Fiber Characterization & Testing
Keith Hayes
keith@[Link]
201-988-6099
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. All rights reserved.
2010 EXFO Inc. All rights reserved.
Legacy Networks
WDM OC48/OC192
Vancouver
Toronto
Montreal
Chicago
Frankfurt
Seoul
San Francisco
Halifax
Dublin
Denver
Hong Kong
NYC
Paris
Moscow
Washington
Dallas
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Todays Network
Toronto
Vancouver
Montreal
Chicago
Frankfurt
Seoul
San Francisco
Denver
Halifax
100GigE
Dublin
Moscow
Washington
Hong Kong
Paris
NYC
Mexico
Dallas
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Tomorrows Network
Toronto
Vancouver
Montreal
Chicago
Frankfurt
Seoul
San Francisco
Denver
Halifax
Dublin
100GigE
Hong Kong
NYC
Mexico
Paris
Moscow
Washington
Dallas
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Fiber Characterization
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key performance attributes
Text Here
Link Loss
Reflectance
Optical
Return Loss
Chromatic
Dispersion
Polarization
Mode
Dispersion
Impacts
transmitters and
amplifiers
Impacts
transmitters and
amplifiers.
Impacts receiver
decision circuits
Impacts receiver
decision circuits
Uncompensated
CD limits
bandwidth and/or
distance.
Stochastic
phenomenon
impairs high bit
rate transmission
typically seen
on legacy fiber
but may appear
in any fiber.
Impacts
transmitter and
receiver
selection
Contributes to
poor ORL.
May contribute to
Multi-Path
Interference on
Ramaan
amplified links.
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KEEP IT CLEAN! Largest Source of ORL
Clean
Dust
Liquid contamination
Dry residue
Oil from hand
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Connector Inspection
The first step in solving a problem is understanding it
The image of a connector can tell you a lot
Different issues may be recognized by looking at the image
Wrong cleaning technique
Mishandling
Chips
Pits/dust particles
Scratches
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Connector Inspection
After drying
Wet residue:
Most often caused by an
improper cleaning technique
fibers must be dried after a wet
cleaning
When drying, remaining dust
particles will migrate toward the
core
Proper cleaning will remove the
residue
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Connector Inspection
Oil residue:
Most often caused by touching
the fiber endusers must never
touch fiber ends
An oil residue may act as a
matching gel:
May not affect IL and RL short term
May trap dust and increase IL and
RL with time
Additional truck rolls: $$$
Proper cleaning will remove
residue
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Connector Inspection
Dust/dirt/residue transfer:
Residue transfers & may create permanent damage when mating
Before mating:
After mating:
Patch Panel
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Connector Inspection
Adhesive region defects:
May originate during the
manufacturing process
Epoxy and chips may show in this
region
Are most often permanent defects
May show as dark or light defects
Are normal if size does not exceed
the IEC and IPC criteria
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Connector Inspection
Scratches:
Are linear defects in nature
Are critical if appearing in the core
area
May originate from mishandling or
improper cleaning technique
Are permanent defects
May be normal if they are on the
ferrule surface (contact zone)
depending on manufacturing
techniques and connector grade
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Connector Inspection
Scratches:
May appear as light or dark defects
May be hard to see with the naked eye
Are critical if appearing in the core area of SM fibers
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Cleaning
Dry method
An efficient technique for removing light contaminants
Often considered the technique of choice in a controlled manufacturing
environment where speed and ease of use are important factors
Advantages
Disadvantages
Convenience of readily available tools
Can possibly create electrostatic charges
Fast and easy
Not effective in removing all contaminant types
Examples of dry cleaning supplies:
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Cleaning
Wet method
The main purpose of using the wet-solvent approach is to raise dust and
contaminants from the connectors endface to avoid scratching the connector
The most widely-known solvent in the industry is the 99.9% isopropyl alcohol
(IPA), which removes most contaminants
Advantages
Disadvantages
Can dissolve complex soils and
contaminants
Can leave residue on the ferrule when too much
solvent is used and not properly dried
Eliminates the accumulation of
electrostatic discharge on the ferrule
Solvent choice can be confusing with issues of
performance and EH&S
Example of wet cleaning supplies:
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Cleaning
Combination method (hybrid)
Combination cleaning is a mix of the wet and dry cleaning methods
The first step in hybrid cleaning is to clean the connector end-face with a solvent
and to dry any remaining residue with either a wipe or a swab
Advantages
Disadvantages
Cleans all soil types
Reduces potential static field soil accumulation
Automatically dries moisture and solvent used in the cleaning process
Captures soil in wiping material as an integrated aspect of cleaning procedure
Requires multiple
products
Not expensive
Example of combination cleaning supplies:
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Link Loss
Any light that does not reach the receiver is lost.
Link Loss
This is known as Attenuation or Link Loss
Core
Cladding
Impacts
transmitter and
receiver
selection
Impurity
Source
Ray of light
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Reflectance/Optical Return Loss
Source
Impurity
Reflectance
Impacts
transmitters and
amplifiers
Ray of light
Incident Power
Contributes to
poor ORL.
Rx
Tx
Reflected Power
Connector
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OTDR The tool of choice.
It reveals what?
Its used for
what?
Total Loss
Characterize the link
components
Optical Return Loss
Highlight a potential
problem
Fiber Length
Locate a fault
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OTDR -- Basic parameter: Pulse Width
Short pulses will give a better resolution but less dynamic range:
Two connectors 3
meters apart
Connectors
are
measured
for distance
and marked
as separate
events
5ns pulse
End of link (patch
panel)
End of fiber is not
reached due to
low power of
short pulses
Long pulses will give a better dynamic range but less resolution:
Connectors
are
merged
and
identified as
one event
30ns pulse
End of fiber is reached
and located
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OTDR TRACE GENERATION P2P TEST
50ns manual test 9 events found
The link looks good but no clear pass/fail indicators
Pulse width limitation: 3 missed events in dead zone
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OTDR TRACE GENERATION P2P TEST
SOR trace generated by iOLM 12 events located
iOLM elements integrated Minimal dead zones with maximum reach
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iOLM report includes an OTDR trace
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OTDR Testing for CWDM Networks
MUX/DEMUXs
CWDM
OTDR signal
only allows
will follow
specific
the right
wavelengths
path and reach
each premise,
Standard
1310/1550nm
based onare
its filtered
respective
andwavelength
do not go through
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Dispersion
Chromatic (SM) Dispersion:
Different wavelengths travel at different velocities
Pulse Spreading
Polarization Mode (birefringence) Dispersion:
Two polarization modes travel at different velocities
Pulse Spreading
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Dispersion
Dispersion and Bit Rate Dependence
2.5 Gbps
2.5 Gbps
Optical Fiber
10 Gbps
10 Gbps
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Consequences
Dispersion CD/PMD
Pulse Broadening
Bit Errors and BERT issues
Significant delays and expense in installation
and commissioning
SLA Penalties
Inability to operate at high speed (extreme)
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Chromatic Dispersion (CD)
Chromatic
Dispersion
Chromatic Dispersion
Impacts receiver
decision circuits
Different wavelengths travel at different speeds
Causes spreading of the light pulse
Limits how fast and how far a signal will travel
Higher bit rates are less robust
Solutions
Use DSF or NZDS Fibers
Dispersion Compensating Fiber
Uncompensated
CD limits
bandwidth and/or
distance.
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CD Testing in Advanced Networks
Chromatic dispersion in networks over the past few years has been managed
through dispersion compensation modules (DCM). DCMs placed in the
network were engineered to reverse pulse spreading over the distance of fiber
span.
Todays networks have also overcome some of the chromatic dispersion
challenges through advanced modulation systems.
So why test for chromatic dispersion?
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Chromatic Dispersion (CD)
If measured accurately Chromatic Dispersion can be compensated for.
No Compensation
With Compensation
OC192 Delay Threshold
Delay
Length
DCM
TX
DCM
RX
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Chromatic Dispersion
(ps/nm-km)
CD in Optical Fiber
+
+7
dispersion unshifted
G.652
non-zero
dispersion
dispersion shifted
G.653
non-zero dispersion shifted
G.655
(nm)
When you look at this chart, it shows two interesting pieces of information:
1. This shows the level of typical dispersion per km for the specific wavelength.
Example: G.652 fiber is ~ +17 ps/nm/km at 1550 nm.
2. This graph also shows where there is zero dispersion at which wavelength.
Example: G.652 fiber has zero dispersion ~ 1310 nm.
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CD Tolerance vs. Bit Rate
Bit rate
Time per bit
(ps)
CD Tolerance
(ps/nm)
CD Tolerance
(km of G652)
2.5Gbits (OC48/STM16)
400
16000
650
10Gbits (OC192/STM64)
100
1600
80
10GigE
100
1000
50
40Gbts (OC768/STM256)
25
+/-150
100Gbts
10
30
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Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)
Polarization
Mode
Dispersion
Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)
Impacts receiver
decision circuits
Solutions
Stochastic
phenomenon
impairs high bit
rate transmission
typically seen
on legacy fiber
but may appear
in any fiber.
Single-mode fiber supports two polarization states
Fast and slow axes have different group velocities
Causes spreading of the light pulse
Limits transmission rate
Regeneration
Improved placing method
Improved fiber
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What causes PMD?
Fiber Manufacturing Process
Cable Manufacturing Process
Cable Installation Process
Environmental Changes
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Visualizing PMD
Lets visualize a light pulse traveling into a fiber and segment it into 9
quadrants (easier to visualize)
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Visualizing PMD
Fiber section:
Light pulse:
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Impact of PMD
If we transmit 1-0-1:
1 0 1
With PMD, this becomes:
1 0 1
The 1 is dimmer, the 0 can have light: BER
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PMD Specifications
PMD measurement verifies if the fiber & installation are good enough to deliver high
bandwidth services
PMD can have catastrophic effect on whether a link can sustain 40GigE and 100GigE
services
Difficult to compensate for PMD because its random & can vary with environmental
changes
MD
Bit rate
(Gbit/s)
Average DGD*
(ps)
2.5
40
10
10
40
2.5
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PMD Mitigation
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Arent New Systems PMD Tolerant?
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Report
In field verification showed it was
LEAF fiber.
Fiber tested showed values of 4.48 ps/nm*km, 1500.27nm
Lambda Zero
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Power Density
Why is determining what type of fiber you have in your network important?
Network Equipment Manufacturers, etc. have requested from network owners what type of fiber they are
working with when upgrading to 100GigE, especially if doing DWDM.
Two reasons why knowing fiber type through CD measurements is important.
1. Installing multiple wavelengths (DWDM) on fiber with low or zero CD can exhibit issues with non-linear
effects like four wave mixing (FWM).
2. Coherent Detection systems allow for the growth to 100GigE. These systems upgrades will require higher
OSNR. Raman pumps allow low noise amplification.
1. NEMs documents state that Raman gain depends on fiber type
2. the same amount of pump power provides different gain for different fiber types.
When discussing core size versus gain, we are talking about power density.
Smaller core, more power density. Larger core, lower power density.
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Typical RAMAN Gains
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Network Design with Raman Amplification
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Fiber Characterization Summary:
Relevant parameters:
Fiber type needed at design level
High power needs accurate connector cleaning.
Fiber length and loss needed
Fiber quality is important: splice loss, reflections, fiber attenuation
Dispersion measurements and compensation
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Thank You
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