Post-graduate EXAMINATION PAPER 2002/2003.

OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Attempt TWO questions only. Physical constants which may be required:
Planck's constant h=6.63x10-34 J s; velocity of light in space c=3x10 10cm/s; charge of electron e=1.6x10 -19 C.

Question 1. [20 marks]

1A. [5 marks]
(i) Define V-parameter for a step-index optical fibre. [1 mark]
(ii) For a fibre with core radius 3 µm, core index 1.46, cladding index 1.45 calculate the cut-off wavelength
of the LP11 mode. [2 marks]
(iii) Explain how the fibre design should be altered to achieve
single-mode operation at 1.5 µm. [2 marks]
 2π a 
Solution (i). V =  ( ncore − n cladd )
2 2

 λ 

2π a
Solution (ii). λcutoff = 2
( ncore − n cladd
2
) = 1336.3 nm.
2.405
Solution (iii). λcut-off =1500 nm corresponds to a = 3.37 µm. Therefore, a ≤ 3.37 µm will provide single mode
operation at λ=1500 nm.
1B. [10 marks]
Consider a 1,600 km-long optical link constructed of m identical lengths of fibre with m identical
amplifiers. Gain of each amplifier is 16 dB. Amplifier gain compensates for the fibre loss precisely. Fibre
loss is 0.2 dB/km.
i) Find amplifier spacing. [2 marks]
ii) Find number of amplifiers. [2 marks]
iii) Find the noise figure (in decibels) of a single amplifier if the population inversion factor nsp = 1.6.
[3 marks]
iiii) Using result from (iii), determine the total noise figure of the amplifier chain. [3 marks]
Solution (i).
Amplifier spacing L=G/α[dB/km] = 16/0.2= 80 km.
Solution (ii).
m=L_total/L = 1600/80 = 20.
Solution (iii).
F= 2* nsp (G-1)/G = 2* 1.6*(15)/16 = 3
F[dB] = 10 lg F = 4.77 dB
Solution (iv).
Fm[dB]=10 Log (m)+F[dB]+| a[dB]| = 13.01dB+4.77 dB+16 dB = 33.78 dB.
1C. [5 marks].
A 500µm long AlGaAs (bandgap Eg = 1.459eV, refractive index n=3.6) laser has a linewidth of 2.4nm.
Determine:
i) Emission wavelength. [1mark]
ii) Linewidth. [1mark]
iii) Mode spacing. [2marks]
iv) Number of modes. [1mark]

Solution (i) λ[µm] = 1.24/Eg[eV] = 850nm.

Solution (ii) ∆ν = c*∆λ/ λ2 = 1THz
Solution (iii) δλ = λ2/(2*L*n) = 0.2nm
Solution (iv) N = ∆λ/δλ = 12.

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Question 2. [20 marks]

2A. [6 marks]
(i) Define group velocity. [1 mark]
(ii) Explain the physical meaning of the sign of dispersion. [1 marks]
(iii) Describe the basic principle of the dispersion compensation [1 marks]
(iv) Calculate length of DCF (dispersion – 80 ps/nm/km at 1550 nm) required to compensate for
dispersion of a 100km long SMF. [3 marks]

Solution (i). The speed of the energy transfer by electromagnetic waves is called the group velocity Vg. Group
velocity is defined as
dω
Vg =
dβ
where ω is the optical frequency and β is the propagation constant.
Solution (ii).
The group delay dispersion D is measured in picoseconds/km/nm. Consider an initially chirped pulse where the
wavelength at the beginning of the pulse is shorter than the wavelength at the pulse tail (down-chirp). When D <
0 (normal dispersion) shorter wavelengths effectively travel more slowly than longer wavelengths. As a result,
the down-chipred pulse experiences compression during the first stage of propagation. If D > 0 (anomalous
dispersion), longer wavelengths travel more slowly than shorter wavelengths, and the down-chirped pulses
always disperse.
Solution (iii).
D1 L1 + D2 L 2 = 0
There is no total delay difference between spectral components after dispersion compensation.
Solution (iv) .
D_SMF = 16 ps/nm/km (a close number also is acceptable)
D1 L1 + D2 L 2 = 0 => L_DCF = 100 x 16/80 =20 km

2B. [8 marks].
Circularly polarised laser wave propagates along optical fibre. For every 10 km of fibre the signal power
attenuates by a factor of 2.
(i) In a 15km-long fibre, estimate effective interaction length. [3 marks].
(ii) Using result from (i), find the critical power for forward stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) if the
effective mode area is Aeff = 50 µm2. Raman gain coefficient is gR ~10 -11 cm/W. [3 marks].
(iii) Find the critical power for backward SRS. [2 marks].

Solution (i).
Fibre loss is found as
ζ [1/km] = -1/(10[km])* log(1/2) = 0.0693[1/km].
Leff = (1 - exp(- ζ L))/ ζ = 9.3263 [km].

Solution (ii).
Critical power for forward SRS is found from
P0cr g R Leff
≈ 16
b Aeff
circular polarisation corresponds to b=2. Hence,

2 × 16 × 50 × 10 −8
P fwcr = = 1.71W
10 −11 × 9.3263 × 105

P0cr g R Leff
Solution (iii). The critical power for backward SRS is estimated as: ≈ 20 .
b Aeff
cr
Hence, Pbackward = Pfwcr * 20 /16 = 2.144W

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2C. [6 marks].
Received output pulse in a digital transmission system has a Gaussian shape for binary ‘1’
 t2 
V (t ) = A exp  − 2 
 σ 
where A is the peak amplitude and 2σ is the pulsewidth at 1/e voltage level. σ equals 0.7*T, where T is the
bit period. The pulse is flat (V=0) for binary ‘0’.
Determine the eye diagram opening. Neglect overlapping of tails of bits that are not adjacent.

Solution.
A X1

∆X

0.2A
X0

Eye diagram t=0 t=T t=2T

The point X0 will be at the amplitude equal to the superposition of amplitudes of adjacent 1’s at the time t=T,
where T is the bit rate period. X1 will be at the amplitude A.
X1=A, X0=2A exp [-T2/σ2] = 2A exp(-(1/0.7)^2) = 0.26A
(X1-X0)/A = 0.74 = 74%.

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Question 3. [20 marks].
3A. [6 marks].
(i) Describe the main types of optical power loss in optical fibre transmission systems. [2 marks].
(ii) Explain two mechanisms of loss in fused silica. [2 marks].
(iii) Give typical loss values in silica fibre and identify communi cation windows. [2 marks].
Solution. (i) Fibre effects.
material absorption and material scattering;
bending and microbending losses;
mode coupling radiation and leaky modes.
System effects.
coupling loss between devices/elements;
losses in fibre splices and connectors.
Solution. (ii) Losses in material:
Absorption. (a) At short wavelengths (high frequencies) absorption will occur from electronic transitions within
the glass. This absorption band is called ultraviolet absorption band. In standard fibres the contribution of GeO2
in the uv absorption dominates.
(b) At long wavelengths (low frequencies) - infrared absorption band. Absorption occurs due to interaction of
photons with atomic/molecular vibrations.
Scattering. Glass is a random structure with non uniform density/refractive index.. Because of small scale (<
lmm ) of inhomogeneties, Rayleigh scattering is the main scattering mechanism. Rayleigh - induced loss is
 λ0 
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given by the approximate formula: α (λ ) = α0   ,

λ
where α 0 = 1.7 dB / km at λ0 = 0.85 µ m.

Solution. (iii) Typical loss of an optical fibre is about or just below 0.2dB/km at a wavelength of 1.55µm; under
0.5dB/km at 1.3 µm and ~1dB/km at 850nm. The main communication windows are located around 0.85µm,
1.3µm, and 1.55µm.

3B. [9 marks].
Linearly polarised signal with input power of 100mW at a wavelength of 1550nm propagates along a
200km-long optical fibre. Fibre loss is 0.2dB/km, effective mode area is 32 µm2 at 1550nm.
(i) Estimate effective interaction length. [3 marks]
(ii) Find nonlinearity coefficient γ, measured in [km-1 W-1], assuming nonlinear refractive index n2
= 3.2 x 10-16 cm2/W. Use it to calculate the nonlinear phase shift. Take interaction length from
(i). [3 marks]
(iii) Calculate absolute change of refractive index if the above power level increases by a factor of
101. [3 mark]

Solution:
(i) Leff = (1 - e- ζ L)/ ζ , where ζ [1/km] = 0.23 α [dB/km] ,
so Leff = 21.74 km , OR
0.23*0.2*200 = 9.2 >>1, hence Leff ≈ 1/ ζ [1/km] =1/(0.23 α [dB/km]) = 21.74km.

 1  2π n 2
(ii) γ  = = 4 [km-1 W-1].
 kmW  λ A eff
∆ΦNL(Leff ) = γ PLeff = 4* 0.1 * 21.74 = 8.69.
(iii) ∆n = (n0 + 101n2 P /A) - (n0 + n2 P /A) = 100 n2 P /A =
100 n2 0.1[W] /A[µm2] = 10[W] n2 [cm2/W] /A[cm2] = 1*10 -16+8 = 1*10 - 8 .

3B. [5 marks].
A light-wave communication link has a length of 80 km and operates at a wavelength of 1.55 µm. Fibre
loss is 0.2 dB/km, total splice loss is 2 dB and connector loss is 4 dB. The receiver sensitivity is – 40 dBm.
A 5 dB margin is specified to account for the other signal degradation mechanisms.

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Calculate the required optical power level of the transmitter in decibels and in milliwatts.
Solution.
P_in [dBm] = P_out [dBm] + 2 + 4 + 0.2 * 80 + 5 (dB) = -13 dBm or 0.05 mW