OPTICAL FIBER

COMMUNICATIONS

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 Optical
Strength Fibres
Member

Sheath 1
Aluminum Tape
Sheath 3 Sheath 2
Steal Wire Reinforcement

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 Introduction
Optical Fiber
 It is a glass filament or wire which carries light.
 It is a cylindrical waveguide that operate at optical
frequency.
 It confines electromagnetic energy in the form of
light.
● COMMUNICATION
 It may be broadly defined as the transfer of
information from one point to another.
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 Light is the form of electromagnetic
Wave just as radio waves, but with high
frequency and shorter wavelength.
Spectrum Frequency Wavelength

Radio waves 100 KHZ to1 THZ 3KM to 300 µm

Infra Red light 1 THZ to 100 THZ 300 to 3 µm
Optical 176 THz to 375 THZ 1.7 to 0.8 µm
Communication
1550 nm Window 193.5 THz 1.550 µm
1310 nm Window 230 THz 1.310 µm
850 nm Window 353 THz 0.85 µm
Visible Light 428 to 750 THZ 0.7 TO 0.4 µm
UV,X & γ rays 750 to 10 7 THZ 0.4 to 3x10 - 6 µm
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 Optical Fibre Communication

1.7 µm 0.8 µm

Red Violet
~0.7 µm ~0.4 µm

Radiofrequencies Short Gamma Rays

wave UHF Millimeter infrared
Cosmic rays
Wave X-Rays
Standard
Long wave broadcast VHF Far infrared Ultraviolet
Microwave

0 102 104 106 108 1010 1012 1014 1016 1018 1020 1022 Frequency (Hz)
3000 km 30 km 300 m 3m 3 cm 0.3 mm 3 µm 30 nm 0.3 nm 3 pm 0.3 pm
Wavelength

f = 1/T λ = c/f c = 3x108 m/s

f = 100 Hz λ = 3x108 m f = 1 GHz λ=
0.3 m
f = 100 KHz λ = 3x103 m f = 1 THz λ = 300
µm
f = 100 MHz λ=3m f = 200 THz λ = 1.5
µm
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HISTORY
Hollow Logs, Drum (different sizes), Wind Instruments
(pipes), Smoke Signals, Signal fires and Signaling lamps.
The first optical fiber exhibited very high attenuation i.e.
1000 dB/Km. While coaxial cable losses were 5-10 dB/Km.
Fiber losses were reduced to below 5 dB/Km.
Development of fiber waveguides with optical
frequencies at small wavelengths requires the
development of all optical components.
Laser Life at the start was 1000 Hrs & now is 100 years.
At present two optical windows are in operation i.e. 1310
nm ,1550nm.

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Advantages of Optical Fiber
Enormous potential bandwidth
The maximum capacity of single mode step index fiber is
1.6 Tb/Sec w.r.t coaxial cable bandwidth of 500 MHZ.
Small size and weight
Optical fibers have very small diameter i.e. 125um which
is just like a human hair while the dia of one copper is
0.8mm.The ratio of weight as compared to other cables
is 25:1.
Electrical isolation
Optical fibers are fabricated from glass which are
electrical insulated hence they don't exhibit interference
problem.
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Advantages of Optical Fiber
Immunity to Interference & Cross talk
The material of optical fiber is dielectric/glass hence there
is no possibility of cross talk or leakage.
Signal Security
The light from optical fibers doesn't radiate significantly
and therefore they provide a high degree of signal
security.
Low transmission loss
Laser light travels with high speed on pure transparent
glass. This development of optical fiber over the last
twenty years has resulted in the production of O/F cables
with very low attenuation
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Advantages of Optical Fiber
Ruggedness & Flexibility
Cable structures have been developed which have
proved flexible, compact & extremely high.
System Reliability & Ease of Mtce
Due to low transmission loss, intermediate repeaters &
line amplifiers are reduced. Hence with few repeaters
system reliability is generally enhanced. The optical
component life time is 20 to 30 years.
Potential Low Cost
The glass which generally provides the optical fiber
transmission medium is made from sand which is
available in abundance.
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Disadvantages of Optical Fiber
Very small hole on the surface of fiber may weakens the
tensile strength.
A small bend on optical fiber causes radiation loss.
Alignment problem, connectors & core misalignment.
The cost of fusion splicing is high.
The fault localization is some what difficult.
Clean environment is required during splicing. A small dust
particle can create high attenuation.

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