G.

PULLAIAH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY: KURNOOL

DEPT OF ECE
OFC LECTURE NOTES
UNIT-5
BASIC TERMS AND DEFINITIONS:

1.What are the system requirements?

The key system requirements are as follows
  The desired or possible transmission distance
 The data rate or channel bandwidth
 Bit error rate (BER)
2. Give the two analyses that are used to ensure system performance.
The two analyses that are used to ensure system performance
are
 Link power budget analysis
 Rise time budget analysis
3. Define – Extinction Ratio
The extinction ratio ε is usually defined as the ratio of the optical
energy emitted in the 0 bit period to that emitted during 1 bit period.
4. Define – Modal Noise
It arises when the light from a coherent LASER is coupled into a
multimode fiber operating at 400Mbps and higher. It mainly occurs due to
mechanical vibrations and fluctuations in the frequency of the optical source.
5. What are the measures to avoid modal noise?
The measures to avoid modal noise are
  Use LEDs
 Use LASER having more longitudinal modes
 Use a fiber with large numerical aperture
 Use a single mode fiber
6. Define – Mode Partition Noise
The mode partition noise is associated with intensity fluctuations in the
longitudinal modes of a LASER diode. It becomes more pronounced for the
higher bit rates.
7. Give the range of system margin in link power budget.
The system margin is usually ( 6 -8 )dB. A positive system margin
ensures proper operation of the circuit. A negative value indicates that insufficient
power will reach the detector to achieve the bit error rate, BER.
8. What is reflection noise?
It is the optical power that gets reflected at the refractive index
discontinuities such as splices, couplers and filters or connectors. The reflected
signals can degrade both the transmitter and receiver performance.
9. What are the effects of reflection noise in high speed systems?
They cause optical feedback which leads to optical instabilities
that may lead to inter-symbol interference and intensity noise.
10. What are the system components of system rise time?
The four basic system components that contribute to the system rise
 time are
  Modal dispersion time of the link
 Material dispersion time of the fiber
 Transmitter (source) rise time
 Receiver rise time.
11. Define – Radiance
Radiance ( or brightness) is a measure in watts, of the optical power radiated into a
unit solid angle per unit area of the emitting surface.

CONCEPT
System Design Considerations
In optical system design major consideration involves
- Transmission characteristics of fiber (attenuation & dispersion).
- Information transfer capability of fiber.
- Terminal equipment & technology.
- Distance of transmission.
In long-haul communication applications repeaters are inserted at regular intervals
as shown in Fig. 6.2.1

Repeater regenerates the original data before it is retransmitted as a digital optical

signal. The cost of system and complexity increases because of installation of repeaters.
An optical communication system should have following basic required specifications –
a) Transmission type (Analog / digital).
b) System fidelity (SNR / BER)
c) Required transmission bandwidth
d) Acceptable repeater spacing
e) Cost of system
f) Reliability
g) Cost of maintenance.
Point-to-Point Links
A point-to-point link comprises of one transmitter and a receiver system. This is the
simplest form of optical communication link and it sets the basis for examining complex
optical communication links.
For analyzing the performance of any link following important aspects are to
 be considered.
a) Distance of transmission
b) Channel data rate
c) Bit-error rate
All above parameters of transmission link are associated with the characteristics of
various devices employed in the link. Important components and their characteristics are
listed below.

When the link length extends between 20 to 100 km, losses associated with fiber
cable increases. In order to compensate the losses optical amplifier and
regenerators are used over the span of fiber cable. A regenerator is a receiver and
transmitter pair which detects incoming optical signal, recovers the bit stream
electrically and again convert back into optical from by modulating an optical
source. An optical amplifier amplify the optical bit stream without converting it
into electrical form.
The spacing between two repeater or optical amplifier is called as repeater spacing
(L). The repeater spacing L depends on bit rate B. The bit rate-distance product
(BL) is a measure of system performance for point-to-point links.
Two important analysis for deciding performance of any fiber link are –
i) Link power budget / Power budget
ii) Rise time budget / Bandwidth budget
The Link power budget analysis is used to determine whether the receiver has
sufficient power to achieve the desired signal quality. The power at receiver is the
transmitted power minus link losses.
The components in the link must be switched fast enough and the fiber dispersion
must be low enough to meet the bandwidth requirements of the application. Adequate
bandwidth for a system can be assured by developing a rise time budget.
Link Power Budget
For optiming link power budget an optical power loss model is to be studied as shown
in Fig. 6.2.3. Let lc denotes the losses occur at connector.
Lsp denotes the losses occur at splices.
αf denotes the losses occur in fiber.
All the losses from source to detector comprises the total loss (PT) in the system.
Link power margin considers the losses due to component aging and
temperature fluctuations. Usually a link margin of 6-8 dB is considered while estimating link
power budget.
Total optical loss = Connector loss + (Splicing loss + Fiber attenuation) + System
margin (Pm)

PT = 2lc + αfL + System margin (P m)

where, L is transmission distance.

Rise Time Budget:-

The system design must also take into account the temporal response of the
system components. The total loss LT (given in the power budget section) is
determined in the absence of the any pulse broadening due to dispersion.
Finite bandwidth of the system (transmitter, channel, receiver) may results in
pulse spreading (i.e. intersymbol interference), giving a reduction in the
receiver sencitivity. I.e. worsening of BER or SNR
The additional loss penalty is known as dispersion equalisation or ISI
penalty.
Discuss about the choice of different components in designing an optical
fiber link. Discuss the shortcomings of decency of each component.
Ans: The system designer has many choices when selecting components for an
optical fiber system. The major components choices are,
Optical Fiber Type and Parameters
Multimode or single mode, size, refractive index, attenuation, dispersion, mode
coupling, strength, joints etc.
Source Type
Laser or LED, optical power launched into the fiber, rise and fall time, stability
etc.,
Transmitter Configuration
Design for digital or analog, input impedance, supply voltage, dynamic range,
feedback etc.
Detector Type and Characteristics
p-n-p in or avalanche photodiode, response time, active diameter, bias voltage,
dark current etc.
Receiver Configuration
Preamplifier design, BER, SNR, range etc.
Modulation and Coding
Source intensity modulation, pulse frequency modulation, PWM and PPM
transmission.
(vii) Digital transmission or analog transmission such as bi-phase scheme and
FM respectively. These decisions will be taken depending on the system
performance, ready availability of suitable components and cost.
The short comings of the components can be mentioned as follows,
LED may appear ideally suitable for analog transmission most of the LED
display some degree of non-linearity in their output.