EC-801 RGPV B.Tech
Optical Fibre Communication (OFC)
Previous year papers and the official syllabus are free to read, no account needed.
Previous Year Papers
5 papers, latest May 2026
- EC-801 paper, May 2026
- EC-801 paper, Jun 2025
- EC-801 paper, May 2024
- EC-801 paper, May 2023
- EC-801 paper, May 2022
Syllabus, notes and important questions for EC-801
Syllabus units
Topics as the official RGPV syllabus lists them.
Unit 1 Introduction to optical fibers and light propagation 7 topics
- Vector nature of light
- Propagation of light in free space and in a cylindrical dielectric rod
- Ray model and wave model of light propagation
- Different types of optical fibers
- Modal analysis of fibers
- Structure and wave‑guiding fundamentals of optical fibers
- Basic optical laws
Unit 2 Signal degradation in optical fibers 5 topics
- Dispersion and attenuation in optical fibers
- Intermodal dispersion
- Intramodal dispersion
- Fabrication of optical fibers
- Measurement techniques such as OTDR
Unit 3 Optical sources and detectors 8 topics
- LEDs and laser diodes as optical sources
- Laser and LED structures
- Principles of photodetection
- PIN photodiodes
- Avalanche photodiodes
- Phototransistors
- Photodetector noise
- Detector response time
Unit 4 Optical transceivers and fiber interconnection 6 topics
- Direct detection and coherent receivers
- Noise in detection process
- Digital receiver performance evaluation and BER calculation
- System design, power budgeting, rise‑time budgeting
- Fiber joints and splicing techniques
- Optical fiber connectors
Unit 5 Optical networks and amplifiers 5 topics
- Optical network topologies
- SONET and SDH networks
- Optical amplifiers: EDFAs and Raman amplifiers
- WDM systems
- Passive optical networks
Exam insights
Counted from 5 past EC-801 papers.
Marks asked per paper, by unit
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Unit 1 Introduction to vector nature of light 25 marks
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Unit 2 Signal degradation in Optical Fibre 20 marks
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Unit 3 Optical sources and detectors 25 marks
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Unit 4 Optical transceivers 20 marks
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Unit 5 Optical networks and amplifiers 22 marks
Average marks of the questions from each unit in one paper. You answer only some of them, so the total is more than the paper’s maximum.
Asked again and again
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What is OTDR? Explain its working principle and its applications in measurement of fiber losses and faults.
Asked 3 times: 2026, 2025, 2024
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Derive the expression for numerical aperture (and acceptance angle) of a step-index optical fiber in terms of core and cladding refractive indices.
Asked 3 times: 2026, 2025, 2024
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Calculate numerical aperture, critical angle at core-cladding interface, and acceptance / maximum entrance angle for a given step-index fiber with core index $n_1$ and cladding index $n_2$.
Asked 3 times: 2026, 2025, 2024