engineering

Fiber Optics & Optical Communication

The physics and engineering of light-guiding fibers — total internal reflection and numerical aperture, modal dispersion in multimode fibers, attenuation loss budgets with OTDR traces, wavelength-division multiplexing channel capacity, and erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain and noise figure.

fiber opticsoptical communicationtotal internal reflectionWDMEDFAattenuationmodal dispersionnumerical aperture

Fiber optics harnesses the total internal reflection of light within thin glass or plastic strands to transmit data at staggering bandwidths across continental distances. From the critical angle that traps photons inside a core to the erbium-doped amplifiers that boost weakened signals without electrical conversion, every stage of optical communication rests on precise physics.

These simulations let you explore critical-angle acceptance cones, watch multimode pulses broaden as they travel, trace OTDR loss profiles, pack wavelength channels into dense WDM grids, and tune EDFA pump power for optimal gain — all with real-time interactive canvas visualizations.

5 interactive simulations

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EDFA Gain & Noise Figure

Simulate an erbium-doped fiber amplifier — explore gain, noise figure, and ASE noise as pump power and signal wavelength change

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Fiber Attenuation & OTDR Trace

Simulate optical power loss along a fiber link — build loss budgets and visualize OTDR backscatter traces with splice and connector events

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Modal Dispersion & Pulse Broadening

Simulate multimode pulse broadening — watch how different guided modes spread optical pulses over distance and limit bandwidth

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Total Internal Reflection & Numerical Aperture

Simulate total internal reflection inside an optical fiber — explore critical angle, acceptance cone, and numerical aperture as core and cladding indices change

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Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM)

Simulate WDM channel packing — explore how channel spacing, channel count, and per-channel data rate determine total fiber capacity