27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.

prz

Dublin Institute of Technology

School of Electronic and

Communications Engineering

Optical Communications Systems

Optical Fibre Couplers and Switches
Dr. Gerald Farrell
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited
Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Fibre Coupler Types and

Functions
Couplers are one of the most common devices in fibre systems.
Used to split, combine and route signals within systems.

Three port fibre Splitter

4
Four port fibre Coupler

M or N
ports
Three port fibre Combiner

N ports

Star fibre Coupler

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Methods of Fabricating Couplers

A wide variety techniques for fabricating couplers have been developed.
Most common technique is the fused biconical fibre taper technique.
Developed techniques include:
Lateral offset technique
Fibre couplers
Fused Biconical Taper technique
Semitransparent mirror method
Mirror based beam splitters
Micro-lens and mirror method

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Classification of Fibre Couplers

Fibre 2
Fibre 1
Fibre 3

Core interaction type

Fibre 1

Fibre 2

Generally relies
on mirror/lens
techniques
or on precision
fibre jointing

Most common
technique and
the basis of the
FBT fibre coupler

Surface interaction type

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Fused Biconical Taper Fibre

Coupler
FBT method is the most common way of manufacturing couplers.
Fibre twisted together, then spot fused under tension to form an elongated
"biconical taper structure".

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

FBT Coupler: Multimode

Operation
High order Mode
Fibre B
2

Fibre A

Lower order Mode (not coupled)

For multimode fibre higher order modes (rays with smaller refraction angles)
become unguided, leaving the core of Fibre A and coupling into fibre B.
Process happens because in the tapered section the core diameters are reduced.
Thus some power from port 1 is transferred gradually over the taper to port 3
The amount of power is a function of the taper length and the degree of coupling
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

FBT Coupler: Singlemode

Operation
In the case of monomode operation there is a complex coherent
interaction
between the fibres.
Leads to a periodic variation in the splitting ratio with taper length and with
wavelength as shown below.
Thus singlemode FBT couplers are naturally wavelength specific.
Fibre A
Wavelenght flattened
couplers have been
developed

Coupling
ratio

Fibre B

Wavelength dependence
used in Wavelength
division multiplexers

Wavelength (m)
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Coupler Split Ratio

2
Input
Ports

3
Four Port
Coupler

Output
Ports

Four port coupler used as a splitter for illustration, with power applied to port 1
Power in and out of ports is given by P1, P2 etc..
Split Ratio (or Coupling Ratio)
Defined as the percentage division of optical power between the output ports
P3
Split Ratio =
For port P3
x100%
P3 + P4
Most common split ratio available is 50%, i.e. P3 = P4
Split ratio frequently given as X/Y, where X and Y are the output port Splitting Ratios
eg for P3 = P4 the splitter is called a 50/50 splitter
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Coupler Insertion Loss

2
Input
1

Ports

3
Four Port
Coupler

Output

Ports

Power in and out of ports is given by P1, P2 etc..

Insertion Loss (dB)
Defined generally as the loss between two particular ports. It depends on the
splitting ratio and any imperfections in the coupler (excess loss)
Insertion Loss =

10 log

P1

dB

Ports 1 to 4

P4
For example for a 50/50 split ratio a reasonable insertion loss is < 3.4 dB
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Coupler Excess Loss

2
Input
Ports

3
Four Port
Coupler

Output
Ports

Excess Loss (dB)

In an ideal coupler the insertion loss would be set by the splitting ratio only,
so for a 50/50 splitter, the insertion loss would be 3 dB.
In practice scattering, absorption and imperfections raise the loss above the
theoretical value. This is the so-called excess loss
Excess Loss =

10 log

Pin
Pout

dB

For example for a 50/50 split ratio a reasonable excess loss is < 0.4 dB
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Coupler Crosstalk or Directivity

2

Input

Four Port
Coupler

Ports

Output
Ports

Crosstalk dB
Crosstalk is a measure of the isolation between two input or two output ports.
Power from port 1 may be backscattered to port 2 and vice-versa.
Becoming an important issue in reducing reflection in high speed systems
Crosstalk =

10 log

P2
P1

dB

Crosstalk from
Port 1 to Port 2

For a quality 50/50 splitter a typical crosstalk is less than - 60 dB.

Directivity is crosstalk written as a positive value.
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Exercise

A four port multimode FBT coupler has 60 W of optical power

launched into port 1.
The measured powers at the other ports are:
Port 2:

0.004 W

Port 3:

26.0 W

Port 4:

27.5 W

Determine the excess loss, insertion loss, directivity, and split ratio
for this coupler.
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Fibre Switches
Typically used for routing signals:
In test setups
Transmission system circuit switching
Transmission system backup switching

Normally mechanical switching, redirecting light path

Switch speed is slow, very much less than typical bit interval
Most common configuration is 1 input switched to one of two outputs
Other configurations available, higher cost

Most fibre switches are bi-directional

Low loss, typically 0.2 to 0.3 dB for singlemode switch at 1300 nm
Relatively high cost; 500 a switch
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Mechanical Moving Mirror

Switch
Port 2

Port 1

Fibre

Fibre

Input Port

Mechanical
Actuator

Fibre
Moving
Mirror
Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Backup Switching
DMSE: Digital Main Switching Exchange

Fibre Break

DMSE
Y

DMSE
X

DMSE
Z
Service Protection Route
Fibre Switch

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology

27/02/02 1.11 Fibre Couplers & Switches overview.prz

Moving Fibre Switch

Optical Communications Systems, Dr. Gerald Farrell, School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Unauthorised usage or reproduction strictly prohibited, Copyright 2002, Dr. Gerald Farrell, Dublin Institute of Technology