ABHIYANTRIKI

Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

An International Journal of Engineering & Technology
(A Peer Reviewed & Indexed Journal)
Vol. 3, No. 7 (July, 2016) http://www.aijet.in/ eISSN: 2394-627X

Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation in a

Pre, Post and Symmetrical Arrangement using DCF for
Long Haul Optical Communication

Tusarkant Panda* Rohit Kumar Mishra

Assistant Professor B. Tech. Student
Deptt. of ECE, Gandhi Institute of Engineering & Deptt. of ECE, Gandhi Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Gunupur, Rayagada, India Technology, Gunupur, Rayagada, India

Kunwar Parakram Anurag Sinha

B. Tech. Student B. Tech. Student
Deptt. of ECE, Gandhi Institute of Engineering & Deptt. of ECE, Gandhi Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Gunupur, Rayagada, India Technology, Gunupur, Rayagada, India

Abstract
Paper used dispersion compensating fibers (DCF) to compensate the positive
dispersion accumulated over the fiber length at 20 Gbits/sec. When different
wavelengths of light pulses are launched into the optical fiber, these pulses
travelled with different speeds due to the variation of refractive index with
wavelength. The light pulses tend to get spread out in time domain after
travelling some distance in fiber and this is continued throughout the fiber length.
Three schemes of dispersion compensation (pre, post and symmetrical) with DCF
are proposed in paper by using OptiSystem 14.0 simulator. The results of three
dispersion compensation schemes were compared in terms of Q-factor, BER, Eye
height and Threshold value. Further, it has been observed that the system needs
proper matching between EDFA gain and length of fiber for optimum
performance. Motivation to this research is to compare all three compensation
methods and it is found that the symmetrical compensation method is superior to
pre- and post-compensation methods. Thus by using these comparisons one can
get a promising system to the symmetric high capacity access network with high
spectral efficiency, cost effective, good flexibility.

Keywords: Dispersion compensation, Bit error rate (BER), Q-factor, Eye height,
Mach Zender Modulator, SCM.

*Author for correspondence [email protected]

1. Introduction
In 1970, histrionic reduction in transmission loss in optical fibers coupled with equally important
development in the area of light sources and detector have brought about a phenomenal growth
of the optical fiber communications. This effective advancement of optical fiber coincided with

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Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

the fabrication of low-loss optical fibers and operation of room temperature semiconductor laser.
Since then, the scientific and technological progress in the field has been so remarkable that
optical fiber communication systems find themselves already in the fifth generation within a
span of about 25 years.

In the recent years, with rapid growth Internet business needs, people urgently need more
capacity and network systems. So the demand for the transmission capacity and bandwidth are
becoming more and more challenging to the carriers and service suppliers. Under this situation,
optical fiber is becoming the most favorable delivering media and laying more and more
important role in information industry, with its huge bandwidth and excellent transmission
performance. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the transmission characteristics of optical
fiber [1].

Dispersion is the spreading of light pulse as its travels down the length of an optical fiber.
Dispersion limits the bandwidth or information carrying capacity of a fiber. The bit-rates must be
low enough to ensure that pulses are farther apart and therefore the greater dispersion can be
tolerated. Dispersion is the main performance limiting factor in optical fiber communication.
Dispersion greatly hampers the performance of optical fiber communication. Due to dispersion,
broadens optical pulse as they travel in single mode fiber. Limiting the ultimate data rate
supported by fiber which causes spreading and overlapping of chips and degrades system
performance due to increase inter chip interference and reduced received optical power. So if
dispersion can be minimized then a further performance can be obtained from optical fiber
communication. There are a lot of methods of dispersion compensation. Several techniques,
including Dispersion Compensating Fiber or Fiber Bragg Grating, can be used to compensate the
accumulated dispersion in the fiber. In the following example we will show three different
schemes, pre-, post-, and symmetrical compensation, to compensate the fiber dispersion. First we
will use dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs). We will then show how the amount of
accumulated dispersion from the dispersion compensator affects the performance. In this case,
we will use an ideal dispersion compensating module (DCM) as the dispersion compensator to
show the idea.

2. Pulse Broadening Characteristics

There are three main types of dispersion in a fiber:
• Modal dispersion
• Material dispersion
• Waveguide dispersion

a) Modal Dispersion
Modal dispersion occurs only in Multimode fibers. It arises because rays follow different paths
through the fiber and consequently arrive at the other end of the fiber at different times. Mode is
a mathematical and physical concept describing the propagation of electromagnetic waves
through media. In case of fiber, a mode is simply a path that a light ray can follow in travelling
down a fiber. Thus a fiber provides a path of travels for one or thousands of light rays depending
on its size and properties. Since light reflects at different angles for different paths (or modes),
the path lengths of different modes are different. The spreading of light is called modal
dispersion. Pulse spreading results in a pulse overlapping adjacent pulses shown in figures.
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Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

Eventually, the pulses will merge so that one pulse cannot be distinguished from another. The
information contained in the pulse is lost Reducing dispersion increases fiber bandwidth. Modal
dispersion can be reduced in three ways:
• Use a smaller core diameter, which allows fewer modes.
• Use a graded-index fiber so that light rays that allow longer paths also travel at a faster
velocity and thereby arrive at the other end of the fiber at nearly the same time as rays
that follow shorter paths.
• Use a single-mode fiber, which permits no modal dispersion.

b) Material Dispersion
Different wavelengths also travel at different velocities through a fiber, in the same mode, as
n = c/v.
where n is index of refraction, c is the speed of light in vacuum and v is the speed of the same
wavelength in the material. The value of v in the equation changes for each wavelength, Thus
Index of refraction changes according to the wavelength. Dispersion from this phenomenon is
called material dispersion, since it arises from material properties of the fiber. Each wave
changes speed differently, each is refracted differently. White light entering the prism contains
all colors. The prism refracts the light and its changes speed as it enters the prism. Red light
deviates the least and travels the fastest. The violet light deviates the most and travels the
slowest.

c) Waveguide Dispersion
Waveguide dispersion, most significant in a single- mode fiber, occurs because optical energy
travels in both the core and cladding, which have slightly different refractive indices. The energy
travels at slightly different velocities in the core and cladding because of the slightly different
refractive indices of the materials. Altering the internal structures of the fiber, allows waveguide
dispersion to be substantially changed, thus changing the specified overall dispersion of the fiber.

3. Non Linear Characteristics

• Polarization Mode Dispersion
Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is related to the differential group delay (DGD), the time
difference in the group delays between two orthogonal polarized modes, which causes pulse
spreading in digital systems and distortions in analogue systems. In ideal circular symmetric
fibers, the two polarization modes propagate with the same velocity. However, real fibers cannot
be perfectly circular and can undergo local stresses consequently; the propagating light is split
into two polarization modes.

• Chromatic Dispersion
Chromatic dispersion is caused by delay differences among the group velocities of the different
wavelengths composing the source spectrum. The consequence of the chromatic dispersion is a
broadening of the transmitted impulses. The chromatic dispersion is essentially due to two
contributions: material dispersion and waveguide dispersion. From a practical point of view, a
significant property is that the waveguide dispersion has opposite signs with respect to the
material dispersion in the wavelength range above 1300 nm.

4. Dispersion Compensation Scheme

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Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

Dispersion is the main performance limiting factor

in optical fiber communication. Dispersion greatly
hampers the performance of optical fiber
communication. Due to dispersion, broadens
optical pulse as they travel in single mode fiber.
Limiting the ultimate data rate supported by fiber
which causes spreading and overlapping of chips
and degrades system performance due to increase
inter chip interference and reduced received optical
power. So if dispersion can be minimized then a
further performance can be obtained from optical
fiber communication. There are a lot of methods of
dispersion compensation, including Dispersion
Compensating Fiber or Fiber Bragg Grating, can
be used to compensate the accumulated dispersion
in the fiber. Fig.1: Dispersion post-compensation

The idea of using dispersion compensating fibers (DCF) was proposed in 1980. As the
components of DCF are more stable, not easily affected by temperature, wide bandwidth, DCF
has become a most suitable method for dispersion compensation. There is a positive second
order and third order dispersion in single mode fiber, while the DCF dispersion value is negative.
So by inserting a DCF the average dispersion is
close to zero [2]. Dispersion Compensation
using Dispersion Compensating Fiber is done by
following three methods:
a) Pre-Compensation: In this Compensation
scheme, the DCF is placed before the
SMF to compensate the dispersion in the
standard fiber.
b) Post-Compensation: In Post
Compensation scheme, the DCF is
placed after the SMF to compensate the
dispersion of the standard fiber.
c) Symmetric-Compensation: In Symmetric
Compensation scheme, the DCF is
placed before and after the standard fiber
[3]. Fig.2: Dispersion pre-compensation

5. Simulation Setup and Design Considerations

The simulation of three dispersion compensation schemes was shown in fig.1. We use the
parameters in table 1 for simulation of dispersion compensation system. In these simulations, the
transmitter section consists of data source, modulator driver (NRZ driver), Laser source and
Mach-Zehnder modulator (M-Z). Data source produces a pseudo random sequence of bits at data
rate of 2.5 Gbits/sec. The output of the data source is given to modulator driver which produces a
NRZ format pulse. The output of the laser source is CW type at frequency 193.1 THz and output
power of 10 dBm. The Mach-Zehnder modulator has the excitement ratio of 30db. The loop

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Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

control system has one loop for post, and two loop for symmetrical. Each span consists of
120,135 and 150 km of SMF and 24, 27 and 30 km of DCF in order to fully compensate for the
dispersion slope and accumulated dispersion in transmission fiber. The total length of the fiber
channel is varied in each case. Two EDF are as in front of transmission fiber (SMF) and DCF. At
the receiver side the optical signal transformed into electrical signal by a PIN photodiode, which
has 1A/W responsivity and 10 nA dark current. Then the electrical signal is filtered by low pass
Bessel filter.

Table 1: Simulation Parameters

SMF Value DCF Value
Parameters Parameters
Reference 1550 nm Reference 1550 nm
wavelength wavelength
Length 120,135,150 Length 24,27,30
km km
Attenuation 0.2 db/km Attenuation 0.6 db/km
Dispersion 16 Dispersion -80
ps/nm/km ps/nm/km
Dispersion 0.08 ps/ /km Dispersion 0.21 ps/
slope slope /km
PMD 0.5 ps/km
coefficient
Differential 3 ps/km
group delay

Fig.3: Dispersion symmetrical-compensation

6. Results and Analysis

The simulations are done in Optisystem 14.0 simulator. The eye diagrams for the three schemes
are shown in the following figure 4, figure 5, and figure 6.

Pre Post Symmetric

Fig. 4: Comparison of Eye Diagram three dispersion compensation schemes
(SMF=120km, DCF =24km)

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Performance Comparison of Dispersion Compensation Panda et al.

Pre Post Symmetric

Fig. 5: Comparison of Eye Diagram three dispersion compensation schemes
(SMF=135km, DCF =27km)

Pre Post Symmetric

Fig. 6: Comparison of Eye Diagram three dispersion compensation schemes
(SMF=150km, DCF=30km)

The parameters such as, Q-factor, Min. BER, Eye height and Threshold value, for the three
dispersion compensation schemes are tabulated into table 2 and compared.
Table 2.1: Comparison of three dispersion compensation schemes (SMF=120km, DCF =24km)
Pre-compensation Post-compensation Symmetrical-compensation
Q-factor(dB) 58.0703 66.1498 38.4164
BER 0 0 3.45846e-323
Eye height 0.000720731 0.00072216 0.00176064
Threshold value 7.52987e-005 3.50114e-005 0.000853758

Table 2.2: Comparison of three dispersion compensation schemes (SMF=135km, DCF =27km)
Pre-compensation Post-compensation Symmetrical-compensation
Q-factor(dB) 20.1193 26.4218 29.991
BER 1.83253e-090 2.277384e-154 6.10716e-198
Eye height 7.11383e-005 7.36564e-005 0.000376931
Threshold value 1.84197e-005 1.54004e-005 0.000164026

Table 2.3: Comparison of three dispersion compensation schemes (SMF=150km, DCF =30km)
Pre-compensation Post-compensation Symmetrical-compensation
Q-factor(dB) 5.22395 8.14224 21.5836
BER 8.00187e-008 1.76045e-016 1.14582e-103
Eye height 3.93313e-006 5.7598e-006 7.90557e-005
Threshold value 8.40115e-006 5.48348e-006 3.12374e-005

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7. Conclusion
Paper analyzes the performance of different schemes of dispersion compensation in an optical
fiber link. From the above presented results it is concluded that the performance of symmetrical
compensation is best among the different schemes of compensation as it provides the largest Q-
factor and least BER to optical fiber link at 2.5 Gbps data rate. Dispersion compensating fiber
(DCF) is currently used as the standard solution for dispersion compensation in long-haul
transmission links, since it yields colorless slope matched dispersion cancellation with negligible
cascading impairments. However, DCF is also limited in optical input power to avoid nonlinear
impairments, has a relatively high insertion loss and is bulky. Chirped FBGs could possibly
replace DCF as the standard solution for in-line dispersion compensation.

References
[1] R. S. Kaler, Ajay K Sharma, and T. S. Kamal, Comparison of pre-, post- and symmetrical-
dispersion compensation schemes for 10Gb/s NRZ links using standard and dispersion
compensated fibers, Elsevier Optics Communication, 209, 2002, 107-123.
[2] Ajeet Singh Verma, A. K. Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, An Improved Methodology for Dispersion
Compensation and Synchronization in Optical Fiber Communication Networks, International
Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, Vol 3, No. 5, May 2011, 769-775.
[3] G. P. Agrawal, Fiber Optic Communication Systems, Wiley-Interscience, 1997.
[4] M.I. Hayee, A.E. Willner, Pre and post-compensation of dispersion and linearities in 10-Gb/s
WDM, IEEE Photon. Technology, Lett. 9 (9), 1999.
[5] Jyotsana, Ramandeep Kaur, Rajandeep Singh, Performance comparison of pre-, post- and
symmetrical-dispersion compensation techniques using DCF on 40 Gbps OTDM system for
different fiber standards.

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