Advanced Modeling of Surface Waves on Twisted Pair Cables: Surface Wave Stopbands

Abstract

At the network access layer, optical fiber deployment continues at pace but copper cables containing twisted pairs (TWPs) will remain for some time and face an increasing bandwidth and data rate demand. Surface waves have been proposed to address these requirements. This article reports and investigates the existence of stopbands reaching over 50-dB insertion loss on 1-m-long, typical final drop cables under surface wave excitation at a few gigahertz. Coupled mode analysis shows that lack of helical symmetry enables the formation of a stopband in systems containing TWPs. A representative core model containing a single TWP alongside a straight wire is thoroughly studied. Numerical simulations and measurements confirm the crucial dependence of the stopband frequency on the twist rate of the TWP. Further investigation into the role of the dielectric coating and the distance of the straight wire is performed as well. Finally, in systems with multiple TWPs, we find that the twist rate associated with any pair can create a stopband effectively limiting surface wave propagation. Thus, careful design and deployment strategies are required for use of surface waves on legacy copper networks.