Exercise 10

Fiber Optic And

Wireless Networking

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 Objectives for Exercise 10
At the end of this Exercise, you will be able to:
■ Describe the construction of a fiber optic cable.
■ State the difference between a fiber’s core and
cladding material.
■ Explain the terms “total internal reflection” and
“critical angle.”
■ Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
single mode fiber optic cable.
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 Objectives (Continued)
■ Compare the advantages and disadvantages
of fiber optic cable to copper cable.
■ List the three wireless LAN technologies.
■ Explain the major differences between IR
and RF technologies.
■ Describe how wireless LANs fit into
networking schemes.

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 History of Optical Fiber

■ In 1870, British physicist John Tyndal

observed that light could be bent in a stream
of water.
■ In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell invented a
photophone that transmitted voice signals on
beams of light.
■ In the 1970s, Corning Glass & Bell Labs
developed the first practical optical fiber.
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 What is Optical Fiber?

■ Communication grade optical fibers are

ultra-pure strands of glass the thickness of a
human hair.
– It is basically comprised of two components;
the core and its cladding.
– Core and cladding, differing only in their
refractive index, form an “optical waveguide.”
– This propagates photons, much as wire
propagates electrons, but much faster.
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 Optical Fiber Construction

■ This shows the basic construction of an

optical fiber.
– The core and cladding are both glass with
different indices of refraction.

Core Cladding

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 Fiber Optic Cable

■ This shows the optical

fiber integrated into a
typical fiber optic cable.

*CAUTION*
When pulling this cable,
apply tension ONLY to
the strength member.
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How Does Optical Fiber Work?

■ Some important points necessary to the

understanding of this subject are:
– Index of refraction
– Critical angle
– Total internal reflection
– Propagation modes
– Bandwidth
– Types of fibers available

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 Total Internal Reflection
■ You can think of an optical fiber as a hall of
mirrors. In fiber, notice that the border between
core and cladding serves as the mirrors.

Hall of Mirrors

Cladding
Optical Fiber Core
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 Fiber Modes and Indices

■ Optical fiber comes in two major types,

multimode and singlemode.

■ Multimode is also available in two different

types, step index or graded index.
– Graded index is more commonly used in
communication applications.

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 Step and Graded Index Fiber
■ Step index fiber provides a single, abrupt change in its index of
refraction.
■ Unlike step index, the cladding of graded index has a non-
uniform index of refraction.

Step Index Fiber Graded Index Fiber

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 Critical Angle
■ The critical angle is that angle at which a ray
is not allowed to pass through the barrier
between core and cladding.
■ At angles greater than the critical angle, all
energy is reflected back into the core.

< Critical Angle Critical Angle > Critical Angle

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 Multimode Fiber
■ Multimode fiber can accept a fairly large range of
input angles. Each takes a different amount of time
to travel the same distance. Each path is a mode.
– Note that the output pulse is wider and weaker than the
input pulse. This effect is known as modal dispersion.
– Also note the orange ray, which strikes the interface at
less than the critical angle, is lost.

Input Output
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 Singlemode Fiber

■ This fiber accepts only one input angle,

therefore the output closely matches the
input.
– This cable is used for very long cable runs. It is
much more expensive to buy and install.

Input Output
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 Bandwidth

■ Bandwidth is the fiber’s capacity to carry

data.
– The greater the bandwidth, the greater its carrying
capacity.
■ Fiber bandwidth is specified as frequency
(MHz) divided by distance (km) at specific
wavelengths.
– If a cable is specified at 800 MHz, its bandwidth
at 2 kilometers would be reduced to 400 MHz.
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 Advantages of Fiber Optics

■ Greater capacity than copper: Can carry

hundreds of times more information.
■ No electrical interference: Immune to EMI,
RFI, and cross-talk.
■ Security: Does not radiate fields and cannot be
tapped without detection.
■ Low transmission losses: Allows for very long
cable runs between repeaters.

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 Disadvantages of Fiber Optics

■ Electrical/Optical conversions: Expensive to

convert electrical signals to light and back
again.
■ Special installation: Requires special tools,
techniques, and training. (Crimping, wire
wrapping, and soldering do not apply.)
■ Expense: Cable, associated components and
manpower are currently more expensive.

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 Wireless Communications

■ Wireless communications are an adjunct to

wired LANs, not a replacement.

■ Current systems use either:

– Infrared light, or
– Radio frequency waves.

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 Common Characteristics

■ These technologies differ from copper and

fiber cable in that they do not require
physical connections. They, instead, rely on
waves traveling through free space.
– Mainly used to connect two buildings or remote
users where cables cannot be run.
– Useful where it is difficult to run cable.
– Air is a more uncontrollable medium than
cable.
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 Infrared (IR) Technology

■ IR is simply a range of light waves just

below the visible spectrum.
■ Like visible light, it can not pass through
walls or ceilings but can reflect off flat
surfaces.
■ It is not subject to EMI or RFI interference.
■ Two types of IR systems are currently
available, direct IR and diffuse IR.
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 Direct Infrared Connections

■ This is similar to the method used for TV

remote controls.
■ Requires the transmitter and receiver to be
in direct line-of-sight.
■ Transmits infrared in a 30-degree cone.
■ Receiving unit must be within this cone.
■ Uses two levels of intensity to represent
digital data “1” and “0.”
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 Direct IR

■ This illustrates the directivity required for

direct IR operation.

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 Diffuse Infrared Connections

■ Does not need direct line-of-sight but is

limited to a single room.

■ Instead of a focused beam, it floods a room

with IR, similar to a light bulb.
– Since all receivers in the area receive the same
signals, units need to have unique identifiers.

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 Diffuse Infrared LAN
Connections
■ This illustrates how additional nodes can
connect to a wired LAN using diffuse IR.

LAN
LAN
LAN Additional Infra-Red LAN Nodes

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 How RF LANs Work

■ Radio waves consist of a high frequency,

low power carrier, modulated by the data
signal.
■ This signal is received at the other end where
the carrier frequency is stripped away,
leaving only the original data signals.
■ These waves can be transmitted up to half a
mile, subject to FCC regulations.

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 Radio Frequency Technologies
■ The FCC has allotted bands of frequencies
for use by wireless LANs. Applications
using these frequencies include:
■ Narrowband
■ Spread Spectrum Frequency Hopping
(FHSS)
■ Spread Spectrum Direct Sequence (DSSS)

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 Narrowband

■ Narrowband systems transmit and receive on

discrete frequencies within the band.
■ Cross-talk is avoided by sharply tuning each
receiver to its assigned frequency.
■ This is comparable to cable TV where the
cable may contain 50 channels but the TV
receiver filters out all but the channel it is
tuned to.

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 Narrowband Signal Plot
■ Notice this occupies a very small portion of
the allocated frequency band.
■ Has relatively high power output but very low
data rate.
■ Annual FCC license is required for each
transmitter site.

Allocated Spectrum
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 Spread Spectrum

■ These technologies use a wider portion of

the allocated frequency band than
Narrowband systems.
■ Two types of Spread Spectrum systems are
currently in use. These are:
– Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum and
– Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum.
■ Spread spectrum systems do not require
FCC licensing due to their low power.
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 Frequency-Hopping Spread
Spectrum
■ Frequency-Hopping uses a narrowband
carrier, which shifts frequency in a
predetermined pattern known to both the
transmitter and receiver.

■ If synchronized, a single logical channel is

maintained. To an unsynchronized receiver,
the signal appears to be random noise.

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 FHSS Signal Plot
Transmitted signal hops from frequency to
frequency. The frequency-shift pattern must be
known to both the transmitter and the receiver.
This 2.4 GHz band contains 83 discrete 1 MHz
channels.

FHSS
2400 MHz 2483 MHz

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 Direct-Sequence Spread
Spectrum
■ DSSS uses a complex modulation/
demodulation technique to spread its power
over a wide portion of allocated bandwidth.

■ To a receiver not equipped with the proper

DSSS codes, the signal appears to be only
low power, wide band noise.

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Now It’s Your Turn

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