1. List the basic elements of a fiber-optic communication system.

- A fiber-optic transmission strand can carry the signal (in the form of a modulated light
beam) a few feet or even hundreds or thousands of miles. A cable may contain three or
four hair-like fibers or a bundle of hundreds of such fibers.
- A source of invisible infrared radiation-usually a light-emitting diode (LED) or a solid-
state laser-that can be modulated to impress digital data or an analog signal on the light
beam.
- A photosensitive detector to convert the optical signal back into an electrical signal at
the receiver.
- Efficient optical connectors at the light source-to-cable interface and at the cable- to-
photo detector interface. These connectors are also critical when splicing the optical
cable due to excessive loss that can occur at connections.
2. List five advantages of an optical communications link.
Extremely wide system bandwidth
Immunity to EMI
Elimination of cross talk
Lower signal attenuation than other systems
Lower costs
3. Define refractive index.
Ratio of the speed of light in free space to the speed in a given material.
4. What are the commonly used wavelengths in fiber-optic systems?
Multimode fiber: 850 and 1310nm
Single mode fiber: 1310 and 1550nm
Fiber-to-the-home/business: 1600-1625nm
5. Which part of an optical fiber carries the light?
The core
6. What is a measure of a fiber's light acceptance?
Numerical aperture - basic specification provided by the manufacturer that indicates the
fiber's ability to accept light and shows how much light can be off-axis and still
propagate.
7. Define pulse dispersion.
Limiting the distance and rate at which data can be transmitted due to multiple path
lengths.
8. What are the typical core/cladding sizes (in microns) for multimode fiber?
50 µm diameter cores and 125 µm cladding
9. What is the typical core size for single-mode fiber?
7-10 µm
10. Define mode field diameter.
The actual guided optical power distribution, which is typically a micron or so larger than
the core diameter; single-mode fiber specifications typically list the mode field diameter
11. What are the two key distance-limiting parameters in fiber-optic transmissions?
Attenuation, dispersion
12. What are the four factors that contribute to attenuation?
Scattering, absorption, macrobending, microbending
13. Define dispersion.
Broadening of a light pulse as it propagates through the fiber strand
14. What are three types of dispersion?
Modal dispersion - The broadening of a pulse due to different path lengths taken through
the fiber by different modes.
Chromatic dispersion - The broadening of a pulse due to different propagation velocities
of the spectral components of the light pulse.
Polarization mode dispersion - The broadening of a pulse due to the different
propagation velocities of the X and Y polarization components of the light pulse.
15. What is meant by the zero-dispersion wavelength?
A point where dispersion is actually at zero, determined by the refractive index profile.
Happens around 1310 nm
16. What is a dispersion compensating fiber?
Acts as an equalizer, canceling dispersion effects and yielding close to zero dispersion
in the 1550-nm region
17. What are the two kinds of light sources used in fiber-optic communication systems?
Diode laser (DL) and high-radiance light-emitting diode (LED)
18. Why is a narrower spectra advantageous in optical systems?
Narrow spectra are advantageous in systems with high bit rates since the dispersion
effects of the fiber on pulse width are reduced, and thus pulse degradation over long
distances is minimized
19. Why is a tunable laser of importance in optical networking?
Ideal for network operations environments involving DWDM
20. What is the purpose of an optical attenuator?
Attenuators are used to reduce the received signal level (RSL). They are available in
fixed and variable configurations.
21. List two purposes of optical detectors.
Responsivity-Measure of output current for a given light power launched into the diode.
Response speed-Determines the maximum data rate capability of the detector.
22. What is the advantage of fusion splicing over mechanical splicing?
No air gap, eliminates refraction
23. Define: FTTC FTTH FTTB FTTD.
FTTC Fiber to the curb
FTTH Fiber to the home
FTTB Fiber to the business
FTTD Fiber to the desktop
24. What is the purpose of a GBIC?
GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter), is a hot-swappable transceiver used for transmitting
and receiving higher-speed signals over fiber-optic lines.
25. What is the "two deep" rule?
A building should have only the main distribution and the intermediate distribution that
feeds the horizontal distribution to the work area.
26. What is the purpose of a logical fiber map?
Shows how the fiber is interconnected and data is distributed throughout the campus.
27. What are the typical maximum lengths for (a) multimode and (b) single-mode fiber?
a. 2km
b. 80km
28. Why is safety an important issue in optical networking?
The human eye can’t see fiber-optic communications, so infrared light can cause eye
damage with no pain
29. A campus network is planning to install fiber-optic cables to replace outdated coaxial
cables. They have the choice of installing single-mode, rnultimode, or a combination of
single-multi mode fibers in the ground. Which fiber type should they select? Why?
They should select the single-mode fibers. As technology evolves, single-mode fibers
have been found to provide lower losses and high bandwidth. This mode allows
operation in high-data-rate, long-distance systems
30. Which of the following are advantages of optical communication links? (select 3)
a. Extremely wide bandwidth
b. Elimination of crosstalk
c. Security
31. The stretching of a received pulse is due to what? (select two)
A. Misaligned connectors
B. Pulse dispersion
32. The broadening of a pulse due to the different path lengths taken through the fiber by
different modes is called what?
Modal dispersion