Optical Fibre Communication Systems

Optical Amplifier
Signal Reshaping and Amplification
In long distance communications, whether going through wire, fibre or wave, the signal carrying the
information experience: Power loss and Pulse broadening which requires amplification and signal
reshaping, In fiber optics communications, these can be done in two ways:
Opto-electronic conversion
ll optical
!epending on its nature, a signal can also be regenerated"
digital signal is made of #$s and %$s: it is possible to reconstruct the signal and amplify it at
the same time"
n analog signal however, cannot be reconstructed because nobody &nows what the original
signal loo&ed li&e"
Why the Need for Optical Amplification?
'emiconductor devices can convert an optical signal into an electrical signal, amplify it and
reconvert the signal bac& to an optical signal" (owever, this procedure has several
disadvantages:
)ostly
*equire a large number over long distances
+oise is introduced after each conversion in analog signals ,which cannot be
reconstructed-
*estriction on bandwidth, wavelengths and type of optical signals being used, due to
the electronics
.y amplifying signal in the optical domain many of these disadvantages would disappear/
Optical Amplification
mplification gain: 0p to a factor of #%,%%% ,12% d.-
In 3!4: 'everal signals within the amplifier5s gain ,6- bandwidth are amplified, but not to
the same extent
It generates its own noise source &nown as mplified 'pontaneous 7mission ,'7- noise"
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Optical Amplification - Spectral Characteristics
Optical Amplification - Noise Figure
*equired figure of merit to compare amplifier noise performance
!efined when the input signal is coherent
+8 is a positive number, nearly always 9 : ,I"e" ; d.-
6ood performance: when +8 < ; d.
+8 is one of a number of factors that determine the overall .7* of a networ&"
Optical Amplifiers ypes
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- , ratio noise to signal Output
- , ratio noise to signal Input
,+8- 8igure +oise
o
i
SNR
SNR


=
here are mainly t!o types"
'emiconductor =aser ,optical- mplifier ,'=- ,'O-
ctive-8ibre or !oped-8ibre
#rbium $oped Fibre Amplifier %#$FA&
8ibre *aman mplifier ,8*-
>hulium !oped 8ibre mplifier ,>!8-
S'A - (rinciple Operation
*emember diode lasers?
'uppose that the diode laser has no mirrors:
- 3e get the diode to a population inversion condition
- 3e in@ect photons at one end of the diode
.y stimulated emission, the incident signal will be amplified/
.y stimulated emission, one photon gives rise to another photon: the total is two
photons" 7ach of these two photons can give rise to another photon: the total is then
four photons" nd it goes on and on"""
(roblems"
Poor noise performance: they add a lot of noise to the signal/
4atching with the fibre is also a problem/
(owever, they are small and cheap/
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7!8 is an optical fiber doped with erbium"
7rbium is a rare-earth element which has some interesting properties for fibre optics
communications"
Photons at #2A% or BA% nm activate electrons into a met stable state
7lectrons falling bac& emit light at #CC% nm"
.y one of the most extraordinary coincidences, #CC% nm is a low-loss wavelength
region for silica optical fibers"
>his means that we could amplify a signal by using stimulated emission"
7!8 is a low noise light amplifier"
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D vailable since #BB%5s:
D 'elf-regulating amplifiers: output power remains more or less constant even if the input
power fluctuates significantly
D Output power: #%-:; d.m
D 6ain: ;% d.
D 0sed in terrestrial and submarine lin&s
D 4ost of the pump power appears at the stimulating wavelength
D Power distribution at the other wavelengths changes with a given input signal"
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Optical Amplifiers" )ulti-!a*elength Amplification
Optical Amplifier - )ain (arameters
6ain ,PoutEPin-
.andwidth
6ain 'aturation
PolariFation 'ensibility
+oise figure ,'+*iE'+*o-
6ain 8latness
>ypes
.ased on stimulated emission ,7!8, P!8, 'O-
.ased on non-linearities ,*aman, .rillouin-
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Optical Amplifier - Optical +ain %+&
G G S Output E S Input ,+o noise-
Input signal dependent:
Operating point ,saturation- of
7!8 strongly depends on
power and wavelength of
incoming signal
6ain H as the input power I
Pin +ain Pout
-:% d.m ;% d. 1#% d.m
-#% d.m :C d. 1#C d.m
+ote, Pin changes by a factor of ten then Pout changes only by a factor of three in this power range
Optical SNR
8or .7* J #%
-#;
the following O'+*s are required:
< #; d. for '>4-#K E O)-2A ,:"C 6bps-
< #A d. for '>4-K2 E O)-#B: ,#% 6bps-
Optical power at the receiver needs to bigger than receiver sensitivity
Optical mplifiers give rise to O'+* degradation ,due to the '7 generation and
amplification-
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+oise 8igure G O'+*inEO'+*out
>herefore for a given O'+* there is only a finite number of amplifiers ,that is to say a finite
number of spans-
>hus the need for multi-stage O design
System (erformance" OSNR 'imitation

C 'pans x :C d.

;: )hs" L :"C6bEs with #; d. O'+*

.7* J #%
-#;
)hannel )ount E 'pan =oss >rade-Off:

C spans x :: d.

K2 chs L :"C6bEs with #; d. O'+* and .7* J #%

-#;
Optical Amplifiers" )ulti-Stage
#st ctive stage co-pumped: :nd stage counter-pumped: optimiFed for high power
OptimiFed for low noise figure
1
NF #stE:nd stage G Pin - SNRo Md.N - #% =og ,hc
:
E
;
- and NFtotal G NF#1NF:EG#
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In a transmission system with several cascaded 7!8s, similar to the original signals, the
'7 noise can also be attenuated or amplified" s the entered '7 noise in each optical
amplifier is amplified and overlapped, the total '7 noise power is increased in proportion to
the number of optical amplifiers" >he '7 noise power might be higher than the signal power"
>he '7 noise spectrum varies with the system length" 3hen the '7 noise from the first
optical amplifier is sent to the second one, the gain spectrum of the second one also causes
'7 noise because of gain saturation" s a result, the gain spectrum varies" 'imilarly, the
valid gain spectrum of the third one also varies" 'uch an effect is passed to the next and next
one downstream"
7ven the narrow band filters cannot avoid the '7 noise, because the '7 noise exists in the
same band where the original signal exists"
>he '7 power ,in m3- per unit frequency interval for an optical amplifier is given by ,I>0-
> 6"KB:- :
+'P: spontaneous noise factor, +'PO#
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h G N P
SP ASE
- # , : =
6: amplifier gain
h: Planc&$s constant ,K"K:Kx#%
-;2
3s
:
-
P: optical frequency in (F
>he amplifier noise figure ,in d.- is given by ,I>0-> 6"KB:- :
,-N" input coupling loss for the amplifier in d.
(AS# %d.m& / -01 %d.m& 2 NF %d.& 2 + %d.& 3 ,-N / 4
If the total output power ,including accumulated '7 power- is equal after each amplifier, and
that the gain 6 99 #, then the O'+* is given approximately by ,I>0-> 6"KB:- :
Pout: output power ,per channel- in d.m
=: span loss between amplifiers in d.
+8: noise figure in d.
QP%: optical bandwidth
+: number of spans in the chain, and we have assumed that all the span losses are
equal"
In the #"CCRm band, #%=og ,hP QP%- G -CAd.m at %"#nm optical bandwidth"
Raman Amplifier
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IN
SP
SP
G
N
N NF +

=
# :
: =og #%
[ ]
%
=og #% =og #% = h N NF L P OSNR
out
D Offer C to S d. improvement in system performance
D 8irst application in 3!4
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