OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

forms are naturally limited by geography,

Abstract

weather and the availability of light. This

Optical communication, also known

as

optical

telecommunication,

is

communication at a distance using light to

article provides a basic introduction to

different forms of optical communication.

Forms

carry information. It can be performed

visually or by using electronic devices. The
earliest

basic

forms

of

Visual techniques such as smoke

optical

signals, beacon fires, hydraulic telegraphs,

communication date back several millennia,

ship flags and semaphore lines were the

while the earliest electrical device created to

earliest forms of optical communication.

do so was the photophone, invented in 1880.

Hydraulic telegraph semaphores date back

to the 4th century BCE Greece. Distress

Introduction
An optical communication system
uses a transmitter, which encodes a message
into an optical signal, a channel, which

flares are still used

by

emergencies,

lighthouses

while

mariners

in
and

navigation lights are used to communicate

navigation hazards.

carries the signal to its destination, and a

The heliograph uses a mirror to

receiver, which reproduces the message

reflect sunlight to a distant observer. When a

from the received optical signal. When

signaler tilts the mirror to reflect sunlight,

electronic equipment is not employed the

the distant observer sees flashes of light that

'receiver' is a person visually observing and

can be used to transmit a prearranged

interpreting a signal, which may be either

signaling code. Naval ships often use signal

simple (such as the presence of a beacon

lamps and Morse code in a similar way.

fire) or complex (such as lights using color

codes or flashed in a Morse code sequence).

Aircraft pilots often use visual

approach slope indicator (VASI) projected

Free-space optical communication

light systems to land safely, especially at

has been deployed in space, while terrestrial

night. Military aircraft landing on an aircraft

carrier use a similar system to land correctly

Semaphore lines were a precursor of

on a carrier deck. The coloured light system

the electrical telegraph. They were far faster

communicates the aircraft's height relative to

than post riders for conveying a message

a standard landing glideslope. As well,

over long distances, but far more expensive

airport control towers still use Aldis lamps

and less private than the electrical telegraph

to transmit instructions to aircraft whose

lines which would later replace them. The

radios have failed.

maximum distance that a pair of semaphore

telegraph stations can bridge is limited by

In the present day a variety of

electronic systems optically transmit and
receive information carried by pulses of
light. Fiber-optic communication cables are
now employed to send the great majority of
the electronic data and long distance
telephone calls that are not conveyed by
either

radio,

terrestrial

microwave

used every day in

various

applications.

bridge longer distances. Each relay station

would also require its compliment of skilled
operator-observers to convey messages back
and forth across the line.

Semaphore signal flags

Semaphore Flags is the system for

means of visual signals with hand-held

flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally

A 'semaphore telegraph', also called

'semaphore

telegraphs used lines of relay stations to

conveying information at a distance by

Semaphore line
a

light; thus, in practical use, most optical

or

satellite. Free-space optical communications

are also

geography, weather and the availability of

line',

'optical telegraph',

'shutter telegraph chain', 'Chappe telegraph',

or 'Napoleonic semaphore', is a system used
for conveying information by means of
visual signals, using towers with pivoting
arms or shutters, also known as blades or
paddles. Information is encoded by the
position of the mechanical elements; it is
read when the shutter is in a fixed position.

bare or gloved hands. Information is

encoded by the position of the flags, objects
or arms; it is read when they are in a fixed
position.
Semaphores

were

adopted

and

widely used (with hand-held flags replacing

the mechanical arms of shutter semaphores)
in the maritime world in the 19th century.
They are still used during underway
replenishment at sea and are acceptable for

emergency communication in daylight or,

using lighted wands instead of flags, at
night.

Black diagram

Fig : An underground fiber optic splice

enclosure opened up

Fiber cable types

An optical fiber cable consists of a

Optical fiber

core, cladding, and a buffer (a protective

Optical fiber is the most common

type of channel for optical communications.
The transmitters in optical fiber links are
generally light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or
laser diodes. Infrared light, rather than
visible light is used more commonly,
because optical fibers transmit infrared
wavelengths with less attenuation and
dispersion. The signal encoding is typically
simple

intensity

modulation,

although

historically optical phase and frequency

modulation have been demonstrated in the
lab.

The

need

for

periodic

signal

regeneration was largely superseded by the

introduction of the erbium-doped fiber
amplifier, which extended link distances at
significantly lower cost.

outer coating), in which the cladding guides

the light along the core by using the method
of total internal reflection. The core and the
cladding (which has a lower-refractiveindex) are usually made of high-quality
silica glass, although they can both be made
of plastic as well. Connecting two optical
fibers is done by fusion splicing or
mechanical splicing and requires special
skills and interconnection technology due to
the microscopic precision required to align
the fiber cores.

Signal lamps
Signal lamps (such as Aldis lamps),
are visual signaling devices for optical
communication

(typically

using

Morse

code). Modern signal lamps are a focused

lamp which can produce a pulse of light. In
large versions this pulse is achieved by
Fig : A cable reel trailer with conduit that

opening and closing shutters mounted in

can carry optical fiber

front of the lamp, either via a manually

Two main types of optical fiber used

in optic communications include multi-mode

operated pressure switch or, in

later

versions, automatically.

optical fibers and single-mode optical fibers.

With hand held lamps, a concave

A multi-mode optical fiber has a larger core

mirror is tilted by a trigger to focus the light

( 50 micrometers), allowing less precise,

into pulses. The lamps are usually equipped

cheaper

to

with some form of optical sight, and are

connect to it as well as cheaper connectors.

most commonly deployed on naval vessels

However, a multi-mode fiber introduces

and also used in airport control towers with

multimode distortion, which often limits the

coded aviation light signals.

transmitters

bandwidth

and

and

length

receivers

of

the

link.

Furthermore, because of its higher dopant

Transmitters

content, multi-mode fibers are usually

The most commonly used optical

expensive and exhibit higher attenuation.

transmitters are semiconductor devices such

The core of a single-mode fiber is smaller

as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser

(<10

more

diodes. The difference between LEDs and

expensive components and interconnection

laser diodes is that LEDs produce incoherent

methods, but allows much longer, higher-

light, while laser diodes produce coherent

performance links.

light. For use in optical communications,

micrometers)

and

requires

semiconductor optical transmitters must be

designed to be compact, efficient, and
reliable, while operating in an optimal

wavelength range, and directly modulated at

communication device which allowed for

high frequencies.

the transmission of speech on a beam of

light. It was invented jointly by Alexander
Graham Bell and his assistant Charles
Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at
Bell's

1325

'L'

Street

laboratory

in

Washington, D.C. Both were later to

become

full

Laboratory

associates

in

Association,

the

created

Volta
and

financed by Bell.
Fig : A GBIC module (shown here with its cover

On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant

removed), is an optical and electrical transceiver.

transmitted a wireless voice telephone

In its simplest form, a LED is a

message of considerable distance, from the

forward-biased p-n junction, emitting light

roof of the Franklin School to the window of

through

Bell's laboratory, some 213 meters (about

spontaneous

phenomenon

emission,

referred

to

as

700 ft.) away.

electroluminescence. The emitted light is

incoherent with a relatively wide spectral

Free-space optical communication

Free-space optics (FSO) systems are

width of 30-60 nm. LED light transmission

is

also

inefficient,

with

only

about

generally

employed

for

'last

mile'

1%[citation needed] of input power, or

telecommunications and can function over

about 100 microwatts, eventually converted

distances of several kilometers as long as

into launched power which has been coupled

there is a clear line of sight between the

into the optical fiber. However, due to their

source and the destination, and the optical

relatively simple design, LEDs are very

receiver can reliably decode the transmitted

useful for low-cost applications.

information. Other free-space systems can

provide high-data-rate, long-range links

Photo phone

using

The photophone (originally given an

alternate

name,

radiophone)

is

small,

low-mass,

consumption subsystems.

low-power-

More generally,

transmission of

unguided optical signals is known as optical

wireless communications (OWC).

Heliograph
A heliograph (Greek: helios,
meaning "sun", and graphein,
meaning

"write")

is a

wireless

solar

telegraph that signals by flashes of sunlight

(generally using Morse code) reflected by a
mirror. The flashes are produced by
momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by
interrupting the beam with a shutter.
The heliograph was a simple but effective
instrument

for

instantaneous

optical

communication over long distances during

the late 19th and early 20th century. Its main
uses were in military, surveys and forest
protection work. They were standard issue
in the British and Australian armies until the
1960s, and were used by the Pakistani army
as late as 1975.

Presented By
R.Chitra, ECE-A