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Lecture 1 Overview of Photonics and Optical Fiber Communications

What is Photonics?
Motivations for Lightwave Communications
Advantages of Optical Fiber Communications
Optical Spectral Bands
Decibel Units
Network Information Rates
Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) Concepts
Standards for Optical Fiber Communications
Historical Development
Reading: Keiser 1.1 1.8
Senior 1.1 1.3
Article: A Snapshot of Optical Communications, OPN Optics & Photonics News,
pp. 24 30, J an. 2010
Part of the lecture materials were adopted from powerpoint slides of Gerd Keisers book 2010,
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Fiber-optic communications and modern society
The recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physics
2009 to Prof. Charles Kao widely regarded as
the father of fiber-optic communications
underscores the tremendous changes that optical
fiber has brought about in modern society.
Fiber optics has revolutionized the way we receive
information and communicate with one another,
and it has played a major role in ushering in the
Information Age.
Source: OPN, pp. 24- 30 J an. 2010.
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Optics the science of light
(e.g. physical optics, nonlinear optics, quantum optics, nano-optics)
Photonics the technology using light (photons) and electrons
(e.g. optical fiber communications, light-emitting diodes, laser diodes,
photodetectors, photovoltaic devices, optical switches,
optical modulators, displays, etc.)
In the past, people used the term optoelectronics to differentiate those
technologies using photons and electrons (e.g. light-emitting diodes)
from those technologies using only photons (e.g. optical fibers). But this
distinction has been falling out of favor in recent years and the term
photonics become commonly adopted.
Optics and Photonics
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What is photonics?
Electronics is the study of the flow of charge
(electron) through various materials and devices such
as, semiconductors, resistors, inductors, capacitors,
nano-structures, etc.
All applications of electronics involve the
transmission of power and possibly information.
What is electronics?
What is electronics?
Photonics is analogous to electronics.
Photonics is analogous to electronics.
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What is photonics?

Photonics
Photonics is the technology of generating / controlling /
detecting light and other forms of radiant energy whose
quantum unit is the photon.
(In physics, a quantum is the minimum unit of any physical
entity involved in an interaction. The word comes from the
Latin quantusfor how much.)
The science includes
light emission,
transmission,
deflection,
amplification,
detection
nonlinear optics

The importance of photonics often
derives from the powerful interplay
between optics and electronics!
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A snapshot of photonic technologies
Communications --- fiber-optic communications, optical interconnects,
optical wireless
Computing --- chip-to-chip optical interconnects, on-chip optical
interconnect communications
Energy (Green photonics) --- solid-state lighting, solar cells
Human-Machine interface --- CCD/CMOS camera, displays, pico-
projectors
Medicine --- laser surgery, optical coherence tomography (OCT)
Bio --- optical tweezers, laser-based diagnostics of cells/tissues
Nano --- integrated photonics, sub-diffraction-limited optical microscopy,
optical nanolithography
Defense --- laser weapons, bio-aerosols monitoring
Sensing --- fiber sensors, bio-sensing, LIDAR
Data Storage --- CD/DVD/Blu-ray, holography
Manufacturing --- laser-based drilling and cutting
Fundamental Science --- femto-/atto-second (10
-15
/10
-18
s) science
Space Science --- adaptive optics, laser-based interferometers between
satellites
Entertainment --- laser shows
And many more!!
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An optical communications system consists of many components.
ELEC 4620 will provide an overview and the fundamentals of some of
the photonic technologies involved.
information information
Electrical
signal
Optical
transmitter
Optical
receiver
Electrical
signal
Optical electrical electrical
Communications
Channel
(Opt. fibers)
Photonics for communications
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Enabling photonic components for communications
Optical fibers
Wavelength-Division Multiplexing
(WDM) components
Laser diodes
Modulators
Photodetectors
Optical amplifiers
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Laser modules in communications
These modern laser modules
incorporate a wavelength-
tunable laser with a
semiconductor optical
amplifier on a III-V
semiconductor compound
indium phosphide (InP) chip.
Ref. Lasers in Communications, Patricia Daukantas,
pp. 28-33, March 2010
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Active Optical Cables
Datacom companies are making networking even easier for
data-center companies by attaching optical transceivers
(transmitters + receivers) permanently to the ends of fiber
cables, thus making active optical cables.
Ref. Lasers in Communications,
Patricia Daukantas,
pp. 28-33, March 2010
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Various types of optical networks
Access networks have garnered new interest because of the
growing demand for fiber-to-the-home and high-definition
video.
Ref. Lasers in Communications, Patricia Daukantas, pp. 28-33, March 2010
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Optical interconnect technology is motivatingthe development
of the R&D field of silicon photonics.
Optical communications for computing
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N. Savage, IEEE Spectrum, pp. 32- 36 August 2002.
Electrical interconnects (Copper):
Resistance-capacitance (RC)
delay
Power consumption
Bandwidth limitation (~5 GHz)
Optical interconnects
High bandwidth (> 40 Gb/s)
Relatively low power consumption
Wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM)
2002
2007
2012
2017+
Optical interconnects
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Enabling components for on-chip optical communications
Source: Intel
Intel optical cables
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Source: Intel Light Peak
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Photonics for data storage
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(Nano) Photonics on CD/DVD/Blu-ray disks
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Nanophotonics in nature
Ref. Optical filters in nature, OPN Optics & Photonics News, pp. 22-27, Feb. 2009
Nature pulls off spectacular optical filters using nanoscale structures:
butterflies, moths, beetles, birds, fish, etc.
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Photonics for human-machine interface: pico-projectors
Ref. Scanned laser pico-projectors, OPN Optics & Photonics News, pp. 28-34, May 2009
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Photonics for medicine
Ref. Lasers in ophthalmology, OPN Optics & Photonics News, pp. 28-33, Feb. 2010
Lasers in ophthalmology (laser surgery)
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Photonics for defense
Ref. A popular history of the laser, Stephen R. Wilk,
OPN Optics & Photonics News, pp. 14-15, March 2010
Ref. Half a century of laser weapons, J eff Hecht,
OPN Optics & Photonics News, pp. 14-21, Feb. 2009
Laser weapons (?)
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Communications system
An optical fiber communications system is similar
in basic concept to any type of communications
system.
The basic function is to convey the signal from the
information source over the transmission medium
to the destination.
The communication system consists of a
transmitter or modulator linked to the information
source, the transmission medium, and a receiver or
demodulator at the destination point.
Motivationsforhighspeedcommunications
LifestylechangesfromtheInternetgrowthanduse
Averagephonecalllasts3minutes
AverageInternetsessionis20minutes
Moreandmorebandwidthhungryservicesare
appearing
Websearching,homeshopping,highdefinitioninteractivevideo,
remoteeducation,telemedicineandehealth,highresolution
editingofhomevideos,blogging,andlargescalehighcapacity
escienceandGridcomputing
IncreaseinPCstoragecapacityandprocessingpower
20Gharddriveswerefinearound2000;nowstandardis160G
Laptopsranat300MHz;nowthespeedisover3GHz
Thereisanextremelylargechoiceofremotelyaccessible
programsandinformationdatabases
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Motivationsforfiberopticcommunications
Advantages of optical fibers
Long Distance Transmission: The lower transmission losses in fibers compared
to copper wires allow data to be sent over longer distances.
Large Information Capacity: Fibers have wider bandwidths than copper wires,
so that more information can be sent over a single physical line.
Small Size and Low Weight: The low weight and the small dimensions of fibers
offer a distinct advantage over heavy, bulky wire cables in crowded
underground city ducts or in ceiling-mounted cable trays.
Immunity to Electrical Interference: The dielectric nature of optical fibers
makes them immune to the electromagnetic interference effects.
Enhanced Safety: Optical fibers do not have the problems of ground loops,
sparks, and potentially high voltages inherent in copper lines.
Increased Signal Security: An signal is well-confined within the fiber and an
opaque coating around the fiber absorbs any signal emissions.
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In communications systems, the data are transferred over
the communication channel by superimposing the
information onto an electromagnetic wave, known as the
carrier.
As the amount of information that can be transmitted is
directly related to the frequency range of the carrier,
increasing the carrier frequency theoretically increases the
available transmission bandwidth, and thus provides a
larger information capacity.
The trend in communications system developments was to
employ progressively higher frequencies, which offer
corresponding increases in bandwidth or information
capacity (from radio frequencies, microwave and
millimeter wave frequencies, to optical range)
Carrier Information Capacity
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Communication systems applications in the
electromagnetic spectrum
Freq.
(kHz)
The increase in carrier frequency led to the development of radio, TV,
radar, and microwave links (now in 2 - 5 GHz frequency).
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Electromagnetic spectrum
Frequency
(Hz)
10
6
10
7
10
8
10
9
10
10
10
11
radio microwave
10
12
10
13
10
14
10
16
10
17
infrared
ultraviolet
Wavelength
(m)
100 10 1 10
-1
10
-2
10
-3
10
-4
10
-5
10
-6
10
-7
10
-8
10
-9
lightwave
(10
-6
m = 1 m; 10
-9
m = 1 nm)
visible
700 nm
400 nm
*In optics and photonics, due to conventions, wavelength unit (nm or m) is
often adopted.
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wavelength (nm)
400 700
UV
Near-IR
visible
1000 2000

x
c
= c = 3 10
8
m/s
e.g. = 1 m =1000 nm= 10
-6
m, = 3 10
14
Hz = 300 10
12
Hz = 300 THz
frequency wavelength = speed of light
In free space (i.e. vacuum or air)
Lightwave spectrum
Optical carrier frequency ~100 THz, which is five orders of magnitude larger
than microwave carrier frequency of GHz.
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Optical fiber communications systems use lightwave in the
near-infrared.
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
(nm)
850 nm
1300-nm
band
1550-nm
band
Early systems (1980s);
also modern short-distance
networks using polymer
optical fibers
From 1990s to present networks
(long-haul/metro/access)
Most optical fiber communications systems now use the silica glass fiber lowest-
loss windowwhich is around ~1550 nm.
OpticalSpectralBandsforfiber
opticcommunications
Originalband(Oband):1260to1360nm
Regionoriginallyusedforfirstsinglemodefibers
Extendedband(Eband):1360to1460nm
Operationextendsintothehighlosswaterpeakregion
Shortband(Sband):1460to1530nm(shorterthanCband)
Conventionalband(Cband):1530to1565nm(EDFAregion)
Longband(Lband):1565to1625nm(longerthanCband)
Ultralongband(Uband):1625to1675nm
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O-Band E-Band S-Band C-Band L-Band U-Band
1260 1360 1460 1530 1565 1625 1675
Wavelength (nm)
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Silica optical fiber loss spectrum
The Internet
are carried in here.
~0.2 dB/km
attenuation
Today: 10% of the light remains after more than 50 kmof fiber
DecibelUnits
Thedecibel (dB)unitisdefinedby
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DecibelUnits(2)
The decibel is used to refer to ratios or relative units.
It gives no indication of the absolute power level.
A derived unit called the dBm can be used for this
purpose.
This unit expresses the power level P as a logarithmic
ratio of P referred to 1 mW.
The power in dBm is an absolute value defined by
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DecibelUnits
A rule-of-thumb
relationship to
remember for
optical fiber
communications is
0 dBm = 1 mW.
Therefore, positive
values of dBm are
greater than 1 mW
and negative
values are less
than 1 mW.
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DecibelUnits
Power levels differing by many orders of magnitude can be
compared easily when they are in decibel form.
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NetworkInformationRates
Astandardsignalformatcalledsynchronousoptical
network(SONET)isusedinNorthAmerica
Astandardsignalformatcalledsynchronousdigital
hierarchy(SDH)isusedinotherpartsoftheworld
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1500
1600
(nm)
1550
Lightwave channel within the fiber low-loss window
fiber low-loss window
Current systems can transmit a single lightwave channel
at a data rate of 10 Gb/s or 40 Gb/s
WavelengthDivisionMultiplexingConcepts
Manyindependentinformationbearingsignalsaresent
alongafibersimultaneously
Independentsignalsarecarriedondifferentwavelengths
Dataratesorformatsoneachwavelengthmaybe
different
CoarseWDM(CWDM)anddenseWDM (DWDM) arethe
twomajorwavelengthmultiplexingtechniques
Wavelengthroutingandswitchingtechniquesbasedon
lightpaths arebeingdeveloped
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WDM combines or multiplexes multiple optical signalsinto a single fiber
by transmitting each signal on a different wavelength .
[analogous to Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM) in radio communications]
Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM)
single optical fiber
Telecommunication carriers can potentially multiply the capacity
of their fibers by WDM, without the expensive investment of laying
extra fibers underground or undersea.

N
40
1500
1600
(nm) 1550
n WDM channels
If each channel has a capacity or data rate of 10 Gb/s(40 Gb/s), then
the capacity of an n-channel WDM system has a capacity n 10 Gb/s
(n 40 Gb/s)!!
WDM systems have n: 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 or more
(1 Tb/s accumulated system capacitycan be achieved by 25 40 Gb/s)
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(Scientific American, J an 2001)
Lightwave networks combine, amplify, switch, and restore
optical signals without converting the optical signal to an electronic
signal for processing.
WDM optical links
Standards
Thethreebasicclassesforfiberopticsareprimary standards,
componenttestingstandards,andsystem standards.
Primarystandards dealwithphysicalparameters:
attenuation,bandwidth,operationalcharacteristicsoffibers,
andopticalpowerlevelsandspectralwidths.
Componenttestingstandards definetestsforfiberoptic
componentperformanceandestablishequipmentcalibration
procedures.
ThemainonesareFiberOpticTestProcedures(FOTP)
Systemstandards refertomeasurementmethodsforoptical
linksandnetworks.
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Historical development
A renewed interest in optical communications was
stimulated in the early 1960s with the invention of the laser
in 1960.
Laser provides a coherent light source and the possibility
of modulation at high frequency.
The low beam divergence of the laser made free-space
optical transmission a possibility. However, the light
transmission constraints in the atmosphere still restrict
such systems to short-distance applications.
Some modest free-space optical communication links have
been implemented for applications such as the linking of a
television camera to a base vehicle and for data links of a
few hundred meters between buildings.
The invention of the laser stimulated a tremendous
research effort into the study of optical components to
attain reliable information transfer using a lightwave
carrier.
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The proposal for optical communications via dielectric
waveguides or optical fibers fabricated from glass to avoid
degradation of the optical signal by the atmosphere was
made in 1966 by Kao and Hockham (Kao and Hockham,
Dielectric fiber surface waveguides for optical
frequencies, Proc. IEE, 113(7), 1151-1158, 1966.)
Such systems were viewed as a replacement for coaxial
cable transmission systems.
Initially the optical fibers exhibited very high attenuation
(1000 dB km
-1
or 1 dB m
-1
). The coaxial cables loss was 5
10 dB km
-1
.
Within 10 years optical fiber losses were reduced to below
5 dB km
-1
.
The fiber proposal
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The beginnings of lightwave technology
1960 T. Maiman: Invention of Ruby laser, the 1
st
working laser, 694.3
nm, pulsed mode operation
1966 Kao: Identifying the key problem (glass attenuation) for optical
fiber communications
1970 Corning pulled the first low-loss glass fiber that satisfied the
required fiber attenuation
1970 Demonstration of room-temperature operation of semiconductor
lasers
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1980s The first generation of fiber-optic communication systems
operated at a bit rate of 45 Mb/s and required signal
regeneration every ~10 km.
1990s Bit rate increased to 10 Gb/s, allowed regeneration after ~80 km
Development and commercialization of erbium-doped fiber
amplifiers (EDFA), fiber Bragg gratings, and wavelength-
division-multiplexed (WDM) lightwave systems
2000s Capacity of commercial terrestrial systems exceeded 1.6 Tb/s
A single transpacific system bit rate exceeded 1 Tb/s over a
distance of 10,000 km without any signal regeneration
The era of commercial lightwave transmission systems
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Low data rate, single channel
High data rate, multiple channels
(Optical amplifiers (EDFA) +WDM)
Enabling components for sophisticated
reconfigurable optical networks
Optical fibers +semiconductor lasers
80s
90s
00s
70s
10s
Optical interconnects for next-generation
computercom?
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The bandwidth made possible by optical fiber communications
has made the Internet economically feasible.
Current optical fiber communications capabilities
Bit rate: single channel 10 Gbit/s(many upgraded to 40 Gbit/s);
system bit rate exceeding 1 Tb/s
Distance: ~80 kmwithout amplification
Transmission medium: silica singlemode fiber
Operation wavelengths: 1550 nm/1310 nm windows
Optical sources: semiconductor laser diodes / light emitting diodes
Optical amplification: fiber-based optical amplifiers (erbium-doped fiber
amplifiers, Raman fiber amplifiers)