EEE 435: Optical Communications

Dr. Md. Forkan Uddin

Professor
Dept. of EEE
BUET, Dhaka 1205
 Objective of the Course
Optical fibre communication is attractive for its high bandwidth, low
power consumption, interference immunity capability and longevity
The world wide back bone network is based on optical fiber
This course provide in depth knowledge on:
 Optical source and detector and optical fibre characteristics
 Various types of communications systems
 Impact of characteristics on systems
Students will gather knowledge
 To pursue research on optical fibre communication
 To work in communication industries related to optical fibre
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 Outline
• Introduction to optical communication
• Guided and unguided optical communication system, Light propagation through
guided medium
• Optical Fibers: SMF and MMF, SI (step index) fibers and GI (graded index) fibers
• Fiber modes, mode theory for light propagation through fibers, single mode
condition and multimode condition
• Transmission impairments: fiber loss, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode
dispersion (PMD)
• Different types of fibers: Dispersion shifted fiber (DSF), Dispersion compensating
fiber (DCF) , Dispersion compensation schemes
• Fiber cabling process, Fiber joints/connectors and couplers

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 Outline
• Optical transmitter: LED and laser, Operating principles, Characteristics and driver
circuits.
• Optical receivers: PN, PIN and APD detectors, Noise at the receiver, SNR and BER
calculation, Receiver sensitivity calculation. IM/DD and Coherent communication
systems.
• Nonlinear effects in optical fibers
• Optical amplifiers, Optical modulators
• Multichannel optical systems: Optical FDM, OTDM and WDM. Optical Access
Network, Optical link design and Free space optical communication
 Marks Distribution & Books

 As per under grade rule

 Text and Reference Books:

 Optical Fiber Communications: Principles & Practice –Jhon M. Senior
 Fiber-Optic Communication Systems – G.P. Agrawal, John Wiley Sons
Optical Communication System – John Gowar

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 History on Optical Communication
 At the early stage of communication people used light for
communication
 Fire for signalling
 Reflecting mirrors-light reflection
 In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted speech using light beam
 At the early stage communication was line of sight and there was lack
of suitable light source
 Communication distance was very low due to losses in the medium and
disturbances such as rain, fog and dust

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 History on Optical Communication (contd..)
 Optical communication was stimulated in early 1960’s with the
invention of laser (transmission range was limited due to proper
waveguide)
 In 1966, first proposed was given to transmit light through dielectric
waveguide
 In 1966, loss of waveguide was huge 100dB/km. So coaxial cable was
popular since its loss was 5-10 dB/km
 In a few years, loss of optical fiber reduced to 5 dB/km
 Since then dramatic development has been done in optical
communication mainly in source, amplifier and fiber
Currently, loss of fiber 0.2-0.5 dB/km, laser can modulate up to 2.5 Gbps,
to 800 Gbps
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Electromagnetic Spectrum

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Communication Systems

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Digital Optical System

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 Why Optical Communications?
High bandwidth
- Carrier frequency 1013 -1016
 Small size and weight
- Diameter compared to human hair
Electrical isolation
- No electrical hazards, short circuit etc
Immunity of interference and crosstalk
- Free from electromagnetic interference and radio frequency
Signal security

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 Why Optical Communications?

Low transmission loss

- 0.15 dB/km
Low cost
System reliability and ease of maintenance
Low power consumption
-GREEN network

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 Optical Communications
Two broad categories of optical communication: guided and unguided
Guided:
 Optical beam emitted by the transmitter remains spatially confined
 Realized in practice by using optical fibers

 Unguided
 Optical beam emitted by the transmitter spreads in space, similar to the spreading of microwaves
 Less suitable for broadcasting applications than microwave systems because optical beams
spread mainly in the forward direction
 Their use generally requires accurate pointing between the transmitter and the receiver
 In the case of terrestrial propagation, the signal can deteriorate considerably by scattering within
the atmosphere
 Thus, unguided communication are usually practiced in free space which is called free space
optical communication

We will study only guided Optical Communications

 Ray Theory of Light Transmission
Refractive Index:
 Ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity of light in the
medium
 A ray of light travels more slowly in an optically dense medium than in
one that is less dense
Snell’s law:

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 Ray Theory of Light Transmission
As n1 is greater than n2, the angle of
refraction is always greater than the angle of
incidence
Critical angle: the value of incidence angle
for 90 degree refraction angle

Total internal reflection:

At angles of incidence greater than the
critical angle the light is reflected back into
the originating dielectric medium (total
internal reflection) with high efficiency
(around 99.9%).
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 Ray Theory of Light Transmission

Optical fiber waveguide

The transmission of a light ray in a perfect optical fiber

Meridional ray as it passes through the axis of the fiber core

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 Ray Theory of Light Transmission

Acceptance angle
The maximum conical half angle to the axis such that light can be
transmitted by total internal reflection

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Ray Theory of Light Transmission
 Numerical Aperture
 It is possible to continue the ray theory analysis
to obtain a relationship between the acceptance
angle and the refractive indices of the three media
involved, namely the core, cladding and air
 We must consider meridional angle
 Considering the refraction at the air–core
interface
and using Snell’s law

Again,
Thus,
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 Ray Theory of Light Transmission
When the limiting case for total internal reflection is
considered, φ becomes equal to the critical angle for
the core–cladding interface . Thus,
n2
n1 sin   n2 sin( / 2) so,sin  
n2
 Also in this limiting case θ1 becomes the acceptance
angle for the fiber θa.

Numerical aperture (NA) relates the acceptance angle

to the refractive indices
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 Ray Theory of Light Transmission

Relative refractive index difference,

Numerical aperture are a very useful measure of the light-collecting ability of a fiber
They are independent of the fiber core diameter

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Problems: Ray Theory

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 Skew Rays

We considered the propagation of meridional rays

Another category of ray exists which is transmitted without passing through the fiber
axis - skew rays
Skew rays greatly outnumber the meridional rays
Skew ray passes without passing through axis and they follow helical path through the
fiber
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 Electromagnetic Mode Theory for
Optical Propagation
Wave equations:

Generally,

 Solution: sinusoidal wave

k: propagation vector or free space wave number ,

provides direction of propagation and rate of change of
phase with distance;
r: coordinate at observing point
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 Planer Waveguide
Planar guide is the simplest form of optical waveguide
Consists of a slab of dielectric with refractive index n1
sandwiched between two regions of lower refractive
index n2
Refractive index within the guide is n1, the optical
wavelength in this region is reduced to λ/n1
Vacuum propagation constant is increased to n1k
Component of the phase propagation constant in the z
direction βz is given by: βz = n1k cos θ
Component of the phase propagation constant in the
x direction βx is βx = n1k sin θ

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 Planer Waveguide
Ex
Direction of Propagation k
x

z z
y
By

An electromagnetic wave is a travelling wave which has time

varying electric and magnetic fields which are perpendicular to each
other and the direction of propagation,z.

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 Modes in Planer Waveguide

When the total phase change after two successive reflections at the upper and lower
interfaces is equal to 2(m)π radians, where m>=0 is an integer, then constructive
interference occurs and a standing wave is obtained in the x direction => waves with m
integer can pass through the fiber
The stable field distribution in the x axis with only a periodic z dependence is known as a
mode
A specific mode is obtained when the angle between the wave vector and the interface has
a particular value
The interference forms the lowest order (where m = 0) standing wave, where the electric
field is a maximum at the center of the guide decaying towards zero at the boundary
between the guide and cladding.
The electric field penetrates some distance into the cladding
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 Modes in a Planer Wave Guide
If we now assume a time dependence for the monochromatic electromagnetic light
field with angular frequency ω of exp( jωt), then the combined factor exp[ j(ωt − βz)]
describes a mode propagating in the z direction
The transverse modes the case when the electric field is perpendicular to the
direction of propagation and hence Ez = 0, but a corresponding component of the
magnetic field H is in the direction of propagation. In this instance the modes are
said to be transverse electric (TE)
Alternatively, when a component of the E field is in the direction of propagation,
but Hz = 0, the modes formed are called transverse magnetic (TM)
When the total field lies in the transverse plane, transverse electromagnetic (TEM)
waves exist where both Ez and Hz are zero

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 Modes in a Planer Wave Guide

The number of maxima is the order of modes

Lower order modes have high incident angle (shorter path) and higher
order modes have low incident angle (longer path) 29
 Phase Velocity for a Mode
When light propagates to z direction their phase
changes
There are points with constant phase called wave
front
The wave front of a mode travel with a constant
velocity which is called phase velocity
For a given mode, phase velocity where

Thus,

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 Group Velocity
Group velocity is the velocity of all the points in multi-mode
propagation

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 Group Velocity

• Group velocity

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 Types of Fiber

Fiber

Graded
Step index index

Single mode Multi Multi

Single mode
mode mode

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 Step Index Fiber
The refractive index profile

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 Graded Index Fiber
The refractive index profile:

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Graded Index Fiber

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 Single Mode vs Multi-mode Fiber
Single Mode
Advantages Disadvantages
Lower Dispersion High cost
Long distance communication Requires Coherent light source (LASER)
Less BER High sensitive to coupler and connector

Multi-mode
Advantages Disadvantages
Low cost High dispersion
Can be coupled with non coherent source (LED) Short distance Communication
Larger numerical aperture and core diameter. High BER
Easier for coupling with source
Lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors

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