal is transmitted over relatively long
or short distances.

• Long-haul telecommunication systems require high- capacity

trunk lines. Transmission distances of thousands of kilometers
can be realized by using optical amplifiers.

• Short-haul telecommunication applications cover local-loop

traffic. Such systems typically operate at low bit rates over
distances of less than 10 km.
 Optical (Lightwave) System

• The Figure shows a generic block diagram of an

optical communication system. It consists of a
transmitter, a communication channel, and a receiver.

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 Optical Fibers as a Communication Channel
• The role of a communication channel is to transport the optical signal from
transmitter to receiver without distorting it. Optical power reduces to only 1%
after 100 km. Fiber losses determines the repeater or amplifier spacing of a
long-haul lightwave system.

• Another important design issue is fiber dispersion, which leads to broadening

of individual optical pulses with propagation. If optical pulses spread
significantly outside their allocated bit slot, the transmitted signal is
severely degraded. Eventually, it becomes impossible to recover the original
signal with high accuracy. The problem is most severe in the case of
multimode fibers, since pulses spread rapidly (typically at a rate of ∼10 ns/km).

• It is for this reason that most optical communication systems use single mode
fibers. Dispersion can be reduced by controlling the spectral width of the
optical source.
 Optical Transmitters

• The role of an optical transmitter is to convert the electrical

signal into optical form and to launch the resulting optical
signal into the optical fiber.
• This Figure shows the block diagram of an optical
transmitter. It consists of an optical source, a modulator, and
a channel coupler.

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 Optical Transmitters

• Semiconductor lasers or light-emitting diodes are

used as optical sources because of their compatibility
with the optical-fiber communication channel.

• The optical signal is generated by modulating the optical

carrier wave. Although an external modulator is
sometimes used.

• The coupler focuses the optical signal onto the

entrance plane of an optical fiber with the maximum
possible efficiency.

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 Optical Transmitters
• The launched power is an important design parameter. One can
increase the amplifier (or repeater) spacing by increasing it,
but various nonlinear effects (caused dispersion and attenuation)
limits how much the input power can be increased. The launched
power is often expressed in “dBm” units with 1 mW as the reference
level. The general definition is:

(1)

• Thus, 1 mW is 0 dBm, but 1 μW corresponds to −30 dBm. The

launched power is rather low (< −10 dBm) for light- emitting
diodes but semiconductor lasers can launch powers ∼10 dBm. As
light-emitting diodes are also limited in their capabilities, most
Lightwave
23 systems use semiconductor lasers as optical sources.
 Optical Receivers

• An optical receiver converts the optical signal received

at the output end of the optical fiber back into the
original electrical signal. The Figure shows the block
diagram of an optical receiver. It consists of a coupler,
a photodetector, and a demodulator.

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 Optical Receivers
• The coupler focuses the received optical signal onto the
photodetector. Semiconductor photodiodes are used as
photodetectors.

• The design of the demodulator depends on the modulation

format used by the lightwave system.

• Most lightwave systems employ a scheme referred to as

"intensity modulation with direct detection" (IM/DD).
Demodulation in this case is done by a decision circuit that
identifies bits as 1 or 0, depending on the amplitude of the electric
signal. The accuracy of the decision circuit depends on the SNR
of 25the electrical signal generated at the photodetector.
 Optical Receivers

• The performance of a digital Lightwave system is

characterized through the bit-error rate (BER).

• The BER is the average probability of incorrect bit

identification. Therefore, a BER of 10−6 corresponds to on
average one error per million bits.

• Most Lightwavesystems specify a BER of 10−9 as the operating

requirement; some even require a BER as small as 10−14 The
error-correction codes are sometimes used to improve the BER
of a Lightwave systems.
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 Optical Receivers
• An important parameter for any receiver is the receiver sensitivity.
It is usually defined as the minimum average optical power required
to realize a BER of 10 −9.

• Receiver sensitivity depends on the SNR, which in turn depends on

various noise sources that corrupt the signal received.

• Even for a perfect receiver, some noise is introduced by the process

of photodetection itself. This is referred to as the quantum noise or
the shot noise, as it has its origin in the particle nature of electrons.

• There are several other noise sources. Some of the noise sources
such as thermal noise are internal to the receiver. Others originate
at the transmitter or during propagation along the fiber link.
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 Optical Receivers

• Also, any amplification of the optical signal along the

transmission line with the help of optical amplifiers
introduces the so-called amplifier noise.

• The receiver sensitivity is determined by a cumulative

effect of all possible noise mechanisms that degrade the
SNR at the decision circuit.

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 Transceiver

Couplers
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THANKS
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