Optical Devices and Communication

Overview of fiber optic communications

Basics of communications systems Fiber optic networks compared to other networks Advantages of and drivers for optical networks Architecture of typical fiber optic networks Brief history of optical networking Fiber optic network terminology General communications systems background

What is purpose of communications system?

To transfer information from one location to another
Voice Data Video Audio Fast Accurate Secure Routable / switchable Capable of handling multiple types of information (data) Cheap

Desirable attributes

Components of a Telecommunications systemphysical view

Link
Source Encoder Modulator/ transmitter
Cable Microwave Other wireless Light

Receiver/ demodulator

Decoder

Receiver

What is optical networking?

Use of optical components in place of electronic components in a network environment
Pure optical or all-optical networks use light from end to end

Most commonly, optical elements (optical fiber, optical amplifiers) are used in transmission links
Known as opto -electronic networks (OEO) Switching still done electronically No pure optical networks at present All-optical switching is a laboratory project at present, though opto -mechanical systems exist which use flipping mirrors

What is optical networking? (continued)

Long-term goal is that all-optical network i.e. all switching, transmission, and routing done optically
Conversion to/from electrical signals occurs only at boundary

How are optical networks different?

Optical networks differ from conventional electronic or wired line networks
Rely upon light waves to carry data, rather than electron-based transmission in wires

Differ from conventional wireless networks

Operate at much higher frequencies
Hundreds of terahertz vs. 30 GHz Wavelength of 1600 nm ~ 188 THz

Use waveguides (in the form of optical fiber) to carry the data-bearing waves.

Optical and electronic networks

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Electronic

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Wireless

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Why optical networks?

Advantages Cost-effective bandwidth Noise isolation Security Smaller physical presence Readily up gradable

Drivers Demand for bandwidth Commoditization of optical networking components Reduced number of components Shorter service contracts Promise of rapid provisioning

Advantages
Cost-effective bandwidth
Above a certain threshold, price per unit of bandwidth is lower For very high bandwidths (~Gbit/second and higher) and even relatively short distances (~100 m), optical fiber is usually the only practical choice

Noise isolation
Optical fibers are not affected by electrical noise-producing sources
Can be used in environments where adequate shielding of electrical cables would be difficult or impossible ( Power House)

Only in environments with high levels of radioactivity is there a potential problem

Advantages (continued)
Greater security
Optical fiber does not emit electromagnetic radiation which can be intercepted
Much more secure than many other types of wiring, such as category 5 untwisted pair used for Ethernet applications

Tapping optical fiber is also much more difficult

Smaller physical presence

Single optical fiber cable with a diameter of less than 6 mm can replace a bulky cable with hundreds of wires Critical in applications where space is at a premium
Ships and aircraft

Advantages (continued)
Ready upgrade path
In most cases, increased bandwidth can be had by installing new optical multiplexing equipment

Disadvantages
Higher cost per meter Greater difficulty in splicing and maintenance
Technicians need to be retrained

Need to convert optical signals back to electronic signals for processing

Drivers
Huge demand for bandwidth
Developments such as more video on Internet and anticipated use of Internet for video delivery in future will require optical connections to or close to homes

Reduced number of components means network simplification and equipment consolidation Shorter service contracts implies faster depreciation and more rapid replacement of equipment with newer technology

History of optical communications systems (continued)

In 1930, German medical student Heinrich Lamm was first person to assemble a bundle of optical fibers to carry an image
Objective was to look inside inaccessible parts of the body (fiberscope) Images were of poor quality

In 1954, Dutch scientist Abraham Van Heel and British scientist Harold. H. Hopkins separately wrote papers on imaging bundles
Van Heel had idea of cladding bare fiber with material of lower refractive index

In 1956, Narinder S. Kapany of Imperial College in London invented glass-coated glass rod, coined term fiber optics
Not suited for communications Applications in fiberscopes

History of optical communications systems (continued)

1960 ruby lasers In 1961, Elias Snitzer of American Optical published theoretical description of single mode fibers
Fiber with a core so small it could carry light with only one waveguide mode Worked for a fiberscopes Light loss too high for communications (one decibel per meter)

1962 lasers operating on semiconductor chips 1964 C. K. Kao identifies that maximum loss of ~20 db/km needed for communications
Corresponds to 1% of energy left after 1 km Existing glasses not transparent enough Speculated that losses of 1000 db/km result of impurities in glass

History of optical communications systems (continued)

1970 Corning Glass researchers Robert Maurer, Donald Keck and Peter Schultz invent fiber optic wire or Optical Waveguide Fibers
Fused silica, which has high melting point, low refractive index 65,000 times more capacity than copper wire

By 1972, losses down to 4 db/km

Today, ~0.2 db/km

1973 Navy installs fiber-optic telephone link on a ship In 1975, US Government links computers in the NORAD headquarters at Cheyenne Mountain using fiber optics to reduce interference In 1977, first optical telephone communication system installed
1.5 miles long, under downtown Chicago Each optical fiber carried the equivalent of 672 voice channels

History of optical communications systems (continued)

1980 first long distance fiber optic link (BostonRichmond) 1984 First SONET networks 1987 fiber amplifiers invented by Dave Payne at U of Southampton, UK 1988 first transatlantic fiber optic link (AT&T) 1990s Bragg filters 1997 Wave division multiplexing (WDM) 2000 dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) 2001-2008 industry consolidation; absorbing new technology and glut of existing fiber

Speed history
1790 5 bits/sec 1977 44.7 Megabits/sec 1982 400 Megabits/sec 1986 1.7 Gigabits/sec 1993 10 Gigabits/sec 1996 1 Terabit/sec 2002 3 Terabits/sec

Comparison: entire worlds telephone traffic ~ 5 Tb/sec Maximum capability: estimated to be 100 Tb/sec per fiber

Optical network bandwidth is exploding

3.5 OC-192, 160 3
Fiber Capacity (Tbps)

2.5

SONET ERA
2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1980

WDM ERA
OC-192, 160

OC-192, 80 135 Mbps 565 Mbps 1982 1984 1986 1988 1.7 Gbps OC-48 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 OC-192, 32

Year

SONET Bit Rates

SONET OC-1 OC-3 OC-12 Bit Rate (Mbps) 51.84 155.52 622.08

OC-24
OC-48 OC-96 OC-192

1244.16
2488.32 4976.64 9953.28

How widespread are optical networks?

Fiber optic terminology

Lambda (): a single wavelength of light SONET: Synchronous Optical Networka transport technology for reliably sending information over optical fiber Photonic: having to do with devices using light (photons) instead of electronics; analogous to electronic Decibel (db): a unit of power gain or loss, relative to a source. Calculated as 10 log10 (P/Pref). If reference is 1 mw, expression dbm is often used.

General communications system background

Digital and analog signals

Analog and digital transmission

AM: Carrier signal is modulated so that its amplitude varies with the changing amplitudes of the modulating signal and freq, phase remain same.
FM: Freq. of carrier signal is modified to reflect the changing amplitudes of the modulating signal, amp and phase remain same

Analog and digital transmission AM

Analog and digital transmission FM

Parts of a pulse

Information theory background

Sampling Digitizing Pulse code modulation Multiplexing
Time Frequency Wave

Information content

Sampling

Digitizing (quantizing)

Effect of quantizing

8 bits/ sample

4 bits/ sample

3 bits/ sample

2 bits/ sample

Source: U of Waterloo

Multiplexing
Definition: It is a technique that allows the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a single data link. A Multiplexer (MUX) is a device that combines several signals into a single signal. A Demultiplexer (DEMUX) is a device that performs the inverse operation.

Types of Multiplexing
Multiplexing FDM TDM WDM

FDM
In FDM signals generated by each device modulate different carrier frequencies. These modulated signals are combined into a single composite signal that can be transported by the link. Carrier frequencies are separated by enough bandwidth to accommodate the modulated signal. These bandwidth ranges are the channels through which various signals travel. Channels must separated by strips of unused bandwidth (guard bands) to prevent signal overlapping.

FDM
In FDM, signals are modulated onto separate carrier frequencies using either AM or FM modulation.

FDM multiplexing details

Time division multiplexing details

WDM
Wave-division multiplexing is conceptually the same as FDM, except that multiplexing and demultiplexing involve light signals transmitted through fiber-optic channels. The purpose is to combine multiple light sources into one single light at the multiplexer and do the reverse at the demultiplexer. Combining and splitting of light sources are easily handled by a prism.

Wave division multiplexing details

WDM

Information content
Shannon showed that the capacity in bits/second of an additive white Gaussian noise channel is given by the famous Tuller-Shannon formula: C = BW log2 (1 + S/N)
BW = transmission bandwidth S/N = signal-to-noise ratio

This capacity only available with optimal encoding Note that bandwidth cannot be larger than transmission frequency, and typically is much smaller
Optical systems typically operate at frequencies of ~200 THz, so even a bandwidth of 1% of that is 2 THz, and with S/N of 100 gives capacity ~ 20 x 1012 bits/second Electronic systems, operating at 30 GHz or so are limited to about 3 x 109 bits/second

The Nature of Light

Ray Theory Light travels along a straight line and obeys laws of geometrical optics. Ray theory is valid when the objects are much larger than the wavelength. Wave Theory Light travels as a transverse electromagnetic wave. Quantum Theory Light consists of small particles (photons)

Light as an EM Wave
One way of thinking about light is to conceive of it as an electromagnetic wave just like a radio wave Light and radio waves are not really like one another. They are exactly the same thing! The only difference is the wavelength

EM Spectrum

Field distributions in plane E&M waves Electric and magnetic fields are orthogonal to each other and to the direction of propagation Z

EM Wave
As the electromagnetic wave moves, the fields oscillate in direction and in strength (E & M fields oscillate in phase) EM wave motion is at 90 (transverse) to the direction of wave travel The rate of oscillation is the frequency of the wave The distance traveled during one period of oscillation is the wavelength

EM Wave

Amplitude Fluctuation in an Electromagnetic Wave Here both the electric field and the magnetic field are shown as a single field oscillating about a locus of points which forms the line of travel.

EM Wave
We might visualize a particle or ray of light traveling through space as two interlocking force fields (electric and magnetic) These fields center on a point (over time this is of course a line in the direction of propagation) and decay exponentially as we move away from that point (or line).