Simulation of 10GbE Multimode Optical Communications Systems

Abhijit Sengupta
CommScope Labs, CommScope Inc.
1300 E. Lookout Drive, Richardson, TX 75082
+1-972-792-3198 asengupta@systimax.com

problem is accurate determination of the true minEMBc. If an

accurate minEMBc is available, the 10GbE link model [9] can
combine it along with the 10GBASE-SR transceiver parameters,
and potentially estimate the maximum supported link length.
Although the link model is helpful in getting insight into many
qualitative trends, the prediction of maximum system length
suffer from several underlying assumptions in both the DMD
based bandwidth estimation, and the simplified calculations in the
link model.

Abstract
This paper presents simulation studies of 10Gigabit Ethernet
(10GbE) multimode optical communications systems, and
discusses how such system simulations can be incorporated into
the Differential Modal Delay (DMD) based qualification of OM3
and emerging OM4 multimode fibers (MMF). The effective
modal bandwidth from a rigorous system simulation (EMBs) is
compared with the FOTP-220 effective modal bandwidth
calculated (EMBc). Detail simulations of High resolution DMD
and Low Resolution DMD, and application to index profile
optimization are demonstrated. Detailed receiver sensitivity
simulations show the emergence of bit-error-ratio (BER) floor
beyond a certain link length. Maximum reliable link length (Lmax)
is predicted from the system level simulation of the characteristic
length of link penalty divergence (L). A dramatic change in L is
observed even for slight changes in the optical and noise
characteristics of the 10GBASE-SR transmitter.

In this paper, a rigorous simulation based solution to the problem

of determining the minEMBc and maximum supported link length
has been proposed. At the component level, a library of
multimode fibers and 10GBASE-SR compliant VCSELs are
simulated that would enable calculation of an accurate minEMBcDMD scaling curve [8]. Theoretically, with an accurate scaling
curve, HRDMD value can be translated into a reliable minEMBc.
Alternatively, a true minEMBc can be estimated for the
bandwidth by combining the experimental HRDMD data with the
weighting function of simulated 10GBASE-SR compliant
VCSELs. At the system level, the goal would be to determine the
minimum effective modal bandwidth simulated (minEMBs) and
the maximum system length from rigorous simulation of the
overall link performance.

Keywords: Bit Error Ratio (BER), Differential Modal Delay

(DMD), Effective Modal Bandwidth (EMB), EMB Calculated
(EMBc), EMB Simulated (EMBs), Encircled Flux (EF), Multimode
Fiber (MMF), OM3, OM4, Link Penalty, Q factor, Radial Intensity
Distribution (RID), Receiver Sensitivity, Electronic Dispersion
Compensation (EDC), VCSEL, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE),
10GBASE-SR, IEEE802.3ae.

2. Simulation Methods
This section describes the component level simulation blocks and
how they are combined together to predict the system
performance indicator such as BER, link penalty, Eye opening,
effective modal bandwidth etc. [9-14]

1. Introduction
Laser optimized graded index multimode fibers (MMF) (e.g.
OM3 and emerging OM4 standards) have been a part of the
10Gbps Ethernet (10GbE) data communications solutions for
premise applications [1-8]. The OM3 and OM4 fibers are
specified in terms of a modal bandwidth and a maximum
supported system length with respective to 10GBASE-SR
transceivers. However, it is quite challenging to directly measure
either the bandwidth or the maximum reliable system length for a
specific multimode fiber. One direct method would be to run the
10GbE BER tests over the fiber and verify if the fiber supports
the specified system length. But actual BER tests (at BER < 10-12)
are time consuming and require expensive test equipment.
Therefore, experimental BER evaluation of the maximum system
length is not a feasible alternative in production environment.

2.1 Multi-Transverse Mode VCSELs

Oxide confined 850nm multi-transverse mode VCSELs are
simulated from spatially independent semiconductor rate equation
[14,15] and all optical output characteristics are generated from
the cavity current. The VCSEL model can generate transverse
mode profiles, account for temperature dependent effects, relative
mode power distribution, and noise characteristics. VCSELs are
modeled to represent 10GBASE-SR standard compliant
transceivers. The VCSEL simulation block is capable of
computing detailed thermal dependence such as LI curves [Figure
1], Optical characteristics such as spectral width and near-field
intensity (NFI).

The best available method for guaranteeing system performances

is to measure the Differential Modal Delay (DMD) of the fiber at
high temporal resolution, and translate the DMD data into a
minimum effective modal bandwidth parameter [4,5]. Fiber
manufacturers rely on (a) Minimum Effective Modal Bandwidth
Calculated (minEMBc) and (b) DMD Template (DMDT) based
method to analyze the raw DMD data, and verify if the fiber
meets the modal bandwidth requirement. Recent experiments
show that it is possible to derive scaling curves that would predict
the minEMBc from the high resolution (HR) DMD [8]. The

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The IEEE 802.3ae specifications for 10GBASE-SR transceivers

restrict the radial energy distribution of a VCSEL in terms of the
encircled flux (EF). The encircled flux (EF) is a measure of the
fraction of optical power that is contained within a given radial
distance r relative to the total guided power contained in the
entire fiber [3,6]. The EF is defined by:
r

EF (r ) =

320

1
2r ' I (r ' )dr ' ,
EFmax 0

(1)

Proceedings of the 57th IWCS

and

where EFmax is the total guided power in the fiber. Another

quantity important in calculating effective modal bandwidth is the
radial intensity distribution (RID) which is a scaled derivative of
the EF [Eq. 2]

RID = 2rI ( r ) = EFmax

d
dr

EF ( r )

(3)
where n1 is the peak index at the center, n2 is the refractive index of
the cladding, r is the radial distance from the axis of the fiber, a is
the core radius, and is a measure of deviation from the parabolic
profile. For a parabolic index profile, is equal to 2, and there are

(2)

Per TIA FOTP-203 [6], the EF and RID of the VCSELs are
determined from their near field intensity. The EF within 4.5m,
and the radius of 86% EF are calculated from the EF data to
compare with the EF map of TIA simulations [7, 8, 10].

several exact analytic solutions for the modes. For 2 , exact

analytic approximations become difficult, and numerical methods
are employed to solve the fiber modes. When the index profile can
be represented by an arbitrary function, fiber modes are determined
from numerical solution of the radial Helmholtz equation [16].

(4)
Spatial modes of a multimode fiber are identified by the azimuthal
(l) and radial (m) indices and are grouped into mode groups
according to modal delays [11,17,18]. Mode group delays spread
significantly with a slight deviation of from the parabolic value of
2, and thus cause a sharp decrease in effective modal bandwidth.
2.2.1 DMD and EMBc
As light is propagated by a multimode fiber, the worst possible
modal dispersion would be determined by the maximum relative
mode group delay of the excited modes. To characterize the
multimode fibers in terms of modal dispersion, a high precision
differential modal delay (DMD) measurement has been developed
and standardized in recent years. DMD measurements have been
very successful in qualifying high bandwidth laser optimized
multimode fibers (e.g. OM3, OM4) [7,8].

Figure 1. Simulated L-I Curves of a VCSEL

The encircled flux and radial intensity plots of different simulated
10Gbps VCSELs are presented in Section 3. The EF plots along
with the mask are examined to create a library of simulated
VCSELs that are IEEE 802.3ae compliant. The average radial
intensity plots are important for calculation of the EMBc from
DMD, and they show how the optical power is distributed [4,8].

Experimental details and requirements of the DMD measurement

equipment and methods are available in the standard TIA FOTP-220
or IEC 60793-1-49 [4]. Figure 2 illustrates the DMD measurement
technique.

2.2 Multimode Fiber (MMF)

Multimode Fiber simulation engine utilizes a rigorous index based
fiber model for accurate prediction of system parameters such as
effective modal bandwidth, and BER. The model can utilize either
an arbitrary numerical index profile data or a well-defined function
of radius as the input for index profile. From the predefined fiber
geometry and index profile, wavelength dependent fiber spatial
modes and propagation constants are calculated [1,10,11]. An
ideal index profile would be the one that produces the maximum
modal bandwidth for a graded index multimode fiber.
Manufacturing processes are often optimized to reach an ideal
index profile with least imperfections (e.g. at the center, corecladding boundary, layer-to-layer index gradation). Imperfections of
a process optimized index profile is analytically modeled as a
perturbation to a parabolic profile, and often described by the
alpha profile:

Figure 2. DMD Measurement

An ultrafast laser pulse is launched into a MMF using a single
mode fiber (SMF). The SMF is scanned radially, and for each
radial offset position, the shape of the transmitted pulse is
recorded using a high bandwidth optical receiver and a sampling
oscilloscope.
,

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DMD is a measure of the fibers spatio-temporal impulse

response, and therefore, an input pulse should ideally approximate
a delta function in both space and time. A high resolution DMD
measurement requires optimum pulse width and fiber length to
resolve the modal delays. The mode-locked laser (ML) model
produces a Gaussian or sech(t) pulse shape with a Gaussian radial
intensity distribution. Simulations are performed to mimic the
previously reported [7,8] low resolution (LR) and high- resolution
(HR) differential modal delay measurement systems. The
LRDMD system is simulated with an 85 picosecond (ps) FWHM
pulse width and a fiber length marginally meeting the FOTP-220
requirement. The HRDMD system uses a 15 picosecond (ps)
pulse width for the mode-locked laser, and sufficiently long fiber
length. The beam waist and divergence are matched to the mode
field of the scanning single mode fiber. Scanning the offset
between the mode locked laser beam and the fiber center
simulates the DMD measurement process. The spatial coupler
(SC) shifts the laser input by a radial offset, and the DMD
analyzer stores the temporal profile of the output for each offset
position. At the end of a simulation run, the DMD analyzer plots
the aggregate results [Figure 6]. Chromatic dispersion effects are
taken into account during the pulse propagation. Once the DMD
profile is simulated for a specific multimode fiber, the DMD over
a specific radial offset range is calculated according to the DMD
templates. The fiber can be identified as OM3 or OM4 at the
simulation level using the DMD template method commonly used
for fiber manufacturers [4,5,7].

Figure 4. Receiver Filter Characteristics

Total noise at the receiver is determined by combining
contributions from different noise generating mechanisms:
thermal noise from TIA, signal and dark current shot noise, RIN
noise of the transmitter VCSEL, signal-spontaneous and
spontaneous-spontaneous beat noise. Each of these noise
contributions can be turned ON or OFF separately in the receiver
during system simulation.

2.4 Bit Error Rate Tester (BERT)

This simulation block computes the Bit Error Ratio (BER) for the
input electrical signal(s) as well as the Q factor and electrical eye
properties such as the height, width, area, and extinction ratio.
The BER is calculated using either a Quasi-Analytical (QA) or
Monte-Carlo (MC) algorithm depending on the nature of the
dominant noise sources in the simulation. The QA approach is a
good approximation when all the noise sources are Gaussian. The
relation of QA BER to the optical modulation amplitude (OMA)
and rms noise (0 , 1) in the low (0) and high (1) optical levels is
given by the equation 5 [13].

Figure 3. DMD and EMBc simulation

The VCSEL simulation block is used to determine the EF and

RID. From the RID, the DMD weighting function is derived and
EMBc is estimated for the specific VCSEL per FOTP-220. Figure
3 illustrates the simulation configuration used to determine the
DMD and EMBc of a multimode fiber. Later the EMBc is
compared with the EMB simulated (EMBs). EMBs is estimated
from a rigorous 10GbE system simulation using the same
VCSEL.

and, OMA = (1 0)

(5)

Pattern dependence or inter-symbol interference (ISI) is

handled by separately evaluating the error probability for each bit
in a N-bit pattern and summing over all the bits:

2.3 Optical Receiver (OR)

(6)

The Optical Receiver (OR) simulation block is a combination of

PIN photodiode, electrical filter, and electrical transimpedance
amplifier (TIA). Quantum efficiency is adjusted to define the
photodiode responsivity. The photodiode current is given by: I(t)
= R.P(t) + N(t), where R is responsivity, P(t) is the input optical
signal, and N(t) is the noise generated at the receiver. The current
is sent to the TIA, converted to voltage, and then passed through
the electrical filter. The electrical filter is set to a low-pass 4-th
order Bessel filter with an adjustable bandwidth of 7.5 GHz.

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Monte-Carlo BER estimation is employed when significant

colored noise or noise filtering exists in the system. Instead of
each bit, BER for each ISI bit is calculated. The maximum
number of neighbors that affect a bit determines the size of the
optimum ISI-bit. The total error rate is a sum over all ISI-bits:
,

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where the sum is over the NISI=2ISI_bit*2+1 patterns and nj is the

number of occurrences of each pattern. The Bit Error Rate (BER)
of a fiber link is the most important measure to guarantee
successful data transmission. A conservative estimate is made by
repeated system simulations and determining the maximum BER.

The EDC simulation block is embedded in the optical receiver

(OR) simulation block and can be independently turned on or off
during simulated BER tests.

2.5 Electronic Dispersion Compensation (EDC)

3.1 Index Profile and DMD

3. Simulation Results and Discussions

BER of the degraded transmitted signal is in general improved by

applying electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) to the signal
at the receiver using Forward-Feedback or Feed-Forward
Equalization (FFE) filter [19]. To test how much improvement
can be done to the eye diagram and BER for a MMF link with
respect to a 10GBASE-SR transceiver, we apply EDC to the
electrical signal after the optical receiver in the form of
equalization filter implemented as an electrical finite-impulse
response (FIR) filter. This equalization scheme is also known as
linear or forward-feedback equalization (LE or FFE). The FIR
filter model applies the following transformation to the electrical
signal:

Figure 6 compares the HRDMD and LRDMD profiles of three

fibers with different alpha profiles. One can notice that the details

(8)
where x(t) is the incoming signal, y(t) the outgoing signal, (2N+1)
the number of taps, Ci the weight coefficients or taps, and T the
taps delay. EDC block allows simulations to test if the maximum
system length or maximum data rate can be extended beyond
what a multimode fiber link already supports.

2.6 System Level Simulation

Figure 5 is a component level block diagram for rigorous
simulation of 10GbE systems. The Spatial Coupler (SC) is
adjusted for offset launch conditions. The Pattern Generator is set
to different PRBS for pattern dependent study.

Figure 6. Simulated DMD Profiles

of the DMD pulse shapes visible in the HRDMD profiles are not
resolved in the LRDMD profile. Three fibers (fiber A, B, C) with
different alpha profiles are compared in Figure 6. Fibers A, B and
C have alpha values of 2.023 [Figure 6(a)], 1.943 [Figure 6(b)],
and 1.982 [Figure 6(c)] respectively. Fiber C looks optimized in
the LRDMD profile but the HRDMD profile clearly shows further
fine adjustments can be done to lower the DMD [Figure 6(c)] or
increase the EMB. The HRDMD profile allows better
optimization of alpha profile to attain the highest possible modal
bandwidth.

Figure 5. 10GbE System Simulation

3.2 Encircled Flux and Radial Intensity Distribution

Near Field Intensities, Encircled Flux and Radial Intensity
Distribution of three simulated VCSELs are shown in Figure 7.
EF is plotted along with the mask. The three VCSELs are selected
to illustrate three extreme scenarios. VCSEL A has most of the
power peaked within 8 and 10 micron [Figure 7(a)], VCSEL B
barely passes the EF mask at 4.5 micron [Figure 7(b)], and
VCSEL C barely passes the EF mask at 19 micron [Figure 7(c)].
It is important to note that different VCSELs may differ in the
radial intensity distributions, even though the EF values at 4.5
micron and radii of >86% EF match with each other.

Optical attenuator (OA) is adjusted to set various received power.

BERT estimates the BER for various receiver input powers to
obtain a receiver sensitivity plot. Power penalty (PP) [Eq. 9] due
to the fiber link at BER level of 10-12 is calculated from the
receiver sensitivities (RS) measured with and without the fiber
under test (FUT) [2,13].
PP (dB) = RS FUT (dBm) RSback-to-back (dBm)

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(9)

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minEMBc by exploring a very large ensemble of VCSELs as

opposed to only ten weighting functions generally used in the
FOTP-220 minEMBc method [4,8]. Figure 8 compares the
response function calculated from DMD using the EMBc method
(blue line) with the response function obtained from rigorous
simulation of modal delays calculated from the index profile (red
dots). The EMBs from rigorous system simulation is quite close
to the EMBc for a specific VCSEL-MMF combination when the
RID and DMD are very accurate. As a simulation alternative to
minEMBc, one can apply the lowest EMBs value of a multimode
fiber obtained using a large set of simulated VCSELs as a reliable
bandwidth metric.

3.4 BER Performance

Rigorous system simulations [Figure 5] are performed to determine
BER at different total received power for each link length.

Figure 7. Radial Intensity and Encircled Flux

The EF mask screens EMBc sources such that they span the entire
Standard compliance EF space [7,8]. The actual EMB, however,
is determined by the RID. Therefore in order to predict the true
minEMB from simulations, one has to use a large set of VCSELs
with all possible RID within the standard compliant EF space.

3.3 Effective Modal Bandwidth Simulated (EMBs)

Effective modal bandwidth is simulated by two methods [Figure
8]. In the first approach, the 10GbE transmission is simulated with
a PRBS data pattern for a specific VCSELMMF combination,
and the effective modal bandwidth simulated or EMBs is
calculated from the response function of the MMF. The response
function of the MMF is obtained from the modulation spectra
before and after the MMF. The MMF modes are calculated from
the index profile.

Figure 9. Receiver (Rx) Sensitivity Simulation

Figure 9 shows the simulated receiver sensitivity data for different
link lengths. For the specific simulated VCSEL 2, the BER floor
[13] is reached between the link length of 375m and 400m.

Figure 8. Simulation of Fiber Response

In the second approach, the radial intensity distribution is first
converted into a DMD weighting function specific to the VCSEL,
and combined with the simulated DMD profile of the MMF
according to the EMBc calculation method recommended by
FOTP-220. The EMBc obtained here is not the minEMBc that
FOTP-220 sources would produce. The minimum of the ten
EMBc values from the ten FOTP-220 recommended weighting
functions is the minEMBc. It is the minEMBc that is used in the
minEMBc qualification of OM3 fibers. An advantage of such a
simulation environment is that one can determine the true

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Figure 10. Maximum Supported Length

The back-to-back (Bk-Bk) data is simulated with a very short
MMF link length (0.1m). Link penalty is calculated from the

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simulated receiver sensitivity of the link of a specified length and

the Bk-Bk data using Eq. 9. In Figure 10, the length dependences
of link penalties are shown for three different simulated VCSELs.
The overall link penalties rise steeply beyond a certain link
length. For each VCSEL, there would be a characteristic length of
link penalty divergence (L). For the example fiber in Figure 10,
L is 403m with VCSEL 1, 389.7m with VCSEL 2 and 565.2m
with VCSEL 3. Thus each multimode fiber would yield a set of
L when the system simulation is repeated with a set of M number
of 10GBASE-SR compliant VCSELs.

Lmax = Min[L ] j =1,M L

4. Conclusions
This paper demonstrates that a rigorous component level system
simulation is capable of predicting the system bandwidth, BER
and total link penalty. Starting from the VCSEL physics, a library
of simulated 10GBASE-SR compliant VCSELs can be created.
The true minEMBc can be predicted from the HRDMD data
using the weighting functions obtained from a large ensemble of
simulated VCSELs. It has been shown that the simulated EMBc
compares well with the effective modal bandwidth obtained from
a rigorous 10GbE system level simulation. Further investigations
are needed to see if the minimum effective modal bandwidth
simulated (minEMBs) can become a robust metric for bandwidth.
Detailed multimode fiber simulation has been successful in
comparing the HRDMD and LRDMD profiles, and proves the
importance of accurate HRDMD for index profile optimization.

(10)

For the example fiber in Figure 10, min[L] would be 389.7m.

One can determine [Eq.10] the maximum supported link length
(Lmax) that is sufficiently shorter (say, L) than the minimum of
all L (min[L]). Here, L is an adjustable guardband length (say,
50m) for guaranteeing the 10GbE system performance. In order to
qualify as OM3, the fiber must yield Lmax greater than 300m, and
Lmax must be greater than 550m to qualify as OM4. The results
also indicate that L values are very sensitive to VCSEL
characteristics and can be simulated within a meter.

Rigorous system level simulations of receiver sensitivity tests and

link penalty calculations have been performed. The most
important finding of the system simulation is that there is a
characteristic length of link penalty divergence (L) for each
VCSEL. It has been proposed (for the first time) that the
maximum reliable link length (Lmax) can be ascertained with
confidence if it is sufficiently shorter (say, 50m) than the
minimum of all L (min[L]) obtained with a large ensemble of
10GBASE-SR compliant VCSELs. Simulation results show that a
dramatic change in the L and hence maximum reliable link
length occurs even for slight changes in the optical and noise
characteristics of the transmitter VCSEL. The possibility of EDC
based system length enhancement is also examined. Although
BER performances improve for most low bandwidth fibers, severe
system performance degradation has been observed for certain
high bandwidth fiber links after the EDC application. Further
investigations are being continued to find out how the EDC
simulation can be optimized for extending the maximum system
length of a very high bandwidth OM3 or OM4 fibers.

3.5 Electronic Dispersion Compensation

Figure 11 shows that EDC may help improve the BER for certain
fibers while degrading the data transmission for other fibers. Fiber
1 is a low bandwidth fiber that fails to qualify as an OM3 [Figure
11(a)], and fiber 2 is a high bandwidth OM4 fiber [Figure 11(b)].

5. Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Richard Mei and Luc Adriaenssens for their
support. The project has been entirely supported by the internal
R&D funding from CommScope, Inc.

6. References
[1] A. W. Snyder and J. D. Love, Optical Waveguide Theory,
Chapman & Hall, New York (1983).
[2] D. G. Cunningham and W. G. Lane, Gigabit Ethernet
Networking, Macmillan, New York (1999).
[3] TIA-492AAAC-A, Detailed Specification for 850nm Laser
Optimized 50-mm Core Diameter/125-mm Cladding
Diameter Class 1a Graded-Index Multimode Optical Fiber
(January, 2003).

Figure 11. Electronic Dispersion Compensation

BER of fiber 1 is improved from 3.154E-03 to 2.895E-13 [Figure
11(a)] while BER is actually degraded to 1.02E-05 from 6.56E-15
for fiber 2 [Figure 11(b)]. For a fiber with high modal bandwidth or
ultra low DMD, it is possible that the maximum supported system
length may be limited by overall system noise, and EDC may not be
helpful in extending the system length beyond Lmax. Further
investigations are being continued on how to optimize the EDC
simulations for high bandwidth fibers. For completeness, Decision
Feedback Equalizer (DFE) functions will be also implemented in
the future simulations.

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[4] FOTP-220 (TIA-455-220-A), Differential Mode Delay

Measurement of Multimode Fiber in the Time Domain
(January 2003).
[5] 10 Gbps Ethernet, IEEE Standard 802.3ae, June 2002.
[6] FOTP-203 (TIA-455-203), Launch Power Distribution
Measurement for Graded Index Multimode Fiber
Transmitters (June 2001).

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[7] A. Sengupta, BER Performance and Differential Modal

Delay of High Bandwidth Multimode Fibers, Proc. IWCS,
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[18] G. Yabre, Comprehensive theory of dispersion in graded

index optical fibers, J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 18, p.166
(2000).

[8] A. Sengupta, Comparison of min-EMBc and DMD

Template Based Qualification of High Bandwidth
Multimode Fibers, Proc. IWCS, Vol. 56, p.154 (2007).

[19] G. C. Clark, J. B. Cain, Error-Correction Coding for Digital

Communications, Plenum Pub. (1981).

Authors Biography

[9] 10Gb/s Link Budget Spreadsheet (Version 3.1.16a),

http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/3/ae/public/index.html
[10] P. Pepeljugoski, M. J. Hackert, J. S. Abbott, S. E. Swanson,
S. E. Golowich, A. J. Ritger, P. Kolesar, Y. C. Chen, and P.
Pleunis, Development of System Specification for LaserOptimized 50-mm Multimode Fiber for Multigigabit ShortWavelength LANs, J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 21, 1256
(May, 2003).
[11] P. Pepeljugoski, S. E. Golowich, A. J. Ritger, P. Kolesar, and
A. Risteski, Modeling and Simulation of Next-Generation
Multimode Fiber Links, J. Lightwave Technol., Vol. 21,
No. 5, p.1242 (May 2003).

Dr. Abhijit Sengupta is a Principal Research Scientist at

CommScope Labs, 1300 East Lookout Drive, Richardson, TX. He
has been an active researcher in the field of ultrafast optical sciences
and technologies for the last 20 years. He is a member of IEEE,
OSA, LIA and AAAS. He holds issued or pending patents in
Photonics and Optical Communications. He held previous research
positions at Eastman Kodak, Bell Labs, AVAYA, and OFS. He was
an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, and Electrical
and Computer Engineering of Old Dominion University, a Principal
Investigator in the Jefferson National Labs Applied Research
Center, and held a Visiting Scientist position at the Institute of
Optics, University of Rochester. He is a recipient of Innovation
Award in Biomedical Photonics from the Virginia Center for
Innovative Technology, and major research grants for ultrafast
photonics research from National Science Foundation. He authored
numerous journal papers in ultrafast physics and optical
communications, and is also a co-author of the book Laser
Techniques in Chemistry (Wiley). He was a National Science
Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. He received his PhD from Stanford University for his
thesis in Ultrafast Optical Physics and Quantum Field Theory of
Condensed Matter.

[12] P. Pepeljugoski and D. Kuchta, Design of Optical

Communication Data Links, IBM J. Res. Develop., Vol 47,
No. 2-3 (Mar.-May 2003).
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No. 4, p. 505 (April 1991).
[14] P. V. Mena, J. J. Morikuni, S.-M. Kang, A. V. Harton, and
K. W. Wyatt, A comprehensive circuit-level model of
vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, J. Lightwave
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[15] N. Bewtra, D. A. Suda, G. L. Tan, F. Chatenoud, and J. M.
Xu, Modeling of quantum-well lasers with electro-optothermal interaction, IEEE J. Selec. Top. Quant. Electron.,
Vol. 1, p.331 (1995).
[16] J. Gowar, Optical Communications Systems, Prentice Hall,
New York (1984).
[17] K. Kurokawa, Group Delay in multimode optical fiber,
IEEE Proc. Vol. 65, p. 1217 (1977).

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