ETM 4106 OPTOELECTRONICS & OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION

Reference Texts
Optical Fiber Communications, Gerd Keiser, McGraw-Hill International Editions, 3rd edition, London, ISBN 0-07-116468-5 Optical Fibre Communication, Principle and Practice, John. M. Senior, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-635426-2 Fiber-optic Communications Technology, D. K. Mynbaev, L. L. Scheiner, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-962069-9 Fiber-optic Communication Systems, Govind P. Agrawal, John Willey & Sons, NY, ISBN 0-471-17540-4

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Elements of an optical communication system In optical communication systems, electrical signals are first converted into optical signals by modulating with an optical source, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) or laser diodes (LDs). Then the optical signal is transmitted over long distances via optical fiber. At the receiving end, the optical signal is converted to electrical signal by avalanche photodetector (APD) or PIN photodetector followed by the receiver circuits. The main components of an optical communication system are: Optical source Modulator Transmission media Repeaters Optical detector Demodulator

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Applications of communication systems in the electromagnetic spectrum Optical frequency ~ 100 THz or ~ m, Tb/s capacity, 100 THz 1% modulated, Bandwidth = 1 Tb/s.

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION Historical development of optical fibres

1960 1962 1963 1966 1970 1977 1979 1987 1987 Invention of Ruby laser by T.H. Maimon of Hughes Laboratories, USA. Advent of semiconductor laser diodes using GsAs and the first operating window at 850 nm. Optical fibres were developed having losses > 1000 dB/km. Kao, Hockham and Werts proposed glass waveguides for light. (fiber loss improved from 1000 dB/km to < 5 dB/km in ten years). Fibre loss below 20 dB/km (Kapron, Keck & Maurer). This development led to the first laboratory demonstrations of optical communications. Takahashi & Kawashima improved glass refining techniques: 4.2 dB/km loss. Miya et al achieved 0.2 dB/km loss at 1.55 micron. Sakaguchi 0.01 dB/km at 2.55 micron (mid IR) based on fluoride glass. Silica based glass fibres with losses less than 0.2 dB/km (Nagel).

Transmission loss of optical fibers is usually expressed in decibels per unit length (dB km1).

dB =

P 10 log10 i L Po

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION Development of fiber optics

The period 196575 was devoted to the development of graded index fiber systems which utilized wavelengths of 850900 nm and achieved information rates in the range of 8 140 Mb/s. In 1978, research started on single mode fiber technology, which led to the establishment of 1300 nm range single mode fiber system. The present trend is towards 1500 nm range fiber for long haul system. By 1980s, these activities led to the development and worldwide installations of practical and economically feasible optical fiber communication systems. The principal motivation of researchers now is to improve the transmission fidelity and to increase the data rate. In this way, more information can be sent or transmission distance can be increased between different relay stations.

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

The operating range of optical fiber systems and the characteristics of key components: 1. Fibers 850 nm, 1310 nm & 1550 nm 2. Optical sources GaAlAs, InGaAsP 3. Optical Amplifiers (i) Semiconductor devices GaAlAs, InGaAsP (ii) Optical fiber amplifiers PDFA (~1300nm), EDFA (~1550nm) 4. Photodetectors Si, Ge & InGaAs

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION Five generations of optical communication systems:

First generation: Multimode fibers (MMFs) and direct band gap GaAs semiconductor lasers (800900 nm) were used. Transmission distance and speed were limited. Second generation: Single mode fibers (SMFs) and other III-V compound semiconductor lasers (1300 nm) were used. Attenuation is approximately 0.40.6 dB/km and fiber dispersion is zero. Third generation: Further improvement in semiconductor lasers which enabled single longitudinal mode to be generated at 1300 nm and 1500 nm wavelengths. At 1500 nm, the attenuation is 0.2 dB/km, whereas for 1300 nm, the dispersion is zero. So, to get a minimum dispersion and attenuation, dispersion shifted fibres were developed for transmission at 1500 nm. Fourth generation: Coherent detection was used to enhance the receiver sensitivity. With coherent detection, received signals are amplified by the local carrier. Fifth generation: To eliminate the attenuation and dispersion limits, optical amplifiers and soliton transmissions have been developed. Presently, we are in the fifth generation.

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Merits of optical communications: Advantages of optical fiber communication: large potential bandwidth: low cost per channel can be achieved. compact: requires less space. good electrical isolation (non-metallic material). not susceptible to crosstalk and interference (EMI and RFI and EMP). secured channel transmission. low (0.2 dB/km) transmission loss (metallic conductors have losses < 5 dB/km). easy to handle. easy to maintain (components have lifetime of about 20 to 30 years). cost of optical fiber is competitive with copper twisted pairs. ability to expand without fundamental and costly changes to the architecture. Disadvantages: bare fiber is fragile. difficult to splice and form connections due to the small size. problems in fabricating low loss T-couplers. effects of stress and corrosion in the presence of moisture (not reliable!). independent electrical power feed is needed for electronic repeaters. new equipment and field practices are required. more complex testing procedures.

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Limitations of optical fiber communications: In spite of several advantages, there are some limitations of optical fiber communication systems due to the following effects: Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS): The modulation of light through thermal molecular vibrations within the fiber. The incident photon in this scattering process produces a high frequency optical phonon. This produces an optical frequency shift; thus contributing to the attenuation of light transmission at a specific wavelength. Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS): Similar to SRS except that an acoustic phonon is generated in the scattering process. Four wave mixing (FWM): Analogous to the third order intermodulation distortion whereby two or more optical waves at different wavelengths mix to produce new waves at other wavelengths. Chromatic dispersion or group velocity dispersion (GVD): A phenomenon associated with the widening of the optical pulse. This is due to impulses of various wavelengths that travel at different speeds through the optical fiber, and it depends on the spectral width of the source. Laser phase noise: Phase noise is caused by random spontaneous emissions in a laser diode. This will cause the linewidth of the laser to be broadened and will, in turn, result in a larger fiber dispersion.

INTRODUCTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATION

Limitations of optical fiber communications: Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in optical amplifiers: Caused by spontaneous emission which will be amplified and added as noise to the optical signal passing through the amplifier. Self phase modulation (SPM): It is a nonlinear phenomenon occurring in an optical fiber due to the intensity dependent refractive index. This will, in turn, cause intensity dependant phase shift in the fiber, and hence, light pulse propagating in the fiber would have a different transmission phase for the peak compared to the leading and trailing pulse edges. Cross phase modulation (XPM): It is similar to SPM, except that in XPM, it is an interaction between the intensity of one wavelength and the optical phase of other light wave.