TE645 Optical Communication Lecture 4 PDF

7/3/20
University of Dar es Salaam
TE645: Optical Communication
Optical Fiber Dispersion
Dr MM Kissaka
CoICT – ETE TE645

Signal Distortion in Fibres
Optical signal pulses broadens due to distortion effects as

it travels along a fibre. Eventually neighbouring pulses will
overlap
After a certain amount of overlap, receiver can no longer

distinguish the individual adjacent pulses and errors arise
when interpreting the received signal
Pulse spreading in an optical fiber is cased by Dispersion

2
1
7/3/20

Dispersion
Dispersion, expressed in terms of the symbol Δt, is

defined as pulse spreading in an optical fiber.
As a pulse of light propagates through a fiber,

elements such as numerical aperture, core diameter,
refractive index profile, wavelength, and laser line-
width cause the pulse to broaden

Dispersion…
2
7/3/20

Dispersion…
Dispersion Δt is given by: Δt = (Δtout − Δtin )

Is measured in time (nanoseconds or picoseconds). Total
dispersion is a function of fiber length. The longer the fiber, the
more the dispersion.
Δttotal = L × ( Dispersion / km)

5

Dispersion…
The overall effect of dispersion on the performance of a fiber optic

system is known as intersymbol interference
If an input pulse is caused to spread such that the rate of change of

the input exceeds the dispersion limit of the fiber, the output data
will become imperceptible.
3
7/3/20

Dispersion…
Dispersion is generally divided into:

- Modal dispersion (Intermodal Dispersion)
- Chromatic dispersion (Intramodal Dispersion)
- Polarization-mode Dispersion (PMD)
Modal dispersion is defined as pulse spreading caused by the time

delay between lower-order modes (modes or rays propagating
straight through the fiber close to the optical axis) and higher-order
modes (modes propagating at steeper angles)

Dispersion…
Modal dispersion (Also called Multipath Dispersion) is problematic in

multimode fiber, causing bandwidth limitation, but it is not a problem
in single-mode fiber where only one mode is allowed to propagate
8
4
7/3/20

Pulse Dispersion in Step-Index Fibers (SIF)
A pulse of light sent into a fiber broadens in time as it

propagates through the fiber. This phenomenon is known as
pulse dispersion
Pulse dispersion is caused by:

- intermodal dispersion
- material dispersion
- waveguide dispersion

Dispersion…
The rays making larger angles with the axis (those shown as dotted
rays) have to traverse a longer optical path length and therefore
take a longer time to reach the output end
10
5
7/3/20

Dispersion…
Consequently, the pulse broadens as it propagates through the

fiber. Where the output pulses are not resolvable, no information
can be retrieved.
Thus, the smaller the pulse dispersion, the greater will be the
information-carrying capacity of the system.
11
University
Dispersion… of Dar es Salaam
The intermodal dispersion for a step-index fiber can be derived as

follows.
For a ray making an angle θ with the axis, the distance AB is

traversed in time.
AB
t AB =
AC + CB
= cos θ = n1 AB
c c c cos θ
n1 n1
12
6
7/3/20
13

Dispersion…
where c/n1 represents the speed of light in a medium of refractive

index n1, c being the speed of light in free space.
Since the ray path will repeat itself, the time taken by a ray to
traverse a length L of the fiber would be:
n1 L
tL =
c cos θ
14
7
7/3/20

Dispersion…
If we assume that all rays lying between θ = 0 and θ = θc = cos-
1(n /n ) are present, the time taken by the extreme rays for a fiber
2 1
of length L would be given by:
n1 L
tmin = corresponding to rays at θ = 0
c
n12 L
tmax = corresponding to rays at θc = cos-1(n2/n1)
cn2
15

Dispersion…
Hence, if all the input rays were excited simultaneously, the rays
would occupy a time interval at the output end of duration
n1L ⎡ n1 ⎤ Ln12
τ i = tmax − tmin = ⎢ − 1⎥ = Δ
c ⎣ n2 ⎦ cn2
16
8
7/3/20

Dispersion…
Finally, the intermodal dispersion in a multimode SIF is:
n1 L L 2
τi ≅ Δ≈ NA
( )
c 2n1c
τ i
The quantity represents the pulse dispersion due to different rays
taking different times in propagating through the fiber, which, in wave
optics, is nothing but the intermodal dispersion and hence the subscript
i
17

Dispersion…
We can see that the pulse dispersion is proportional to the square of NA.
Thus, to have a smaller dispersion, one must have a smaller NA, which of
course reduces the acceptance angle and hence the light-gathering
power
Acceptance Angle is given by:
θ0 = sin −1 ( NA)
18
9
7/3/20

Fibre Capacity
Typically fibre capacity is specified in terms of the Bit rate-Distance
Product (BL)
Where BL is the bit rate (B) times the possible transmission distance
(L)
In order for neighboring signal pulses to remain distinguishable at the

receiver, the pulse spread should be less than 1/B which is a width of
a bit period.
1
In general model delay τi <
B 19

Fibre Capacity
Therefore using:
n1L ⎡ n1 ⎤ Ln12
τ i = tmax − tmin = ⎢ − 1⎥ = Δ
c ⎣ n2 ⎦ cn2
n2 c
The bit rate-distance product is:
BL < 2
n1 Δ
20
10
7/3/20

Pulse Dispersion in Parabolic-Index Fibers
(PIF)
In a parabolic-index (Graded Index) fiber, the refractive index in the

core decreases continuously (in a quadratic fashion) from a maximum
value at the center of the core to a constant value at the core-
cladding interface.
Since the refractive index decreases as one moves away from the
center of the core, a ray entering the fiber is continuously bent
toward the axis of the fiber
21

Dispersion…
22
11
7/3/20

Dispersion…
This follows from Snell's law because the ray continuously encounters a
medium of lower refractive index and hence bends continuously away
from the normal.
Even though rays making larger angles with the fiber axis traverse a
longer path, they do so in a region of lower refractive index (and hence
greater speed).
23

Dispersion…
The longer path length is almost compensated for by a greater

average speed such that all rays take approximately the same
amount of time in traversing the fiber.
This leads to a much smaller pulse dispersion. The final result for
the intermodal dispersion in a parabolic-index fiber (PIF) is given
by:
2
n L⎛ n −n ⎞ n L L 4
τ im = 2 ⎜ 1 2 ⎟ ≈ 2 Δ 2 ≈ ( NA )
2c ⎝ n2 ⎠ 2c 8cn13
24
12
7/3/20

Dispersion…
Note that, as compared to a step-index fiber, the pulse dispersion is
proportional to the fourth power of NA. For a typical (multimode
parabolic-index) fiber with n 2 =1.45 and Δ = 0.01, L = 1km, we would
get
τ im = 0.25ns / km
For a typical (multimode) step-index fiber, if we assume n 1 = 1.5, Δ=
0.01, L = 1 km, we would get
τ i = 50ns / km
25

Dispersion…
Comparing the two we find that for a parabolic-index fiber the pulse
dispersion is reduced by a factor of about 200 in comparison to a step-
index fiber.
This is why first- and second-generation optical communication

systems used near-parabolic-index fibers.
To further decrease the pulse dispersion, it is necessary to use single-

mode fibers
26
13
7/3/20

Chromatic Dispersion
Chromatic dispersion is pulse spreading due to the fact that different

wavelengths of light propagate at slightly different velocities through
the fiber.
All light sources, whether laser or LED, have finite linewidths, which
means they emit more than one wavelength.
Because the index of refraction of glass fiber is a wavelength-

dependent quantity, different wavelengths propagate at different
velocities.
27

Chromatic Dispersion…
Chromatic dispersion is typically expressed in units of nanoseconds or

picoseconds per (km-nm).
Chromatic dispersion consists of two parts: material dispersion and

waveguide dispersion.
Δtchromatic = Δtmaterial + Δtwaveguide
28
14
7/3/20
Material Dispersion
Material dispersion is due to the wavelength dependency on the index

of refraction of glass
The dependence of the refractive index on wavelength leads to

what is known as dispersion
29

Material Dispersion…
Consider a narrow pencil of a white light beam incident on a prism.
The incident white light

will disperse into its
constituent colors.
The dispersion will

become more evident
at the second surface
of the prism
30
15
7/3/20

Since the refractive index of glass depends on the wavelength, the

angle of refraction will be different for different colors.
For example, for crown glass the refractive indices at 656.3 nm

(orange), 589.0 nm (yellow), and 486.1 nm (green) are respectively
given by 1.5244, 1.5270, and 1.5330.
Thus, if the angle of incidence i = 45º the angle of refraction, r, will

be r = 27.64 0, 27.58 0, and 27.47 0 for the orange, yellow, and green
colors respectively.
31

From the velocity of light in a medium expression given by:

c
v=
n
Here n is the refractive index of the medium, which, in general,
depends on the wavelength
V is usually referred to as the phase velocity. However, a pulse

travels with what is known as the group velocity, which is given by
32
16
7/3/20

c where n g is known as the group index

vg = and, in most cases its value is slightly
ng larger than n
In the following Table n, n g and Dm are tabulated for pure silica for
different values of wavelength lying between 700 nm and 1600 nm
33

1270nm
34
17
7/3/20

Variations of n and n g with wavelength for pure silica are given in

the following graph.
Notice that n g has a minimum value of around 1270 nm.
1270 nm is usually referred to as the zero material dispersion

wavelength, and it is because of such low material dispersion that
the optical communication systems shifted their operation to around
1300 nm.
35

36
18
7/3/20

Every source of light has a certain wavelength spread, which is often

referred to as the spectral width of the source.
Thus, a white light source (like the sun) has a spectral width of
about 300 nm.
On the other hand, an LED has a spectral width of about 25 nm and

a typical laser diode (LD) operating at 1300 nm has a spectral width
of about 2 nm or less.
37

Each wavelength component will travel with a slightly different

group velocity through the fiber.
This results in broadening of a pulse. This broadening of the pulse is

proportional to the length of the fiber and to the spectral width of
the source.
Material dispersion coefficient Dm, which is measured in ps/km-nm.
38
19
7/3/20

Dm represents the material dispersion in picoseconds per kilometer

length of the fiber per nanometer spectral width of the source.
At a particular wavelength, the value of Dm is a characteristic of

the material and is (almost) the same for all silica fibers.
A negative Dm implies that the shorter wavelengths travel faster;

similarly, a positive value of Dm implies that longer wavelengths
travel faster.
39

The group delay resulting from material dispersion is given by:
L⎛ dn ⎞
τm = ⎜ n − λ ⎟
c⎝ dλ ⎠
Therefore material dispersion is an intramodal dispersion effect and
is of particular importance for single-mode waveguides and for LED
systems because of broader output spectrum than a laser diode
40
20
7/3/20

The group delay resulting from material dispersion is also given by:
τ m = Dm × L × Δλ
Where Dm is absolute value of Material dispersion and Δλ is light source

spectral width
41

Example 1:
In the optical communication systems one uses l = 850 with LED

having a spectral width of about 20 nm. Thus, for a 1-km length of the
fiber, the material dispersion becomes:
= 84.2 (ps/km-nm) x 1 (km) x 20 (nm) = 1.7 ns

42
21
7/3/20

Example 2:
If example 1 is repeated for l=1310nm, the delay will be:
= 2.4 (ps/km-nm) x 1 (km) x 20 (nm) = 0.05ns
43

Example 3:
In the optical communication systems that are in operation today, one

uses laser diodes (LD) with l = 1550nm having a spectral width of
about 2 nm. Thus, for a 1-km length of the fiber, the material dispersion
becomes:
= 21.5 (ps/km-nm) x 1 (km) x 2 (nm) = 43 ps
44
22
7/3/20

Waveguide Dispersion
Waveguide dispersion is due to the physical structure of the waveguide
Waveguide dispersion causes pulse spreading because only part of the

optical power propagation along a fibre is confined to the core
Fraction of light power propagating in the cladding travels faster than

the light confined to the core since the index is lower in the cladding
45

Waveguide Dispersion…
The amount of waveguide dispersion depends on the fibre design
Waveguide dispersion usually can be ignored in multimode fibres but

its effect is significant in single-mode fibres
Material dispersion and waveguide dispersion can have opposite signs

depending on the transmission wavelength.
46
23
7/3/20

In the case of a step-index single-mode fiber, these two effectively

cancel each other at 1310 nm, yielding zero-dispersion.
This makes very high-bandwidth communication possible at this

wavelength. However, the drawback is that, even though dispersion
is minimized at 1310 nm, attenuation is not.
Glass fiber exhibits minimum attenuation at 1550 nm.
47

Coupling that with the fact that erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA)
operate in the 1550-nm range makes it obvious that, if the zero-
dispersion property of 1310 nm could be shifted to coincide with the
1550-nm transmission window, high-bandwidth long-distance
communication would be possible.
With this in mind, zero-dispersion-shifted fiber was developed.
48
24
7/3/20

Polarization-Mode Dispersion (PMD)
Light signal energy at a given wavelength in a single-mode fibre

occupies two orthogonal states or modes
At the start of the fibre the two polarization states are aligned
49

Polarization-Mode Dispersion (PMD)…
Where the two different polarizations of light in a waveguide, which

normally travel at the same speed, travel at different speeds due to
random imperfections and asymmetries, causing random spreading of
optical pulses.
Although single-mode fiber can sustain only one transverse mode, it

can carry this mode with two different polarizations
50
25
7/3/20

Slight imperfections or distortions in a fiber can alter the propagation
velocities for the two polarizations.
This phenomenon is called fiber birefringence and can be counteracted

by polarization-maintaining optical fiber
51

Birefringence creates differing optical axes that generally correspond

to the fast and slow axes.
Birefringence causes one polarization mode to travel faster than the

other, resulting in difference in the propagation time called Differential
Group Delay (DGD)
DGD is the unit used to describe PMD. DGD is measured in

picoseconds
52
26
7/3/20

The fundamental property of PMD is broadening of input pulse due to
phase delay between input polarization states.
PMD effects resemble those of chromatic dispersion but with some

differences
Chromatic dispersion is a rather stable, linear effect, making

compensation relatively easy
PMD is a linear effect that is time-varying in fibre links making

compensation difficulty
53

Total Dispersion
When considering the total dispersion from different causes, we can
approximate the total dispersion as:
1
τ total = (τ + τ 2 + τ 3 + ...... + τ n
1
2 2 2
)
2 2
Where τ
n represents the dispersion due to the various
components that make up the system
54
27
7/3/20

Total Dispersion…
In a fiber, the pulse dispersion is caused, in general, by intermodal
dispersion, material dispersion, and waveguide dispersion.
However, waveguide dispersion is important only in single-mode

fibers and may be neglected in carrying out analysis for multimode
fibers.
Considering multimode fibers the total dispersion is given by
τ total = (τ i
2
+ τ m2 )
55

Total Dispersion…
The graph shows the

material chromatic
and wavelength
dispersions for
single-mode fiber
56
28
7/3/20

Total Dispersion…
The approximate bandwidth of a fiber can be related to the total

dispersion by the following relationship
BW = 0.35
τ total
57

Dispersion-shifted fibers
We have learned that the attenuation of a silica fiber attains its

minimum value of about 0.2 dB/km at around λ = 1550 nm.
The second- and third-generation optical communication systems

operated around λ = 1300 nm, where the dispersion was
extremely small but the loss was about 1 dB/km
Therefore the repeater spacing was limited by the loss in the fiber.
58
29
7/3/20

Dispersion-shifted fibers…
Since the lowest loss lies at around λ = 1550 nm, if the zero-
dispersion wavelength could be shifted to the λ = 1550-nm region,
one could have both minimum loss and very low dispersion.
This would lead to very-high-bandwidth systems with very long

repeater spacings (~ 100 km)
Extremely efficient optical fiber amplifiers capable of amplifying optical

signals in the 1550-nm band have also been developed. Thus, shifting
the operating wavelength from 1310 nm to 1550 nm would be very
advantageous
59

By reducing the core size and increasing the value of Δ,the zero-
dispersion wavelength can be shifted to 1550 nm, which represents
the low-loss window.
The current fourth-generation optical communication systems operate

at 1550 nm, using dispersion-shifted single-mode fibers with repeater
spacing of about 100 km, carrying about 10 Gbit/s of information
60
30
7/3/20

Variations of
dispersions for a
typical dispersion-
shifted single-mode
fiber (DSF
61

Plastic Optical Fibers (POF)
Plastic optical fibers are made from materials such as polymethyl

methacrylate PMMA (n = 1.49), polystyrene (n = 1.59),
polycarbonates, fluorinated polymers, and so on.
These fibers share the advantages of glass optical fibers in terms of

insensitivity to electromagnetic interference, small size and weight,
low cost, and potential capability of carrying information at high
rates.
62
31
7/3/20

Plastic Optical Fibers (POF)
The most important attribute of POFs is their large core diameters of
around 1mm as compared to glass fibers with cores of 50 mm or
62.5 mm.
Such a large diameter results in easier alignment at joints.
They are also more durable and flexible than glass fibers.
In addition, they usually have a large NA, resulting in larger light-

gathering power
63

Plastic Optical Fibers (POF)…
Plastic optical fibers' performance lies somewhere between conventional
copper wires and glass optical fibers.
Copper wires are expensive and suffer from electromagnetic

interference.
By comparison, plastic optical fibers are cheaper and are free from
interference.
In addition, signals through copper wires can be tapped while it is very

difficult to tap signals from optical fibers.
64
32
7/3/20

Compared to glass fibers, POFs are much easier to connect because

of their large diameters.
Coupling of light from a source is also very efficient due to large NA

and large core diameter.
Thus, although glass optical fibers dominate long-distance data

communication, POFs are expected to provide low-cost solutions to
short-distance applications such as local area networks (LAN) and
high-speed Internet access.
65

At gigabit rates of transmission, glass fibers are at least 30% more

expensive than POFs, while the cost of copper increases
dramatically.
Attenuation is one of the important parameters of an optical fiber.
POF has three low-loss windows, at 570 nm, 650 nm, and 780 nm as
shown in the graphs
66
33
7/3/20

Typical attenuation spectra of 1-mm-diameter (a) step-index (SI) and

(b) graded-index (GI) PMMA plastic fiber
67

The loss of SI POF at the 650-nm window is about 110 dB/km.
This is, of course, very large compared to silica fibers, which have typical losses of
about a few dB/km in this wavelength region.
The large losses are due to Rayleigh scattering, intrinsic absorption of the material
itself, and impurities and absorption due to vibrational modes of the molecules.
Because of the high losses, these fibers are used in only short-distance (a few
hundred meters) communication links.
68
34

TE645 Optical Communication Lecture 4 PDF

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

TE645 Optical Communication Lecture 4 PDF

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

7/3/20

University of Dar es Salaam