Abstract:

Fiber optic systems are important telecommunication infrastructure for world-wide

broadband networks. Wide bandwidth signal transmission with low delay is a key
requirement in present day applications. Optical fibers provide enormous and unsurpassed
transmission bandwidth with negligible latency, and are now the transmission medium of
choice for long distance and high data rate transmission in telecommunication networks. This
paper gives an overview of fiber optic communication systems including their key
technologies, and also discusses their technological trend towards the next generation.

Keywords:
Bandwidth, Broadband, Fiber optics, Latency, Telecommunication, Transmitting, Cable.

Introduction:
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another
by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier
wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when
high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required.

Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals,

Internet communication, and cable television signals. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached
internet speeds of over 100 pet a bit × kilometer per second using fiber-optic communication.

Basic Principles of Fiber Optic Communication

Fiber optic communication is a communication technology that uses light pulses to transfer
information from one point to another through an optical fiber. The information transmitted is
essentially digital information generated by telephone systems, cable television companies,
and computer systems. An optical fiber is a dielectric cylindrical waveguide made from low-
loss materials, usually silicon dioxide. The core of the waveguide has a refractive index a
little higher than that of the outer medium (cladding), so that light pulses is guided along the
axis of the fiber by total internal reflection. Fiber optic communication systems consists of an
optical transmitter to convert an electrical signal to an optical signal for transmission through
the optical fiber, a cable containing several bundles of optical fibers, optical amplifiers to
boost the power of the optical signal, and an optical receiver to reconvert the received optical

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signal back to the original transmitted electrical signal. Figure 1 gives a simplified description
of a basic fiber optic communication system.

Evolution of Fiber Optics Communication

Optical fiber was first developed in 1970 by Corning Glass Works. At the same time, GaAs
semiconductor lasers were also developed for transmitting light through the fiber optic
cables. The first generation fiber optic system was developed in 1975, it used GaAs
semiconductor lasers, operated at a wavelength of 0.8 µm, and bit rate of 45Megabits/second
with 10Km repeater spacing. In the early 1980’s, the second generation of fiber optic
communication was developed; it used In GaAsP semi conductor lasers and operated at a
wavelength of 1.3 µm. By 1987, these fiber optic systems were operating at bit rates of up to
1.7 Gigabits/second on single mode fiber with 50Km repeater spacing.

The third generation of fiber optic communication operating at a wavelength of 1.55 µm was
developed in 1990. These systems were operating at a bit rate of up to 2.5 Gigabits/second on
a single longitudinal mode fiber with 100Km repeater spacing. The fourth generation of fiber
optic systems made use of optical amplifiers as a replacement for repeaters, and utilized
wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to increase data rates. By 1996, transmission of
over 11,300Km at a data rate of 5Gigabits/second had been demonstrated using submarine
cables. The fifth generation fiber optic communication systems use the Dense Wave Division
Multiplexing (DWDM) to further increase data rates. Also, the concept of optical solitons,
which are pulses that can preserve their shape by counteracting the negative effects of
dispersion, is also being explored. Figure 3 shows the evolution of fiber optic
communication.

Future Trends in Fiber Optics Communication

Fiber optics communication is definitely the future of data communication. The evolution of
fiber optic communication has been driven by advancement in technology and increased
demand for fiber optic communication. It is expected to continue into the future, with the
development of new and more advanced communication technology. Below are some of the
envisioned future trends in fiber optic communication.

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Technology
Modern fiber-optic communication systems generally include an optical transmitter to
convert an electrical signal into an optical signal to send through the optical fiber, a cable
containing bundles of multiple optical fibers that is routed through underground conduits and
buildings, multiple kinds of amplifiers, and an optical receiver to recover the signal as an
electrical signal. The information transmitted is typically digital information generated by
computers, telephone systems and cable television companies.

Fiber Optic Communication Works

Unlike copper wire based transmission where the transmission entirely depends on electrical
signals passing through the cable, the fiber optics transmission involves transmission of
signals in the form of light from one point to the other. Furthermore, a fiber optic
communication network consists of transmitting and receiving circuitry, a light source and
detector devices like the ones shown in the figure.

When the input data, in the form of electrical signals, is given to the transmitter circuitry, it
converts them into light signal with the help of a light source. This source is of LED whose
amplitude, frequency and phases must remain stable and free from fluctuation in order to
have efficient transmission. The light beam from the source is carried by a fiber optic cable to
the destination circuitry wherein the information is transmitted back to the electrical signal by
a receiver circuit.

The Receiver circuit consists of a photo detector along with an appropriate electronic circuit,
which is capable of measuring magnitude, frequency and phase of the optic field. This type of

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communication uses the wave lengths near to the infrared band that are just above the visible
range. Both LED and Laser can be used as light sources based on the application.

There are three main basic elements of fiber optic communication system. They are

 Compact Light Source

 Low loss Optical Fiber
 Photo Detector
Accessories like connectors, switches, couplers, multiplexing devices, amplifiers and splices
are also essential elements in this communication system.

1. Compact Light Source

Depending on the applications like local area networks and the long haul communication
systems, the light source requirements vary. The requirements of the sources include power,
speed, spectral line width, noise, ruggedness, cost, temperature, and so on. Two components
are used as light sources: light emitting diodes (LED’s) and laser diodes.
The light emitting diodes are used for short distances and low data rate applications due to
their low bandwidth and power capabilities. Two such LEDs structures include Surface and
Edge Emitting Systems. The surface emitting diodes are simple in design and are reliable, but
due to its broader line width and modulation frequency limitation edge emitting diode are
mostly used. Edge emitting diodes have high power and narrower line width capabilities.

2. Low Loss Optical Fiber

Optical fiber is a cable, which is also known as cylindrical dielectric waveguide made of low
loss material. An optical fiber also considers the parameters like the environment in which it
is operating, the tensile strength, durability and rigidity. The Fiber optic cable is made of high
quality extruded glass (si) or plastic, and it is flexible. The diameter of the fiber optic cable is
in between 0.25 to 0.5mm (slightly thicker than a human hair).

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A Fiber Optic Cable consists of four parts.
1. Core
2. Cladding
3. Buffer
4. Jacket
Core
The core of a fiber cable is a cylinder of plastic that runs all along the fiber cable’s length,
and offers protection by cladding. The diameter of the core depends on the application used.
Due to internal reflection, the light travelling within the core reflects from the core, the
cladding boundary. The core cross section needs to be a circular one for most of the
applications.

Cladding
Cladding is an outer optical material that protects the core. The main function of the cladding
is that it reflects the light back into the core. When light enters through the core (dense
material) into the cladding(less dense material), it changes its angle, and then reflects back to
the core.

Buffer
The main function of the buffer is to protect the fiber from damage and thousands of optical
fibers arranged in hundreds of optical cables. These bundles are protected by the cable’s outer
covering that is called jacket.

Jacket
Fiber optic cable’s jackets are available in different colors that can easily make us recognize

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the exact color of the cable we are dealing with. The color yellow clearly signifies a single
mode cable, and orange color indicates multimode.

2 Types of Optical Fibers

Single-Mode Fibers: Single mode fibers are used to transmit one signal per fiber; these fibers
are used in telephone and television sets. Single mode fibers have small cores. Multi-Mode
Fibers: Multimode fibers are used to transmit many signals per fiber; these signals are used in
computer and local area networks that have larger cores.

3. Photo Detectors
The purpose of photo detectors is to convert the light signal back to an electrical signal. Two
types of photo detectors are mainly used for optical receiver in optical communication
system: PN photo diode and avalanche photo diode. Depending on the application’s
wavelengths, the material composition of these devices vary. These materials include silicon,
germanium, InGaAs, etc.
This is all about the basic elements of the fiber optic communication system. For additional
information, and for any kind of assistance, please write to us as we encourage and appreciate
your suggestions, feedback, queries and comments. Please share your ideas, suggestions and
comments in the comment section given below.

Photo Credits
 Fiber optic communication by mrb
 Working of Fiber optic communication by expertsmind
 LED vs Laser Diodes by fiberoptics4sale

Conclusion:
The fiber optics communications industry is an ever evolving one, the growth experienced by
the industry has been enormous this past decade. There is still much work to be done to
support the need for faster data rates, advanced switching techniques and more intelligent
network architectures that can automatically change dynamically in response to traffic
patterns and at the same time be cost efficient. The trend is expected to continue in the future
as breakthroughs already attained in the laboratory will be extended to practical deployment
thereby leading to a new generation in fiber optics communications.

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Refferences

Noshad, M. and Rostami, A., 2012. FWM minimization in WDM optical communication
systems using the asymmetrical dispersion-managed fibers. Optik-International Journal for
Light and Electron Optics, 123(9), pp.758-760.

Wang, X. and Kitayama, K.I., 2004. Analysis of beat noise in coherent and incoherent time-
spreading OCDMA. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 22(10), p.2226.

Shake, T.H., 2005. Confidentiality performance of spectral-phase-encoded optical

CDMA. Journal of lightwave technology, 23(4), p.1652.

Sharma, P., Pardeshi, S., Arora, R.K. and Singh, M., 2013. A review of the development in
the field of fiber optic communication systems. International Journal of Emerging
Technology and Advanced Engineering, 3(5), pp.113-119.

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 Assignment

An Analysis of Fiber Optic Communication

Submitted By
Tarek Miah
Roll No: 2006
Batch No: 37 B
Reg No: WUB 03/17/37/2006
Department of CSE
World University of Bangladesh (WUB)

Submitted To
Md. Faizul Huq Arif
Lecturer
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
World University of Bangladesh (WUB)