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What is "ask-ee" ?
ASCII (AMERICAN STANDARD CODE FOR INFORMATION INTERCHANGE)
A standard for digital representation of letters, numbers, and control codes;
understood by most computers
BIT (BINARY DIGIT) An acronym for Binary digit. A bit is a digit in binary form and
carries one of two values, 0 or 1.
BYTE A single computer character, generally 8 bits.
My name in binary code is:

J = 11010001
o = 10010110
e = 10000101

Direct or External Modulation

We now know that an optical network is digital, meaning that
data is represented by 1s and 0s

Direct modulation is simply switching the

laser on and off

In external modulation, the lasers output

is constant - it is sent through a shutter that
can open or close to switch the light output
on and off

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Bandwidth Units of Measurement

In digital systems, bandwidth is expressed as

bits (of data) per second (bps)

Bit = smallest unit of digital information

byte = a set of 8 bits

bps = bits per second

Kbps = 1000 bps

Mbps = 1,000,000 bps

Gbps = 1,000,000,000 (one billion) bps

Tbps = 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) bps

Fiber Advantages a brief summary

It has exceptional bandwidth
It has the ability to carry many signals concurrently
It is immune to electromagnetic interference
It has no electromagnetic emissions
It does not corrode like copper based cabling does
It is resistant to eavesdropping
It is virtually "future proof
It has the capability to operate in conjunction with any current,
or proposed, LAN/WAN standard
It is light weight and easy to handle
Its pulling strength is much higher than that of copper
and on it goes

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Fiber versus Copper

A single copper pair is capable of carrying 6
phone calls
A single fiber pair is capable of carrying over 2.5
million simultaneous phone calls (64 channels at
2.5 Gb/s)

Fiber Design

Core Cladding Coating Strength

Members

Jacket

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Fiber Design
CORE AND CLADDING DIAMETER

125

125

50

62.5

Multimode
Glass Fibre

125

140 100

Plastic Fibre
Step Index Multimode

Single-mode
All measurements in m

A micron (short for micrometer) is one-millionth of a meter

How Fiber Works

Cladding - (Silica)
(Lower refractive index)

Coating - (Acrylic or Silicon)

Light

CORE - (Silica)
(Higher refractive index)

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Total Internal Reflection

Total Internal Reflection: Light injected into the core and striking the
core-to-cladding interface at an angle greater than the critical angle will be
reflected back into the core

The critical angle is the angle of incidence for which the angle of
refraction is 90. At this angle the refracted ray glances parallel to the
boundary.
For angles greater in absolute value than the critical angle, all the light is
reflected.
This can only occur where light travels from a medium with a higher refractive
index (slower) to one with a lower refractive index (faster)
Cladding
Less Dense

Core
More Dense

Total Internal Reflection

When a wave hits a boundary with a medium that it can travel faster in
(e.g. light going from the core into cladding or air) it will be refracted
through a larger angle than its angle of incidence.

The speed of light in a vacuum is equal to 300,000,000 m/sec IR = 1

The speed of light in glass is 200,000,000 m/sec IR = 1.5

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HOW OPTICAL FIBER IS MADE

1. Making the preform
2. Drawing the perform

See video!

OPTICAL FIBER PARAMETERS

 The lowest visible frequency is
red; the highest is violet
 Commonly known as the visible
light spectrum
 They lie in the wavelength range
between 400 and 700 nanometers

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ATTENUATION
Attenuation is the reduction of signal strength over the length of
the fiber
Rayleigh scattering accounts for the majority (about 96%) of
attenuation

The second type of attenuation in fiber is absorption and

accounts for 3-5 % of fiber attenuation
This phenomenon causes a light signal to be absorbed by
natural impurities in the glass

FIBER TYPES

Multi-Mode: supports hundreds of modes

Single-Mode: supports a single mode of light

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Step-Index MM

This has the effect of scattering the signal because the rays
arrive at the far end at different times

This is known as Inter-modal Dispersion (sometimes referred
to as Differential Mode Delay, DMD)

To ease the problem, graded index fibers were developed

Graded Index Fiber

 Has a high refractive index at the centre which gradually

reduces to a low refractive index at the circumference
 Slows down the lower order modes allowing the higher
order modes to catch-up

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Graded vs. Stepped Index MM Fiber

Single-mode Fiber
Eliminates modal dispersion
Enables very long distance transmission
Small NA requires precise alignment of transmitter &
connectors
Requires more expensive transmitters, connectors,
installation
A single light beam is transmitted down the fiber and
does not interact with the cladding/core boundary.

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DISPERSION
 Note: Dispersion is not a loss of light; it's a distortion
of the signal.
 Thus, dispersion and attenuation are two very
different and unrelated problems:
1. Modal dispersion - found only in MM fibers
2. Chromatic Dispersion - present in both MM and SM
fibers

Modal dispersion the arrival of different

modes of the light at different times is called
Modal Dispersion.

Chromatic dispersion is a result of different

wavelengths of light traveling at different
velocities in the core - the pulses spread out as
they travel through the fiber

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Differential Mode Delay (DMD)

OM3

OM1or 2

Mode conditioning principle

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1 and 10 Gb/s Optical Modules vs. Fiber Type vs. Reach

Mode Conditioning Patch-cords required

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Lets Recap

NUMERICAL APERTURE (NA)

NA defines the light-gathering ability of the fiber

Imagine a cone coming from the core. Light entering the core
from within this cone will be propagated by total internal
reflection

Light entering from outside the cone will not be propagated

A large NA makes it easier to inject more light into a fiber, while
a small NA tends to give the fiber a higher bandwidth

You cannot mix and match fibers! Trying to connect SM to MM
fiber can cause 20 dB loss - that's 99% of the power gone!
Transmit

Receive

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Transmitters and Light Sources

 LEDs cannot modulate faster than 622 Mb/sec
 Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are low-cost
lasers that operate at 850 nm on multimode fiber to support
gigabit speeds.
 Single-mode transmitters are typically made up of either a
Distributed feedback (DFB) or a Fabry-Perot (FP) laser

Laser

VCSEL

LED

Laser: Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

Fiber Amplifiers
To boost the signal for greater distances
Electronic Repeater

Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs)

Raman Amplification
Optical Fiber

Input
Signal

Pump
Laser
(co-pumping)

Output
Signal

Pump
Laser
(counter-pumping)

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Optical Fiber Attenuators

 Optical fiber attenuators are used in optical systems where
the optical power from a source is too high for the equipment
in use.
 A fiber optic attenuator reduces the power of an optical
signal traveling through the attenuator without distorting the
waveform.

MODE-FIELD DIAMETER (MFD)

Not all light travels through the core of the fiber, but
is distributed through both the core and the
cladding. The "mode field" is the distribution of light
through the core and cladding of a fiber. MFD
defines the size of the power distribution.
MFD measurements can be found on product spec
sheets provided by the manufacturer.

MFD

Core
Diameter

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Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

The act of combining several different
wavelengths on the same fiber is known as
multiplexing.
At the receiving end, these wavelengths need
to be separated again, which is known, logically
enough, as de-multiplexing.

Lasers

Multiplexing

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

(DWDM) communication systems use multiple
WDMs to transmit multiple channels through
fiber optic cables.
De-multiplexing

Detectors

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

The exact wavelengths of light being used are usually around
the 1550 nanometer region, the wavelength region in which
optical fiber performs the best

Each different wavelength will be separated by a 0.8nm
spacing, which is the frequency separation

So, if you have four wavelengths, you could have them at
1549.2nm, 1550nm, 1550.8nm, and 1551.6nm

Systems being deployed at present

will typically have 32 wavelengths

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What is FTTx?
FTTH: fiber to the home - bringing fiber all the way to the home of the subscriber
FTTP: fiber to the premises - same thing, different term, also encompasses businesses
FTTC: fiber to the curb (with wire into the home)
FTTN: Fiber to the node (with wire into the home)

FTTx: to refer to all types or for those who cant decide what to call it!

The alternatives to FTTH are inadequate for future bandwidth needs:

DSL wont have the bandwidth over most installed copper
Wireless wont have the bandwidth, and the spectrum may not be affordable
BPL (broadband over power lines) wont have the bandwidth
If the alternatives do not offer the bandwidth, they cannot be cost effective.
So why put off the inevitable?

The architecture used by Verizon for triple play services

EDFA = erbium doped fiber amplifier

WDM = wavelength division multiplexing
FDF = fiber distribution frame
FDH = fiber distribution hub
ONT = optical network terminal
OLT = optical line terminal

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PON relies on optical splitters and couplers to direct signals

without regenerating them, which allows providers to build out
fiber optic networks without active electronics.
Without those electronics, which require external power, PON
is less expensive to deploy - ?
Split

Nom.
splitting
loss (dB)

Avail.
fiber loss
(dB)

Nom.
Distance
(km)

11

44

10.5

7.5

30

16

14

16

32

17.5

2.5

10

64

21

-1

-4

What is Free Space Optics (FSO)?

FSO is a line-of-sight technology that uses beams of
light to provide optical bandwidth connections.
Today, FSO technology can transmit voice, data, and
video at bandwidths up to 1.5 Gbps.
The infrared wavelengths used are just visible to the
human eye as red, and are most clearly seen at night.

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QUESTIONS

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