RTDC T2 Pract1

Chapter 2 / Lab Session 1
Intensity Modulation -
Direct Detection
Systems
M.Sc. ETSI Telecomunicacin
Redes de Transporte y Distribucin por Cable
Copyright Universitat Politcnica de Valncia & VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 1

Preface
In this module, a simple but complete fiber-optic transmission link will be

studied. The setup consists of the three basic elements common to all fiber-
optic communication systems:
An optical transmitter converts an electrical signal into optical pulses. In the
simulation setup, a single longitudinal mode semiconductor laser is directly modulated
with a pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS).
The optical pulses are transmitted over the fiber-optic channel, which in this case
consists of one section of optical fiber.
The transmitted pulse stream is converted back into the electrical domain by the
optical receiver. In the system under consideration, it consists of a photodetector
followed by an electrical filter to enhance the signal quality. Signal Analyzers (Time
and frequency) are used to evaluate the simulation results.
Note:
For details on the handling of VPIplayer / VPIanalyzer please read the Users Manual
before starting this unit.

Contents
Presentation
P.1 Fiber Optic Communications
P.2 Basic concepts of optical fibers
Part 1 Introduction
Part 1.1 Transmitters & Receiver (5-10 min)
Part 1.2 Loss & Dispersion limited systems (5-10 min)
Part 2 The Transmitter

Part 2.1 PRBS Type (15-20 min)
Part 2.2 Visualizers (10-15 min)
Part 3- Complete Fiber-Optic Link

(10-15 min)
Part 4 Loss Limited System

(30-40 min)
Part 4.1 Increase the Laser Power
Part 4.2 Use an Optical Amplifier
Part 5 Dispersion Limited System

(40-50 min)
Final Part Evaluation @ poliformat

(30-35 min)

Presentation P.1
Fiber Optic Communications

Course Prerequisites
Basic Theory of Communications
Statistics and Stochastic Processes
2nd Year Physics, Mathematics,

Electric/Electronic/Communications Engineering
Should have worked through the Simulation Guide of

VPItransmissionMaker/VPIcomponentMaker before
starting this unit (to understand how to handle the
software).
Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 5

Course Objectives
By the end of this course, you should:
Understand how fiber-optic communication systems work
Tx Rx
Understand how key devices in those systems work
Be able to analyze the operation of those systems

Course Objectives (continued)
By the end of this course, you should:

Understand how fiber-optic systems and devices are
modeled
Be able to use a professional Photonic Design Automation

tool to model and analyze fiber-optic systems
VPItransmissionMaker/VPIcomponentMaker

Module Objectives
Introduction to Fiber-Optic Communication Systems I

Why fiber-optic communication systems?
Advantages over other systems
Basic system concepts Photo-

detector
Key elements of a basic system
System performance and key issues

Telecommunications
Transport information,
over a long distance,
with as few errors as possible.
Considerations:
Cost
Reliability
Compatibility with existing methods
Upgradability
Security
Which Communication Media ?
Atmosphere
Radio transmission
Microwave line-of-sight links(100 Mbit/s, 50 km)
Satellite (100 Mbit/s, around the world)
Cables
Twisted-pair cable (1 Gbit/s, 100 m)
Local loop Twisted-pair (20 Mbit/s, 2 km)
Coaxial cable (>500 Mbit/s, few km)
Undersea cable (50 Mbit/s)
Optical Fiber
Why Optical Fibers?
High transmission bandwidth and low loss

10 Gbit/s over 100 km (single fiber, single
transmission wavelength without amplifier)
> 200 Gbit/s using multiple wavelength carriers
> 20,000 km at 10 Gbit/s using amplifiers
Free of electromagnetic interference
Small size and low weight
Increased data security

An Optical Communication System
Information Recovered
Sources Information
Electronic Signal Processing

Optical
Source
Photo-detection
Modulator Optical Signal Processing

Channel
Transmitter (Fiber) Receiver
Types of Optical
Communication Systems
Analog Optical Communications
Transmitter Receiver
Optical Fiber
information represented by analog waveforms

Types of Optical
Communication Systems
Digital Optical Communications
101110010 101010110
Optical Fiber
information represented by digital (binary) bits

Transmitter
A Typical Transmitter
Data ..011010..
Modulator Laser
Source
Intensity modulation (laser directly modulated)

Channel
Channel Effects
Loss
Distortion
Optical Fiber
Loss and distortion act simultaneously

Optical Amplifier
A Typical Optical Amplifier
Signal level increased

Noise added

Receiver
A Typical Receiver
Photo- Electrical
detector Filter
011010 Decoder
optical signal is directly detected by photodetector
noise is added, requires filter to reduce it

System Performance
Signal waveform in time domain

Equipment Resolution
Oscilloscope: ~ 100 ps
Sampling Scope ~ 20 ps
Streak Camera ~ 2 ps
Auto-correlator ~ 10 - 100 fs
Typical Result of
SignalAnalyzer
(Scope view)

Evaluating System Performance
Optical spectrum
Lasing wavelength
Linewidth
Noise

Typical Result of
SignalAnalyzer
(OSA view)

RF Spectrum
RF components at fo, 2fo, 3fo
Repetition rate
Phase noise
Typical Result of RIN

SignalAnalyzer
(RFSA view)

Eye diagram
Detected bit stream waveform
Timing
Intensity fluctuation
fluctuation
Bits overlaid to form Eye diagram

Bit Error Ratio (BER)

Number of bits detected incorrectly
BER =
Total number of bits transmitted
How is the BER of a system obtained?
Directly detect the bits and compare against original

Transmitted: 00100110010111010011000101010010011
Detected: 00100010010110010011010101011010011
Estimate from Eye diagrams (statistical)

Other methods (to be discussed in another module)
Summary
So far, the following have been introduced:
Basic fiber-optic communication system concepts
A basic system overview
Key devices/components in a basic system
How the performance of a system is evaluated
Proceed with the Interactive Learning Module

Presentation P.2
Basic concepts of optical fibers

The Structure of an Optical Fiber
An optical fiber is made up of:

Doped core: refractive index n1 1.5
Cladding: refractive index n1 n2
Buffer (or primary coating): protects fiber from damage
Core (doped glass)
Cladding (glass)
Buffer (plastic)
perspective view transverse section
Fiber Refractive Index Profile
Core Refractive Index (n1)
Cladding Refractive Index (n2)

n2 n1
Step Index Profile
Graded Index Profile

R.I.
n1 - n2 << 1 Step n1
index n2
Why different profiles? x

R.I.
Graded n1
index n2
x
How do Fibers Transmit Light?
A simple explanation via Ray Optics
n2
n1
Meridional
Light Rays
n2
n1
Longitudinal Section
What is a Ray?
Light is an electromagnetic field
Propagates as a wave E(z, t) = E cos(t-z)
Ray = vector of the direction of wave propagation
Plane
wavefronts
Light ray
Law of Reflection and Snells Law
Angle of Incidence qi = Angle of Reflection qr

Snells Law: n1 sinqi = n2 sinqt
transmitted
Cladding, n2 qt
Interface
Core, n1
qqii qr
incident reflected

Total Internal Reflection
As qi increases qt increases until qt = 90 o

Value of qi (where qt = 90 o) = Critical Angle = qcr
For qi > qcr, the ray is totally reflected

virtually
virtually nothing
nothing
transmitted
Cladding, n22
Cladding, n qqtt = 90 o transmitted
transmitted
Interface
Interface
Core, n
n11
i i qr
qi > qqqcrcr
Core,
incident
incident reflected
reflected
Total Internal Reflection
How do Fibers Transmit Light?
if q1 < critical angle qcr , ray refracted and reflected
q1 Light is
n1 eventually
n2 lost
if q1 > critical angle qcr , ray totally reflected

n2 Light is
q1
n1 transmitted

Rays, Wavefronts and Modes
Waves reflecting inside fiber interfere

Only rays yielding a standing wave allowed
Each allowed ray is a mode of the fiber
n2
qi
E
n1
n2 r
Wave Representation of Modes
Solve Maxwells equations

A finite number of guided modes
An infinite number of radiation (leaky) modes
TE2 TE1 TE0
A leaky mode Guided modes

Mode Picture of Light Transmission
Leaky Mode
Light is
n1 lost
n2
Guided Mode
n2 Light is
n1 transmitted

Guided Modes in an Optical Fiber
In any waveguide, many modes can form at once

Below are some guided modes of an optical fiber
HE11 TE01 TM01 HE21 EH11 HE31
LP01 LP11 LP21
Cross-sectional view of fiber core the intensity distribution
Different modes can propagate simultaneously

A multimode fiber. Also single mode fiber.

Single mode & Multimode
optical fiber
What makes a fiber single mode or multimode?
Multimode nn2
optical fiber 22
nn1
n11
n2
n1
a
Single mode dimension of core

optical fiber
n1 and n2
wavelength

Numerical Aperture (NA)
NA measures light gathering ability of a fiber
n2
n0
qci n1
q0
NA = n0sinq0max = n1cos qci = (n12-n22)0.5

Acceptance Angle
How much light can be captured by the fiber core?

Within the angle q0max, such that light is transmitted
Core
q0max
Light is
transmitted
Fiber Attenuation
As light travels along a fiber, its power decreases

exponentially with distance
P(0) P(z)
Power
P(z) = P(0) e -p z
P(0)
attenuation
coefficient
0 Distance, z
Fiber Attenuation
How to determine the attenuation coefficient p?
Pout
P(0) P(z) = P(0) e -p z P(z)
Power
Pout
Launch loss (unknown)
P(0)
0 Distance, z
Fiber Attenuation
The cut-back method
P(z2) P(z1)
P(0) P(z)

Power
Pout
P(z2) = P(0) e-pz2
P(0)
P(z1) = P(0) e-pz1
0 z2 z1 Distance, z

Fiber Attenuation
-1 P(z1 )
p =
(z1 - z2 )
ln [ P(z ) ]
2
Note that p is not in decibel units

Prefer attenuation coefficient in decibel units
P2(dBm)-P1(dBm)
a (dB/km) = (dB/km)
|L2(km)-L1(km) |
a (dB/km) is referred to as the fiber attenuation

Fiber Attenuation
Fiber attenuation is a function of the wavelength

Attenuation (dB/km)
First window Second window Third window

10 850-nm 1300-nm 1550-nm
5.0
2.0
1.0
0.5 Standard AllWave
0.2 fiber Fiber
0.1
60 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
0 l (nm)
Early technology Zero dispersion
@ 1300 nm
Fiber Dispersion
Fiber dispersion is made up of several components

Severity
Total Dispersion Intermodal Between modes

dispersion
Within each mode Intramodal = Material

dispersion dispersion
+
Waveguide
dispersion

Intermodal Dispersion
Each mode experiences different group velocity

n2 n1
R.I.
n1 z
n2
L
Minimum transit time tmin = (L/c)n1
Maximum transit time tmax = (L/c)(n12/n2)

The delay difference or pulse spread in time:
tmod = tmax tmin = (L/c)n1(n1/n2-1) (L/c)(NA2/2n1)
The rms pulse broadening per unit length due to intermodal

dispersion (for a step index fiber):
(NA)2
mod ns/km
42n1c
Can be reduced by using a graded index profile

n2 n1
R.I
.
n1 z
n2
Minimized using a nearly parabolic index profile

Intramodal Dispersion: GVD
Group Velocity Dispersion (GVD)

Discrete spectral components of a pulse travel at different
speeds (e.g. in a multi-frequency laser)
Pulse spreads out (its width increases) in time

(e.g. in a modulated single frequency laser)

Intramodal Dispersion:
Material Dispersion
Refractive index varies with wavelength.
20
(ps nm-1 km-1)
Dispersion
10
0
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
-10 Wavelength (m)

-20
Material Dispersion

Intramodal Dispersion:
Waveguide Dispersion
An SMF confines ~ 80 % of optical power to the core

Velocity depends on the proportion of power in the core
20
Dispersion (ps nm-1 km-1)

10
Wavelength (m)
v2 v1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
0
-10
-20
Waveguide Dispersion
At longer wavelengths, the wave is less tightly confined

Therefore, on average, it sees a lower refractive index
Total Dispersion:
Multimode Fibers
Includes Intramodal c and Intermodal n dispersion
The total fiber dispersion per unit length:
T = (c2+ n2)1/2 ns/km
Pulse width will increase by sT after 1 km

Total Dispersion:
Single Mode Fibers
GVD measured by a single Dispersion Parameter D
2p d2
D=- . ps nm-1km-1
c dk2
2
D is not normally calculated, but is measured and quoted as

a characteristic of the fiber
A pulse will spread out by D ps for every nm of spectral

width and every km of distance traveled

Total Dispersion:
Single Mode Fibers
Combination of material and waveguide dispersion
Material
20
dispersion
Total
10
dispersion
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
0 Wavelength (m)
-10 Waveguide
dispersion
-20

Dispersion Modified
Single Mode Fibers
Dispersion shifted fiber:

By controlling the core radius and refractive index, it is possible to
change the wavelength of the dispersion zero
Material Dispersion
Dispersion zero
20
@1300 nm
10 Dispersion shifted
zero @ 1550 nm
0
Wavelength (m)
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Waveguide
-10 dispersion
is decreased
-20

Dispersion Modified
Single Mode Fibers
Dispersion flattened fibers:

The typical fiber with W core structure
Standard Single-Mode
20 R.I.
10
Wavelength (m)
0
1. 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
1
-10
Refractive index
Dispersion flattened profile of W fiber
-20

Summary
Structure of fiber
Ray representation in optical fiber
Wave representation in optical fiber
Attenuation in fiber
Dispersion in fiber
Total dispersion of multimode fiber
Total dispersion of signal mode fiber
Dispersion modified single mode fibers

Part 1.1
Introduction to Transmitters and Receivers

Introduction. Computer Model of an IMDD
Electrical filter
Data Rise time limiter
PIN diode
NRZ encoder Laser
Transmitter Optical
Receiver Analyzers
fiber

Introduction. Commonly Used Symbols
Icons in Symbols used

VPIsystems tools in the lecture
Transmitter
Fiber
Amplifier
Receiver

Introduction. Computer Model: Data
Source
Data sequence generated
1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Generates a Pseudo Random Bit Sequence (PRBS)

The output of the PRBS generator can be modified, for example:
+ fixed mark number (assures a fixed number of 1s)
+ sequences of 0s, 1s, or alternating 1s and 0s
+ other features (see Reference Manual for more details)

Introduction. Computer Model: NRZ
Coder
dt=1/SampleRate
Amplitude
1 0 1 1
Time Window Time
Generates a NRZ-encoded train of electrical pulses defined by the train of bits

at its input
Pulse waveform at the output of the coder is sampled
See the Optical Systems Users Manual for more details on TimeWindow and
sampling. There is also another unit which discusses numerical modeling in
greater depth.

Introduction. Computer Model:
Rise Time Adjustment
RiseTime
Time
90%
Amplitude
10%
Time
Realistic electrical pulses do not have sharp edges. The edges have a finite RiseTime
RiseTime refers to the ratio 10% / 90% of amplitude values
Typical value: RiseTime = 0.25 / BitRate
Other values may be used where appropriate.

Laser Rate Equations
Overshoot
Amplitude
Amplitude
Time Time
Optical pulses
Electrical drive signal
Lasers are usually modeled using laser rate equations

Time dynamics (like overshoots) and other detailed laser characteristics that
can distort the optical pulses and add noise are taken into account
These characteristics depend on material and geometric parameters of the
laser (more on this in another module)

Optical Fiber
Optical pulses Distorted optical pulses

Amplitude
Amplitude
Time Time
Optical fiber propagation can be modeled using the Nonlinear Schrdinger

(NLS) Equation
The following effects, which distort optical pulses, are taken into account:
+ fiber loss (or attenuation)
+ first and second order Group Velocity Dispersion (GVD)
+ nonlinear effects (SPM, XPM, FWM, SRS)

Introduction. Computer Model: PIN Diode
Electrical pulses +
Distorted optical pulses Noise + Dark Current
Amplitude
Amplitude
Time Time
Converts incident optical field into electrical signal
Electrical signal is calculated by:
i(t) = is(t) + nsh(t) + nth(t) + id
Signal current Shot noise Thermal noise Dark current

Electrical Filter
Noisy electrical pulses Filtered electrical pulses

Amplitude
Amplitude
Time Time
In this case represents an analog Bessel low pass filter

Main parameters: CutoffFrequency, FilterOrder
Typical application: noise suppression after photodiode
Generally, further processing of the electrical pulses is required to recover
the original binary data bit stream

Part 1.2
Introduction to Loss & Dispersion limited
fiber optic communication links

Design Goals
Fiber-Optic Communications Link
Long Distance Large (High) Bit Rate
Low BER (ideally zero)

10-9 or less in practice
Design Constraints
Fiber loss
Pulse spreading

What causes fiber loss?
Absorption
Scattering
Bending
Copyright VPIsystems. All rights reserved. 71

What causes pulse spreading?
spectrum of pulses:
P
Different wavelengths travel at different speeds in fiber
P P
t t
Design Constraints
Transmission distance is limited by:
Loss
Receiver
1011 1111
Spreading
Receiver
1011 1111
Design Constraints
Bit Rate is limited by:
Spreading over long distance
Receiver
1011 1111
Spreading due to pulse chirp
Receiver
1011 1111
Design Constraints
Bit Rate
Dispersion & Loss

Limited
Feasible
Regime
Costly!
Distance
Easing Design Constraints
Loss limited systems can be improved:

By Improving:
transmitter
- increase power
Bit Rate
receiver
- increase
sensitivity
fiber
- lower loss
Feasible
Infeasible
By adding:
optical
amplifiers
Distance
Easing Design Constraints
Dispersion limited systems can be improved:

By Improving:
transmitter
- lower chirp
Bit Rate
- external
modulation
fiber
- reduce
dispersion
Feasible
Infeasible
By adding:
dispersion
compensators
Distance
System Design Flow Chart
System Specifications
Bit Error Rate
Distance Bit Rate
Transmitte Transmitter
r Chirp Fiber Output
Loss Power
Fiber Power
Optical
Dispersion Budget
Amplifier
Transmitt Fiber Type Receiver

er Type Dispersion Sensitivity
Compensator
Link Power Budget
Channel (Fiber)
Item Value dB value

Transmitter:
1a) Average output power 1.0 mW 0.0 dBm
Channel:
2a) Propagation losses 1% Trans. -20.0 dB
Receiver:
3a) Signal power at receiver -20.0 dBm
3b) Receiver sensitivity -30.0 dBm
Link Margin (Power Margin) = (3a 3b) +10.0 dB

Components of Fiber
System Link Budget
Laser
power
-modulation -fiber coupling -other optical

losses
Transmitter
losses losses
-fiber -fiber -fiber Channel

nonlinearity dispersion attenuation
-collection -receiver Receiver

losses sensitivity
Power
margin
Summary
So far, the following have been introduced:
The three main design goals for fiber-optic links
Design constraints on system performance
Easing design constraints
System design flow chart and Link Power Budget

Part 2. The Transmitter

The Transmitter
Open VPIplayerTM and use the setup RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part2.1.dds

A schematic of the transmitter section of the fiber-optic transmission
link appears. It consists of a PRBS generator, a Non-Return to Zero
(NRZ) coder, a rise time adjuster and a laser (see below).
A SignalAnalyzer is connected to the output of the laser so the optical
spectrum of the laser can be seen in the VPIphotonicsAnalyzer.

The Transmitter
The PRBS in the setup is currently set to produce a string of 0s. The laser is
biased so that it operates in the linear regime.
Run the setup as it is. The spectrum of the laser output is generated (see
below). Since the PRBS is generating a string of 0s, the laser is unmodulated.

The Transmitter
Double-click on the icon of the PRBS, and modify its parameter PRBS_Type from
Zero to PRBS, and run the modified setup.
With the PRBS generating a string of random 0s and 1s, the laser is now modulated.
Question 1: What is the difference between this and the unmodulated laser spectrum?

The Transmitter
The SignalAnalyzer (OSA) is a frequency domain analyzer that is used to

examine the frequency content of a signal. The signal may also be
examined in the time domain, by using a SignalAnalyzer (Scope).
Close the current setup and open the setup RTDC-T2-Pract1-
Part2.2.dds. The setup that appears is exactly the same as the previous
setup.
Run the setup. A scope trace* in the time domain appears, showing the
optical waveform produced by the laser.
* Note that in real scopes, any optical waveform that is displayed has to be
converted into an electrical waveform by a photodetector first.

The Transmitter
Play around with the various features of the scope (e.g. rescaling the axes,
magnifying a portion of the trace, etc).
Question 2: From the scope trace of the laser output, can you estimate the
speed of the optical signal? The speed of a signal is given by the number of bits
per second.
Fluctuation caused
by noise and ringing
Overshoot

Part 3. The Complete Fiber-Optic Link

The Complete
Fiber-Optic Link
Close the current setup and RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part3.dds

A schematic of the complete fiber-optic link appears.
The transmitter section of the setup is the same as the previous setups. The
output of the laser is now connected to a 10 km length of optical fiber, then a
PIN photodetector followed by a electrical low pass (LP) filter. The detected
signal is displayed in two SignalAnalyzers (in Scope and RFSA* mode).
*Radio-Frequency Spectrum Analyzer

The Complete
Fiber-Optic Link
Run the setup as it is. When the simulation is finished, two analyzer windows open to
display the received electrical signal in the frequency domain (shown below) and the
time domain (next page).
RF components at fo, 2fo, 3fo

The Complete
Fiber-Optic Link
When analyzing the waveforms of a signal, it is useful to overlap the received
pulses. The resultant diagram is known as an Eye diagram.
Click the Eye mode button and the maximize display button (as shown below).
Click here to
switch the display
to Eye mode

Eye Diagrams
The Eye diagram is a useful tool for visualizing the performance of communication systems.
The maximized Eye diagram of the received pulses is shown below.
The Eye below is wide open. This shows that the digital 1 and 0 levels of the received
bits are easy to distinguish, and implying a very good quality received signal. The other
features of the Eye diagram also tell us something about the signal (and thus the system),
as we shall see later.
Fluctuation
Overshoot
of 1 level
Eye Opening
Fluctuation
of 0 level

Eye Diagrams
Double-click on the fiber icon in the schematic, and modify its parameter Length from
actual 10.0e3 (10km) to 150.0e3 (150 km). Run the modified setup, and display the
Eye diagram.
The Eye shown below indicates that the received pulses are severely distorted
compared to the previous simulation. The deterioration is caused by higher optical
attenuation experienced by the pulses propagating over the longer fiber.
Fluctuation
of 1 level
Fluctuation
of 0 level
Timing fluctuation

Eye Diagrams
Note that the received optical power is significantly smaller (by about three orders of
magnitude). As a result, the thermal noise in the detector has a more severe effect on
the weaker received signal pulses.
This is reflected by the fuzziness of the Eye diagram in the previous page, as the digital
1 and 0 level are corrupted by receiver noise. Such an Eye diagram is said to be
closed, and indicates a received signal of a poor quality.
A fiber-optic communication system in this state is said to be loss-limited.

Bit Error Ratio (BER)
The Eye diagram introduced previously provides an immediate, graphical/visual feel for
the performance of the system.
A more objective measure of the performance of a system is the Bit Error Ratio (BER)
(also known as Bit Error Rate). This is the number of bits detected incorrectly (i.e. bit
errors) over a certain time interval, divided by the total number of bits transmitted
during the same time interval.
The scope used to display the received pulses as an eye diagram has a built-in function
that can estimate the BER. It works by making certain statistical assumptions about the
distribution of the digital 1 and 0 levels of the pulses in the received signal. The
theory of BER estimation will be covered in greater detail in another module.
Determine the BER of the signal in the Eye diagram that was shown in the previous
page.
Click in the menu on Control Panel, look for BER Analysis and box mark Enable BER
and BER.

Estimating BER from an Eye Diagram
The estimated BER is displayed below the Eye diagram. It is found to be of the order
10-6, which is not satisfactory in practical fiber-optic communication systems (should be
below 10-9 for systems without Forward Error Correction (FEC)).

Part 4. Loss Limited System

Limitation of transmission length
Open the setup RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part4.1.dds.

A schematic of the complete fiber-optic link appears, as shown below.
The transmitter and receiver sections of the setup are the same as in module FOC1.
However, the length of the optical fiber has been set to 150 km.
The parameters of the optical fiber have also been modified so that the effects of fiber
dispersion and nonlinearities are turned off. Thus, optical signal pulses propagating
through the fiber are affected only by fiber attenuation.
SignalAnalyzer modules are placed at the output of the transmitter, the input to the
photo detector and at the output of the receiver.

Fiber Attenuation
Run the setup RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part4.1.dds as it is.

Three scope traces appear. They should look like those shown below and on the next
page.
Question 1: What is the difference between the two scope traces shown below?

Fiber Attenuation
Shown below are the scope traces of the electrical signal detected by the receiver, and
the associated eye diagram. To switch to Eye mode, select Eye in the Analysis menu or
click the eye toolbar button.
Question 2: Why is the electrical signal so severely distorted, given that the optical
signal arriving at the receiver is virtually undistorted?

Loss Limited System
Set the FiberNLSLength = 100.0e3. Rerun, and obtain the eye diagram of the received
electrical signal (shown below in the figure on the left). Use the BER Analysis of the
Control Panel to estimate the BER.
Repeat the step above, increasing the fiber length by 10 km each time, until the fiber
length is 150 km. Make a plot of the BER vs fiber length (transmission distance).
Question 3: What is the transmission distance at which the system becomes loss
limited? Assume that the maximum acceptable BER for the system is 10-9.
Hint: use the plot of BER vs fiber length that you obtained above.
10 km fiber link 150 km fiber link
Fiber length = 100 km

Loss Limited System: Solution 1
To overcome the loss limit, a simple solution is to increase the output power of the
transmitter.
Change the parameter LaserRateEqSMPowerNorm from 5.0e-3 W to 20.0 e-3 W.
Make sure that the fiber length is set to 150 km, and then rerun the simulation. The
resultant eye diagram is shown below.
Question 4: Can we arbitrarily increase the transmission distance of the system by
simply increasing the transmitter output power? If not, why not?

Another method for compensating the fiber attenuation is to use an optical amplifier
(such as an Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier, EDFA) to boost the power of transmitted
optical signal. The schematic RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part4.2.dds of such a system is shown
below.
Although fiber attenuation can be fully compensated by putting optical amplifiers in an
optical fiber link, the cost of transmission will increase, depending on the number of
optical amplifiers used. One design issue is to find the optimum number of amplifiers
needed to compensate for fiber attenuation over a given transmission distance, while
maintaining the required BER performance (usually 10-9 or less).

Run RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part4.2.dds. In this case the amplifier is at the end of the fiber
increasing the optical power just before the photodiode in what is known as pre
amplification. Although in the schematic there is a fiber after the amplifier this is
setup to have 0 km (check its characteristics). The eye diagram for the signal after 150
km of transmission is shown below. There is definite improvement in this case,
compared to the case (shown earlier) where no optical amplifier was used.

Part 5. Dispersion Limited System
Fiber Dispersion
Open RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.1.dds. Turn the fiber attenuation off (set FiberNLS-
Attenuation to 0) and set FiberNLS-Length to 200e3 m. Run the simulation.
The signal at the output of transmitter and after 200 km of transmission through a
standard single mode fiber (SMF) are shown below on the left and right respectively.
Fiber group velocity dispersion (GVD) causes the pulse to spread during transmission.
After 200 km, the pulses have broadened, and the two pulses (highlighted in the middle
of diagram) have merged together. So the 0 in the middle of those two pulses will be
erroneously detected as 1, leading to increased bit errors.
Optical signal after
Output of transmitter transmitting 200 km fiber
Merged

Bit rate limitation due to
Dispersion
To study the limitation of the transmitted bit rate due to dispersion, we start with
RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.2.dds. The bit rate of the system in that schematic has been
set to 1 Gbit/s.
Run the simulation. Press the eye-button in the toolbar of the VPIphotonicsAnalyzer
window for the SignalAnalyzer after the electrical filter. The eye diagram is shown
below, and the eye is wide open, indicating almost error free transmission.

Dispersion
Next, open RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.3.dds. This is the same system as before, but now
the bit rate is increased to 2.5 Gbit/s and fiber length reduced to 100 km. The resulting
eye diagram is shown below.
The received pulses are distorted, leading to a closing of the eye and the BER of the
system has increased above the acceptable level of 10-9.

Dispersion
To find the cause of the distortion, we first look at the output of the transmitter in the
schematic of RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.3.dds to make sure that the pulses are generated
properly.
The SignalAnalyzer (Scope), affixed to the transmitter, reveals that the optical pulses
are generated with considerable initial overshoot near the leading edge. This effect is
caused by relaxation oscillations, and is typical in directly-modulated lasers (which will
be studied in greater detail in another module).

Dispersion
Press the eye-button in the toolbar of the VPIphotonicsAnalyzer window for the
SignalAnalyzer corresponding to the output of the transmitter.
The evaluation of the eye-diagram shows that the optical pulses still produce a fairly
wide open eye, despite the overshoots. Thus, the observed degradation of the pulses at
the receiver must be caused by something else.

Dispersion
Display the signal frequency chirp at the transmitter output for RTDC-T2-Pract1-
Part5.3.dds and RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.2.dds. For this, click on the transmitter
window in the VPIphotonicsAnalyzer (it should be in Scope mode) and select the X
polarization in the Control Panel under Common Settings once. Then, click on Scope
Settings and select the option Chirp in the checkbox. The waveform and chirp for 1
Gbit/s and 2.5 Gbit/s signal are shown below.
Note that the 2.5 Gbit/s pulses are considerably more chirped than the 1 Gbit/s pulses.
The chirp is particularly large at the leading edge of the pulses, exceeding 20 GHz,
where that of 1 Gbit/s is only 12 GHz.
Waveform and chirp of 2.5Gbit/s signal Waveform and chirp of 1 Gbit/s signal

Dispersion
It is well known that amplitude modulation in semiconductor lasers is accompanied by

phase modulation. The mode frequency differs from its steady-state value. Pulses
experiencing such a phase modulation are called chirped.
The frequency chirp broadens the spectrum of the optical signal considerably. Due to
fiber dispersion, different frequencies propagate with different velocities, which in
turn leads to pulse distortion.
With increased signal bit rates, the tolerable dispersion decreases, since the bit
durations become shorter. For a given transmission distance, pulse broadening, the
overlap of broadened pulses and hence bit-errors are more likely to occur in systems
with higher bit rates. An alternative way of looking at it, is that the effect of fiber
dispersion on chirped pulses becomes significant over shorter transmission distances,
for systems with a bit rate of 2.5 Gbit/s compared to systems the operate at a bit rate
of 1 Gbit/s.
The chirp in the optical signal pulses have thus limited how much the bit rate of a
system can be increased due to fiber dispersion. Therefore, optical sources that
produce chirped optical pulses should be avoided.

Fiber Dispersion: Solution 1
One obvious solution is to reduce the chirp in the signal pulses by using a better laser.
There are lasers with special internal structures that can be optimized so that they
produce less chirp when directly modulated.
Such a laser can be simulated simply by altering the value of one of the key parameters
in the laser model used in the transmitter.
This parameter is the LaserRateEqSMIndexToGainCoupl parameter. Set it to 3.0 in

RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.3.dds and repeat the simulation.

The waveform and chirp of the laser output are shown below on the left and the eye
diagram of the received signal is shown on right.
The frequency chirp of the pulses at the laser output is significantly reduced.
The received pulses produce a wider opened eye-diagram.
This verifies that the frequency chirp was the limiting factor in the previous system.
2.5Gbit/s signal

Limitation of Solution 1
Improved lasers still exhibit a some of chirp (albeit much less) under direct modulation.
At bit rates above 2.5 Gbit/s, even a low level of chirp is unacceptable. In fact, there
will be a certain bit rate, above which the laser cannot produce pulses that are
acceptable for transmission.
To investigate this, increase the bit rate of the system in the previous schematic to
10 Gbit/s and run it (or use RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.4.dds). The analyzer screens that
will appear are shown below. Obviously, the laser under consideration is not able to
follow the modulation at 10 Gbit/s. The eye is already totally closed at the transmitter
end, as shown below in the figure on the right.

Another technique for avoiding the limits arising from frequency chirp and limited laser
dynamics is external modulation, where an external modulator is used to modulate the
continuous wave (CW) output of an unmodulated laser.
Open RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.5.dds. The schematic is shown below in the figure on
the right. Note that the transmitter is replaced by a module TxExtModLaser. This
transmitter module consists of submodules. You can look inside the transmitter module
by right clicking it and selecting the Look Inside option. The internal architecture of
the module is shown below in the schematic on the left.

The bit rate is set to 10 Gbit/s, the fiber length to 100 km and the fiber attenuation to
0.2 dB/km.
Run the simulation.
The output of transmitter and the eye diagram of the received signal are shown below.
Compared with the results discussed in solution 1, the externally modulated
transmitter generates clear and chirp free pulses, and the eye of the received signal is
improved.
Output of transmitter Eye of received signal
Eye

Limitation of Solution 2
Increase the length of the SMF fiber to 120 km and repeat the simulation. The pulses at
the receiver end are distorted (see figure below on the left), resulting in large eye
closure as shown in the figure below on the right.
The observed impairments of the system performance are caused by pulse spreading
due to group-velocity dispersion (GVD) in the fiber. The system is dispersion-limited.
It is observed that the received signals degrade quickly as the fiber length is increased
(increase again the fiber length to further highlight this effect).
However, as dispersion is a linear pulse propagation effect, the resulting signal
distortions can be overcome by using simple dispersion compensating techniques.
Eye

A third solution is to apply dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs) to counter the effects
of fiber dispersion.
This is achieved by inserting spans of DCFs, which are specially designed optical fibers
that reverse the effects of fiber dispersion. How DCFs actually work to undo the effects
of dispersion will be covered in another module. Here, we simply demonstrate that
there are other methods of getting around the limitations of fiber dispersion other than
by improving the laser design.
Open RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.6.dds. The schematic is shown below. Another module
FiberNLS, used to model a DCF, is placed after the standard SMF fiber.

Before proceeding, since the length of the SMF-fiber is set to 120 km and set:
FiberNLS (DCF)Length = 16.0/90.0*120e3

FiberNLS (DCF)Dispersion = -90e-6
FiberNLS (DCF)Attenuation =0
Run RTDC-T2-Pract1-Part5.6.dds. As can be seen in the figure below, the eye

diagram is wide open, suggesting that the dispersion compensated system operates at
acceptably low BER values.

RTDC T2 Pract1

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Chapter 2 / Lab Session 1

Copyright Universitat Politcnica de Valncia & VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 1

In this module, a simple but complete fiber-optic transmission link will be

Copyright Universitat Politcnica de Valncia & VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 2

Part 2 The Transmitter

Part 3- Complete Fiber-Optic Link

Part 4 Loss Limited System

Part 5 Dispersion Limited System

Final Part Evaluation @ poliformat

Copyright Universitat Politcnica de Valncia & VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 3

Copyright Universitat Politcnica de Valncia & VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 4

Basic Theory of Communications

Statistics and Stochastic Processes

2nd Year Physics, Mathematics,

Should have worked through the Simulation Guide of

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 5

By the end of this course, you should:

Understand how fiber-optic communication systems work

Understand how key devices in those systems work

Be able to analyze the operation of those systems

By the end of this course, you should:

Be able to use a professional Photonic Design Automation

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 7

Introduction to Fiber-Optic Communication Systems I

Basic system concepts Photo-

Key elements of a basic system

System performance and key issues

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 8

High transmission bandwidth and low loss

Free of electromagnetic interference

Small size and low weight

Increased data security

Electronic Signal Processing

Modulator Optical Signal Processing

Analog Optical Communications

information represented by analog waveforms

Digital Optical Communications

information represented by digital (binary) bits

Intensity modulation (laser directly modulated)

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 15

Loss and distortion act simultaneously

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 16

A Typical Optical Amplifier

Signal level increased

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 17

optical signal is directly detected by photodetector

noise is added, requires filter to reduce it

Signal waveform in time domain

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 19

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 20

RF components at fo, 2fo, 3fo

Copyright VPIphotonics. All rights reserved 21

Detected bit stream waveform

Bits overlaid to form Eye diagram

Bit Error Ratio (BER)

How is the BER of a system obtained?

Directly detect the bits and compare against original

Estimate from Eye diagrams (statistical)

So far, the following have been introduced:

Basic fiber-optic communication system concepts

A basic system overview

Key devices/components in a basic system

How the performance of a system is evaluated