Optical Fiber Communications

(BECE308L )
Dr. Sangeetha R.G
Professor
School of Electronics Engineering
(SENSE)
1
Module :5 Digital links and Measurements (4)

Digital links: Point-to-Point Links-System Consideration-Link power budget-Rise

time budget, System performance- Attenuation, Dispersion measurements-OTDR.

2
 Point-to-Point Links
• Key system requirements needed in analyzing a
link
– Desired (or possible) transmission distance
– Data rate or channel bandwidth
– BER
• To fulfil these requirements the designer has a
choice of the following components and their
associated characteristics:
– MM or SM optical fiber
– LED or laser diode optical source
– pin or APD
 Simplex point-to-point links

• MM or SM fiber • LED / Laser diode • pin or APD

– Core size – Emission – Responsivity
wavelength
– Core RI profile – Operating
– Spectral line
– BW or wavelength
width
dispersion – Output power – Speed
– Attenuation – Effective – sensitivity
– NA or MFD radiating area
– Emission pattern
– No of emitting
modes
 Analysis
• Two analysis to check whether system
performance have been met
– Link power budget: determines the power margin
between optical transmitter output and minimum
receiver sensitivity needed to establish a specified
BER.
– Rise-time budget: Ensures that the desired overall
system performance has been met
 System Considerations
• To carry out a link power budget:
– Decide wavelength of operation
– Next select the photodetector
• Based on the minimum power that must fall on PD to satisfy
BER
• Design cost and complexity (pin..)
• But very low optical power can be detected using APD
– Choose an optical source and check the distance over
which the data can be transmitted without amplifier
• LED or Laser diode selection based on dispersion, data rate,
transmission distance, and cost.
• Spectral width of LED and dispersion characteristics of MM
fiber limit data-rate-distance product to 150 Mb/[Link]
 System Considerations..
– For higher data rates up to 2500 Mbps, laser must be
used
– For 25 Gbps, InGaAsP lasers with SM fibers provide
high data rate over long distances
• Optical fiber could be SM or MM with a step-
indexed or graded-indexed fibers
– Optical power that could be coupled into fiber
depends on core-clad index difference
– Dispersion increases as the index difference increases
– Hence trade off needed
– Attenuation, and other losses due to environmental
conditions
 Optical power loss model

PT  Ps  PR  mlc  nlsp   f L  System Margin

PT : Total loss; Ps : Source power; PR : Rx sensitivity

m connectors; n splices
 Example – Link power budget
• Given data rate – 20 Mb/s
• BER = 10-9
• Operating wavelength = 850 nm
• Photodetector = pin diode
• Receiver sensitivity (From Graph) = -42dBm
• Source – GaAlAs LED coupled to a fiber flylead = 50μW (-13dBm)
• Fiber flylead connector loss (at Transmitter)= 1 dB
• Fiber flylead connector loss (at Receiver)= 1 dB
• Attenuation, α=3.5 dB/km
• System margin = 6 dB

Find the maximum possible transmission path length and give the
graphical represention of a link-loss budget.
Receiver sensitivity
 Example…
• Total power loss= PT = Ps-PR
= -13-(-42) = 29 dBm
= 2(1 dB) + αL + 6 dB
Substituting for α and solving, L = 6 km

To represent graphically,
- Horizontal axis – Distance in km
- Vertical axis – power level in dBm
 Procedure to plot
• Mark the sensitivity of Si pin receiver -42dBm
• Mark the output power of LED -13dBm
• Subtract 1dB connector loss at each end, that
leaves a total margin of 27dB
• Subtract 6dB power margin with a tolerable loss of
21dB for cable and splice loss
• Draw the slope at the rate of 3.5dB/km – starts at -
14dBm and ends at -35dBm.
• The intersection point, D, then defines the
maximum possible transmission path length 6km
Link-loss budget
 Rise-time budget
• Rise time budget determines the dispersion
limitation of an optical fiber link
• Total rise time, tsys, of the link is the root sum
square of the rise times from each contributor,
ti, to the pulse time degradation
1/ 2
 2 
n
t sys    ti 
 i 1 
Total rise time of a digital link should not exceed
70% for a NRZ bit period, and 35% of a RZ bit period
 Rise-time budget
• Contributors are:
– Transmitter rise time, ttx
– Group velocity dispersion rise time, tGVD of the
fiber
– Modal dispersion rise time, tmod of the fiber
– Receiver rise time, trx
• Total system rise time
tsys = ttx2 + tGVD2 + tmod2 +trx2
OPTICAL TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETER
(OTDR)
 Fiber Optics
An Optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR)
is used to test a fiber optic cable by injecting a
series of high powered optical pulses into the
fiber under test.
It measures the light that is scattered or
reflected back from points along the fiber.
 Fiber Optics
The strength of the return pulses is measured
and integrated as a function of time and is
plotted as a function of fiber length.

The OTDR uses what is referred to as the

backscatter method to test a single-mode fiber
link and find faults.
 Fiber Optics
The OTDR provides a graphic display of the
results of the fiber under test.
 Fiber Optics
An OTDR may be used for estimating the fiber
length and overall attenuation, including splice
and mated-connector losses.

It may also be used to locate faults, such as

breaks, and to measure optical return loss.
 Fiber Optics
It only requires equipment connection at one
end of the fiber link.

By adding a cable at the far end it allows

measuring the loss of the entire cable, but
negates the big advantage of the OTDR, that it
makes measurements from only one end of
the cable.
 Fiber Optics
The pulse is attenuated on the outbound leg
and the backscattered light is attenuated on
the return leg, the return signal is a function
of twice the fiber loss and the backscatter
coefficient of the fiber.

The OTDR can identify fiber breaks, splices and

connectors in the link as well as measure loss.
 Fiber Optics
OTDRs are generally used to test all outside
plant installations of single mode fiber.

The high powered signal pulse sent from an

OTDR is to powerful to effectively test inside
plant fiber, which is usually the installed
multimode fiber.

OTDRs are also used to optimize splices in a

fiber cable plant.
 Fiber Optics
Using a long pulse length, measuring
attenuation over a distance of more than 100
km may be possible.

A short pulse length will improve distance

resolution of optical events, but will also
reduce measuring range and attenuation
measurement resolution.
 Fiber Optics
All attenuated pulses along a fiber are referred
to as events, these events are plotted on a
graph and represent each connector, splice or
break in a fiber.
 Fiber Optics
Backscatter is produced mainly by impurities
in the fiber core.

The trace slopes down to the right due to the

pulse of light being attenuated as it travels
away from the OTDR.
 Fiber Optics
OTDRs have a “dead zone” that may extend a hundred
meters from the unit in which accurate readings are
unavailable.

You can overcome this limitation if you use a launch

cable

DEAD ZONES APPEAR AT

THE BEGINNING OF THE
TRACE
 Fiber Optics
A reflection combined with a loss is usually
either a mechanical splice or a connector, but
could also be a fracture in the fiber.
 Fiber Optics
As the locations of connectors and mechanical
splices is normally known the identification of
the type of event should be easy to determined
 Fiber Optics
A point loss which has no reflection is usually
either a fusion splice or a bend.

THE OTDR TRACE

SHOWED
THIS EVENT
AS A NON
REFLECTIVE
LOSS, SIMILAR TO
AN EVENT
CAUSED
BY A SPLICE OR A
BEND.
 Fiber Optics
Note that if a good splice is testing really bad
it can mean that their is a bend nearby and
the OTDR is not able to split the two close
together events.
 Fiber Optics
In this particular example, the APC connector at the end
of the fiber run produced very little reflection. In some
cases the OTDR might show this as a Warning and state
that the Receive Event Not Found.

FIBER
CONNECTOR
AT END OF
FIBER RUN
 Fiber Optics
The end of the fiber shows a strong reflection
as it is terminated in a polished connector.

If the end was shattered or immersed in water

(as can happen in a broken cable situation)
then there may be a smaller reflection or no
reflection at all.
Fiber Optics

THIS IS THE END

OF THE FIBER.
 Fiber Optics
The end of a fiber almost always shows a high
level of noise as depicted in the graph below.
 Fiber Optics
Historically OTDRs ranged in the $50,000
dollar price range, today a good OTDR will cost
around $10,000 dollars and some of the basic
OTDRs are around $5,000 dollars.

OLDER OTDRs FROM THE LATE 90s.

[Link]. List of Topics

1. Attenuation Measurements
2. Fiber Absorption Loss Measurement
3. Fiber Scattering Loss Measurement
4. Fiber Dispersion Measurement
5. Fiber Numerical Aperture Measurement
Optical Fiber Measurements
 Attenuation Measurements
Total fiber measurement
• Attenuation is the loss of optical power as a result of
absorption, scattering, bending, and other loss
mechanisms as the light travels through the fibre.
• The total attenuation is a function of the wavelength λ of
the light.
• The total attenuation A between two arbitrary points X
and Y on the fiber is A(dB) = 10 log10 (Px/Py).
• Where:
Px is the power output at point X.
Py is the power output at point Y.
Point X is assumed to be closer to the optical source than
point Y.
 The most widely used method for measuring the total fiber
attenuation per unit length is the cut-back or differential
method.
 The experimental setup for measurement of the spectral loss
to obtain the overall attenuation spectrum for the fiber is
shown in figure.
Cut back technique
 Measurement Procedure
• Setup consists of a white light source i.e. xenon arc lamp,
tungsten halogen. This enables the lock in amplifier at the
receiver to perform phase sensitive detection.
• The chopped light is then fed through a monochromator which
utilizes a prism or diffraction grating arrangement to select the
required wavelength at which the attenuation is to be
measured.
• Hence, the light is filtered before being focused on to the
fiber by means of a microscope objective lens.
• A beam splitter is used to provide light for viewing optics
and a reference signal.
• A mode stripper is included at the fiber output end to
remove any optical power which is scattered from the core
into the cladding down the fiber length.
• The cut-back method involves taking a set of optical
power measurements over the required spectrum using a
long length of fiber.
• The following relationship for the optical attenuation per
unit length αdb for the fiber may be obtained as:

Unit = db/km
• P 02 ,P 01 are the output optical powers.
• The electrical voltages V1 and V2 may be directly
substituted for the optical powers in above equation.
 Drawbacks:
• The drawback of cut-back method is that it is a
destructive technique.
• Several other non destructive used to measure total
optical power is substitution technique, back scatter
measurement.
FIBER DISPERSION MEASUREMENT
 INTRODUCTION
• Dispersion measurement gives an indication of the
distortion of optical signals as they propagate down optical
fibers and delay distortion leads to broadening of
transmitted light pulses, limits the information capacity of
fiber.
• Dispersion effects may be characterized by taking
measurements of the impulse response of the fiber in the
time domain or by measuring the baseband frequency
response in frequency domain.
 Time Domain Measurement
• Short optical pulses are launched into the fiber from a
suitable source. The pulses travel down the length of
fiber under test and are broadened due to various
dispersion mechanisms.
• The pulses are received by a high speed photo
detector and displayed on a fast sampling oscilloscope.
Experimental Setup
• Formulae used for measurement are:

• Where:
ζo(3dB) and ζi(3dB) is pulse width at fiber input and fiber
output respectively. L is fiber length.
Frequency Domain Measurement
• Frequency Domain measurement is the preferred method
for acquiring the bandwidth of multimode optical fibers.
• For measurement, sampling oscilloscope is replaced by
spectrum analyzer which takes the Fourier transform of the
pulse in time domain and hence displays its constituent
frequency components.
Experimental Setup
• Comparisons of the spectrum at the fiber output ρo(w)
with the spectrum at the fiber input ρi(w) provides the
baseband frequency response for the fiber under test.