DWDM Technology

Generics
Transmitters & Receivers
Amplifiers
Non-Linear Effects
Dispersion

Generics

Basic Step-Index (SI) Fiber

Design
Most common designs:
Plastic optical fiber (POF):

100/140 or 200/280 m
0.1 - 3 mm , core 80 to 99%

Cladding
Core
Refractive
Index (n)
1.480
1.460

100 m

lass
G
iO 2

Primary coating
(e.g., soft plastic)

140 m

Diameter (r)

Numerical Aperture (NA)

Acceptance / Emission Cone

NA
= sin
n2cladding

n2core -

Attenuation (dB/km)

Attenuation In Silica Fibers

2.5
2
2.0
1.5

OH
Absorption

Optical
Windows

1.0
0.5
900

1100

1300
1500
Wavelength (nm)

1700

Main cause of attenuation: Rayleigh scattering in the fiber core

Step-Index Multimode (MM)

Dispersion

Pulse broadening due to multi-path

transmission.
Bitrate x Distance product is severely
limited!
100/140 m Silica Fiber:
0.8/1.0 mm Plastic Optical Fiber:

~ 20 Mb/s km
~ 5 Mb/s km

Gradient-Index (GI) Fiber

Doping profile designed to minimize race conditions
(outer modes travel faster due to lower refractive index!)

Most common designs: 62.5/125 or 50/125 m, NA ~ 0.2

Bitrate x Distance product: ~ 1 Gb/s km

1.475
1.460

Single-Mode Fiber (SMF)

Step-Index type with very small core
Most common design: 9/125 m or 10/125 m, NA ~ 0.1
Bitrate x Distance product: up to 1000 Gb/s km
(limited by CD and PMD)

1.465
1.460

Transmitters & Receivers

Light-emitting Diode (LED)

Datacom through air & multimode fiber
Very inexpensive (laptops, freespace optics, airplanes, lans)

Key characteristics

Most common for 780, 850, 1300 nm

Total power up to a few W
Spectral width 30 to 100 nm
Coherence length 0.01 to 0.1 mm
Little or not polarized
Large NA ( poor coupling into fiber)

peak

-3 dB

BW

What is a LED?
A light-emitting diode is a p-n junction that emits light when
forward-biased:
one side of the diode is a semiconductor of type p
(majority carriers are holes)
the other side is of type n (majority carriers are
electrons)

Forward bias means that:

a positive bias is applied on the p side of the diode
a negative bias is applied on the n side of the diode

Characteristics of LED's

LED's are small, long life, reliable and require little

power.
LED's produce a divergent and incoherent light
beam.
Their response is fast.
A wide range of wavelengths is available

Forward Bias

A p-n junction is forward-biased when:

a positive terminal is connected to the ptype material
a negative terminal is connected to the ntype material

Laser Diodes
Laser diodes are semiconducting devices that emit
coherent light or laser light

Laser stands for

L ight
A mplification by
S timulated
E mission of
R adiation.

Laser Diodes
There are two important groups of words in this
acronym:
light amplification
stimulated emission
laser has typically three components:
the lasing material: gas, semiconductor, etc.
the energy pump source
two mirrors

Stimulated Emission and

Amplification
an excited atom can relax to a stable state by
releasing a photon: this is called spontaneous
emission.
this photon can interact with another excited atom
and cause it to relax back to the normal state.
this atom will release a photon which is identical in
energy, direction, and phase with the incident photon.
these two photons can in turn interact with other
excited atoms.
We started with one photon, now we have two: we have
achieved amplification

Emission in a Preferential
Direction
The two mirrors are placed at the ends of the tube
to force the emission in one direction.
The photons traveling along the axis of the two
mirrors bounce between the two mirrors: the number
of photons increases greatly along this direction.

Stimulated emission happening along a

preferential direction is not sufficient to create a
laser beam: a condition called population inversion
must be met

Population Inversion
Atoms are lazy: they don't like to stay in an excited (or
high energy) state.
It is tiring. They prefer to relax into a lower energy) state
and enjoy life!
If we don't have a lot of excited atoms to start with, the
chance of having a lot of stimulated emission is not
great!
To get a laser to work, we need to have a population
inversion: we need to get most of the electrons to the
high energy states.
This is done by providing an initial energy to the atoms:
passing electrical current, illuminating with a bright
pulse, ...

Stimulated Emission

Stimulated emission is a little bit like

electroluminescence (Conversion of Electrical Energy
into Light), except that it is not a spontaneous process:
the excited electron is forced into jumping back to the
valence band and emitting a photon.

The Fizzz of Stimulated

Emission
Let's consider our electrons in an excited state in the
conduction band.
Let's suppose that we send photons:
these photons stimulate the electrons in the
conduction band
the electrons fall back into the valence band
Photons emitted by stimulated emission have the
same energy as the incident photons and are in step
with each other: this type of light is called coherent
light.

Application of Stimulated
Emission
Stimulated emission and electroluminescence
convert information and energy from an
electronic form to an optical form.
However in the case of stimulated emission, we
have a coherent light emitting device.

What is laser light ?

Laser light is:
monochromatic: one wavelength and frequency only
due to stimulated emmission
coherent: all photons are in step

In comparison, normal light such as from LED's and bulbs is:

polychromatic: a range of wavelengths and frequencies
incoherent: the waves are out of step, like the ocean swell.

mall percentage of the photons escape! What is laser light?

Laser Basics
Semiconductor material - electrons negatively charged particles.
Electrons can go to excited state - more energy than regular electrons.
An electron in an excited state can just spontaneously fall down to the regular
ground state.
The ground state has less energy, and so the excited-state electron must give
out its extra energy before it can enter the ground state.
It gives this energy out in the form of a photon a single particle of light.

laser goal: lots of light to come out

Electric current to the laser lots of electrons into the
excited state (population inversion)

Laser Basics

Laser Basics

More and more spontaneous emission of photons caused by electrons decaying from
the excited state to the ground state.

Still not enough light for what we need :

1.

Need lots of these electrons to decay at the same time to give lots of light out,

2.

Need this to be happening all the time so that we have a steady stream of light.

Catch, or confine, the spontaneously emitted photons within the laser

Want them to travel back and forth through the laser time and time again :
1.

Photons can encourage other excited electrons to fall to the ground state and give
out more photons.

2.

These photons are stimulating emission of further photons

Effectively amplify the light within the device

ll the time an electric current is putting more electrons into the excited state where they
wait to fall to the ground state and give out light

Fabry-Perot (FP) Laser

Multiple longitudinal mode (MLM) spectrum
Classic semiconductor laser
First fiberoptic links (850 or 1300 nm)
Today: short & medium range links
Key characteristics
Most common for 850 or 1310 nm
Total power up to a few mw
Spectral width 3 to 20 nm
Mode spacing 0.7 to 2 nm
Highly polarized
Coherence length 1 to 100 mm
Small NA ( good coupling into fiber)

peak

P
Threshold

Fabry-Perot
Two specially designed slabs of semiconductor material on top of
each other
Another material in between them forming what is known as the
active layer or laser cavity.
Electric current through the device from the top slab to the bottom

Emission of light occurs in the active layer

Light travels along this layer
At reflective end, back through the active layer

Causes more stimulated emission of light

Back off the other reflective end, and so forth. E
Ends are not 100 percent reflective

Around 70 percent of the light will be let through

Fabry-Perot

Fabry-Perot
Light builds up enough within the active layer
Highly intense beam of light is emitted from ends of laser
Specific value of electrical current applied to the laser - spontaneous
emission to stimulated emission

Threshold current
Photons from the laser roughly the same wavelength
One color or wavelength

Emitted light beam is very monochromatic

In practice, Fabry-Perot lasers are not entirely monochromatic

Fabry-Perot
Key Points
Tiny salt-grain sized devices made of semiconductor material
Electrical current puts lots of electrons into excited state: population
inversion
Excited electrons spontaneously decay to ground state and emit
photons
Photons can stimulated emission of further photons
Fabry-Perot cavity confining light and reflecting it back and forth
Most of light at one specific wavelength, but others are produced in
Fabry-Perot

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Laser
Single longitudinal mode (SLM) spectrum
High performance telecommunication laser
Most expensive (difficult to manufacture)
Long-haul links & DWDM systems
Key characteristics
P peak
Mostly around 1550 nm
Total power 3 to 50 mw
Spectral width 10 to 100 MHz (0.08 to 0.8 pm)
Sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR): > 50 dB
Coherence length 1 to 100 m
Small NA ( good coupling into fiber)

SMSR

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers
From standard Fabry-Perot lasers
Not just one wavelength emitted
Few others very close by, at slightly lower
powers
Goal of DFB Lasers =

Sharpen up the output of regular

Fabry-Perot lasers

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers
If you wish to send lots of different wavelengths down the
same optical fiber in a wavelength-division multiplexed
(WDM) system :
Any stray wavelengths can cause problems by
interfering with other signals
Need is a laser that will emit almost entirely at one
wavelength

Need a DFB laser

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers
Corrugations act as a grating
Reflecting only a specific wavelength back into the cavity
Allowing others to pass through
Feeding back the desired wavelength into the cavity
Takes place over the whole length of the laser
Therefore the feedback is distributed

distributed feedback laser

Only laser light built up within the active layer is light of
specific wavelength - only wavelength emitted from the laser

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers

Distributed Feedback (DFB)

Lasers
Key Points
Fabry-Perot output is lots of different wavelengths; DFB gives just one
DFB is similar to Fabry-Perot cavity, but with grating above active layer
Grating is a zig-zag structure, and its different refractive index causes
reflection
Exact wavelength reflected depends on refractive index change and zigzag spacing
Only desired wavelength reflected back into laser cavity and emitted
Much more expensive than Fabry-Perot lasers due to increased
complexity

Basic Transmitter Design

Optimized for one particular bit rate & wavelength

Often temperature stabilized laser
Internal (direct) or external modulation
Digital modulation
Extinction ratio: 9 to 15 dB
Forward error correction
Scrambling of bits to reduce long sequences of 1s or 0s
(reduced DC and low frequency spectral content)
Analog modulation
Modulation index typically 2 to 4%
Laser bias optimized for maximum linearity

Digital Modulation
Digital Modulation:
Extinction ratio = P1 / P0
Time-division multiplexing (TDM)
~1.5 Mb/s to 10 Gb/s

Bit Error Rate (BER):

BER = N incorrect / N total
Standards: 1E-9 to 1E-12
Lightwave systems: down to 1E-15

P1
P0
0

Channel
2
3
4

Modulation Principles
Direct (laser current)
Inexpensive
Can cause chirp up to 1 nm
(wavelength variation caused
by variation in electron
densities in the lasing area)
External
2.5 to 40 gb/s
AM sidebands (caused by
modulation spectrum) dominate
linewidth of optical signal

DC
RF

DC

MOD
RF

External Modulators

Mach-Zehnder Principle

DFB laser with

external on-chip
modulator

Laser
section
Modulation
section

Photodiode
Photodiodes are semiconducting devices that
convert light into electrical signals.
There are several kinds of semiconductor
photodiodes. They all work on the same principle which
is based on photoconductivity.
Photodiodes have also invaded our homes: they can
be found in appliances that can be controlled by remote
control.

Photoconductivity

Photoconductivity is the increase of

current in a semiconductor due to the
absorption of photons.

Application of Photoconductivity

A photoconductor converts information and

energy from an optical form to an electronic
form.
We have a light detector!

Semiconductors have also the ability to do

the reverse: that is to generate light. This
is done by a process called
electroluminescence.

What is a Photodiode?
A photodiode is a p-n junction that is reversebiased.

Reverse bias means that:

a positive bias is applied on the n side of the
diode
a negative bias is applied on the p side of the
diode

Reverse Bias

A p-n junction is reverse-biased when:

a negative terminal is connected to the
p-type material
a positive terminal is connected to the
n-type material

Photodiode Types

APD Gain

PIN (p-layer, intrinsic layer, n-layer)

Highly linear, low dark current
Avalanche photo diode (APD)
Gain up to x100 lifts detected optical
signal above electrical noise of receiver
Best for high speed and highly sensitive
receivers
Strong temperature dependence
Main characteristics
Quantum efficiency (electrons/photon)
Dark current
Responsivity (current vs. L)

Bias Voltage

Material Aspects
Silicon (Si)
Least expensive

Germanium (Ge)
Classic detector

Responsivity (A/W)
1.0

Quantum
Efficiency = 1

0.5

InGaAs

Indium gallium arsenide

0.1
(InGaAs)
Highest speed

Germanium

Silicon
500

1500
1000
Wavelength nm

Basic Receiver Design

Optimized for one particular
Sensitivity range
Wavelength
Bias
Bit rate
Can include circuits
for telemetry

AGC

-g

Temperature
Control

Clock
Recovery

Decision
Circuit
Monitors
& Alarms

Remote
Control

0110

Receiver Sensitivity
Bit error ratio (BER)
versus input power (pi)

BER

Minimum input power depends on

acceptable bit error rate
Power margins important to tolerate
imperfections of link (dispersion,
noise from optical amplifiers, etc.)
Theoretical curve well understood
Many receivers designed for 1E-12
or better BER
Pi (dBm)

Passive Components

DWDM Spectrum
RL +0.00 dBm
5.0 dB/DIV

Channels: 16
Spacing: 0.8 nm
Amplified
Spontaneous
Emission (ASE)

1545 nm

1565 nm

Dense WDM 32-Channel Plan

Compliant With ITU-T G.692 Recom.
Red band

Blue band

Channel
Central
Central
number frequency (GHz) wavelength (nm)
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37

192.200
192.300
192.400
192.500
192.600
192.700
192.800
192.900
193.000
193.100
193.200
193.300
193.400
193.500
193.600
193.700

1559.79
1558.98
1558.17
1557.36
1556.55
1555.75
1554.94
1554.13
1553.33
1552.52
1551.72
1550.92
1550.12
1549.32
1548.51
1547.72

Channel
Central
Central
number frequency (GHz) wavelength (nm)
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58

194.300
194.400
194.500
194.600
194.700
194.800
194.900
195.000
195.100
195.200
195.300
195.400
195.500
195.600
195.700
195.800

1542.94
1542.14
1541.35
1540.56
1539.77
1538.98
1538.19
1537.40
1536.61
1535.82
1535.04
1534.25
1533.47
1532.68
1531.90
1531.12

Filter Characteristics
Passband
Insertion loss
Ripple
Wavelengths
(peak, center, edges)
Bandwidths
(0.5 dB, 3 dB, ..)
Polarization dependence
Stopband
Crosstalk rejection
Bandwidths
(20 dB, 40 dB, ..)

i-1

Crosstalk

Passband

i+1

Crosstalk

Isolators
Main application:
To protect lasers and optical amplifiers from light coming back (which
otherwise can cause instabilities)

Insertion loss:
Low loss (0.2 to 2 dB) in forward direction
High loss in reverse direction :
20 to 40 dB single stage, 40 to 80 dB dual stage)

Return loss:
More than 60 dB without connectors

Dielectric Filters
Thin-film cavities
Alternating dielectric thin-film layers with different refractive index
Multiple reflections cause constructive & destructive interference
Variety of filter shapes and bandwidths (0.1 to 10 nm)
Insertion loss 0.2 to 2 dB, stopband rejection 30 to 50 dB

0 dB

Incoming
Spectrum

Transmitte
d
Spectrum

Reflected
Spectrum

30 dB

Layers

Substrate

1535 nm

1555 nm

Multiplexers (MUX) /
Demultiplexers (DEMUX)
Key component of wavelength-division multiplexing technology
(DWDM)
Variety of technologies
Cascaded dielectric filters
Cascaded FBGs
Phased arrays (see later)
High crosstalk suppression essential for demultiplexing

Add / Drop Nodes

Circulator
with FBG
design
Drop i

Common

Dielectric thinfilm filter

design

Add / Drop

Add i

Passband

Filter reflects i

Optical Amplifiers

What is Signal Attenuation?

Light gets attenuated when travelling in an optical

fibre. The amount of light coming out at the end of
the fibre is less than the amount originally
transmitted.
Attenuation is measured in decibels per kilometer
(dB/km).
It is related to the ratio of the output and input
power of the fibre

Causes of Attenuation
The attenuation or losses ocurring in
glass fibre are due to:
absorption
scattering
geometrical effects
All these phenomena contribute to the
degradation of the fibre transmission

Light Absorption
Light is absorbed in glass by:
the material itself
the impurities present in glass
the atomic defects present in
glass

What is Light Absorption?

Each atom or molecules has an energy level structure which determines
how electrons behave within the atom or the molecule.
Light is absorbed by a material when the frequency of the light is in
resonance with the "natural" frequency of that material.
Since there is an energy transfer, the atom will move to an upper energy
state or excited state. Scientists identify materials of unknown
composition by determining the absorption spectrum of the material.
By "shining" light at different wavelength on the material, they can
determine at which wavelength(s) light is absorbed.
Since each atom and molecule has a "signature", they can determine which
atoms are present in the material

Intrinsic Absorption

Material will absorb light at specific wavelength

values: this is called intrinsic absorption.
Intrinsic absorption is strong in glass: it occurs
in the ultraviolet and in the infrared domains of
the electromagnetic spectrum.
Intrinsic absorption limits the low-loss region for
silica glass to the 0.4 - 1.6 m wavelength
domain

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
Few meters of optical fiber doped with a few parts per
million of the rare earth element erbium
Optical signal is injected into this fiber
With the light from a special pump laser that is
designed to excite the erbium ions

Result : boost to the optical signal

Erbium Properties
Erbium: rare element with phosphorescent properties
Photons at 1480 or 980 nm activate
electrons into a metastable state
Electrons falling back emit light in
the 1550 nm range
540
Spontaneous emission
670
Occurs randomly (time constant ~1 ms)
820
Stimulated emission
980
By electromagnetic wave
Metastable
Emitted wavelength & phase are
1480
state
identical to incident one

Ground state

Amplified Spontaneous Emission

Erbium randomly emits photons between 1520
and 1570 nm
Spontaneous emission (SE) is not polarized or coherent
Like any photon, SE stimulates emission of other photons
With no input signal, eventually all optical energy is
consumed into amplified spontaneous emission
Input signal(s) consume metastable electrons much less
Random spontaneous
ASE
emission (SE)

Amplification along fiber

Amplified
spontaneous
emission (ASE)

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
Erbium has several energy levels, but its ions are usually in the ground state
(unexcited)
The ions can be excited with a 1480-nanometer pump laser into the first excited
state
Left there for long enough, they will fall back down to the ground state
Falling back to the ground state, the ions have some extra energy to get rid of,
which they each give out as a photon (a single particle of light)
Ions fall back to the ground state and give out photons without any aid
whatsoever
Spontaneous emission because
Such spontaneous emission can build up in the amplifier and is known as
Amplified spontaneous emission or ASE
ASE is an undesirable effect and adds noise to the amplifier system

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
Incoming Optical signal at around 1550nm :
Causes some of those excited ions to fall down to the
ground state and give out a photon each
Stimulated emission because the signal is directly
causing the photons to be emitted
Emitted photons are at the exact same wavelength as
the signal and so are now a part of the signal.
Signal now has more photons representing it than
before, so it has been Amplified
Process continues down the few meters of this fiber,
until lots of photons have joined the signal photons and
the signal has been greatly amplified

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
Amplification :
At several wavelengths around 1550nm
Amplification can be achieved via C-Band EDFA designs
(Conventional-band 1530nm and 1580nm)
Amplification can be achieved via L-Band EDFA designs
(Long-band 1580nm and 1610nm)
The amount of amplification varies at different wavelengths:
Much effort put into EDFA designs to achieve similar
levels of amplification at all wavelengths

Gain flattening

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
The 980nm pump excites the erbium ions into a much higher
state than the 1480nm pump :
Ions only stay in that higher state for a very short period of time
(maybe nanoseconds)
Moving down to the next state.
Stick around there for several milliseconds

Much longer than ions excited by the 1480nm pump :

More likely the signal will come along and cause stimulated
emission
This also reduces the unwanted spontaneous emission that adds
to the noise in the system

980nm pumps give greater amplification efficiency

Preferred pump method for EDFAs

Erbium Doped-Fiber
Amplifiers (EDFAs)
Key Points
Few meters of regular fiber doped with a tiny amount of erbium
Signal passes through this fiber along with light from pump laser
Pump laser excites erbium ions, which give extra energy to signal
Amplification possible at many wavelengths around 1550nm
Pumping with 980nm laser is more effective than 1480nm pumping
Commonly used in submarine systems, and increasingly on land

Basic EDF Amplifier Design

Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) most common
Commercially available since the early 1990s
Works best in the range 1530 to 1565 nm
Gain up to 30 dB (1000 photons out per photon in!)

Optically transparent
Unlimited RF bandwidth
Wavelength transparent

Input
1480 or
980 nm
Pump
Laser

Coupler

Isolator
Output

Erbium Doped Fiber

EDFA gain region

Spectrum of typical EDFA

Conventional band: 1530 - 1560 nm

L-band

C-band

Short(er): 1530 - 1543 nm

Long(er): 1547 - 1560 nm

Gain [dB]

Long band: 1580 - 1602 nm

S(blue) L(Red)
1500

1520

1540

1560

1580

1600

Wavelength

Blue: 480 nm
Red: 633 nm

Consequently, the C-band is the region

where
the optical channels of DWDM are located

Output Spectra

+10 dBm

Amplified signal
spectrum
(input signal saturates
the optical amplifier)
ASE spectrum when
no input signal is
present

-40 dBm

1525 nm

1575 nm

Time-Domain Properties
Input Signal

on

Turn-On
Overshoot

of

on

~ 10 .. 50 s

Gain x Signal

ASE level
(signal absent)
ASE level
(signal present)

~ 0.2 .. 0.8 ms

of

on

Optical Gain (G)

G = S Output / S Input
S Output: output signal (without noise from amplifier)
S Input: input signal

Gain (dB)
40

Input signal dependent

Operating point (saturation) of
EDFA strongly depends on
power and wavelength of
incoming signal

30

Input:

-30 dBm
-20 dBm
-10 dBm

20
10
1520

-5 dBm

1540
1560
1580
Wavelength (nm)

Noise Figure (NF)

NF = P ASE / (h G B OSA)
P ASE: ASE power measured by OSA
h:
Planks constant
:
Optical frequency
G:
Gain of EDFA
B OSA: Optical bandwidth [Hz]
of OSA
10
Input signal dependent
In a saturated EDFA, the NF
depends mostly on the
wavelength of the signal
Physical limit: 3.0 dB

Noise Figure (dB)

7.5
5.0
1520

1540

1560

Wavelength (nm)

1580

Gain Compression
Total output power:
Amplified signal + ASE
EDFA is in saturation if almost
all Erbium ions are consumed
for amplification
Total output power remains
almost constant
Lowest noise figure
Preferred operating point
Power levels in link stabilize
automatically

Total P

Max
-3 dB

out

Gain
-30

-20

-10

in (dBm)

Gain Flatness (Gain Tilt)

Gain versus wavelength
The gain of optical amplifiers depends on wavelength
Signal-to-noise ratios can degrade below acceptable levels
(long links with cascaded amplifiers)

Compensation techniques
Signal pre-emphasis
Gain flattening filters
Additional doping of amplifier with Fluorides

Gain Competition
Total output power of some EDFA remains almost
constant even if input power fluctuates significantly
If one channel fails (or is added) then the remaining
ones increase (or decrease) their output power
Output power
after channel
one failed
Equal power of
all four
channels

EDFA Categories
In-line amplifiers
Installed every 30 to 70 km along a link
Good noise figure, medium output power
Power boosters
Up to +17 dBm power, amplifies transmitter output
Also used in cable TV systems before a star coupler
Pre-amplifiers
Low noise amplifier in front of receiver
Remotely pumped
Electronic free extending links up to 200 km and more
(often found in submarine applications)
TX
Pump

RX
Pump

Security Features
Input power monitor
Turning on the input signal can cause high output power spikes
that can damage the amplifier or following systems
Control electronics turn the pump laser(s) down if the input signal
stays below a given threshold for more than about 2 to 20 s
Backreflection monitor
Open connector at the output can be a laser safety hazard
Straight connectors typically reflect 4% of the light back
Backreflection monitor shuts the amplifier down if backreflected
light exceeds certain limits

EDFAs In DWDM Systems

Optical amplifiers in DWDM systems
require special considerations
because of:

Gain flatness (gain tilt) requirements

Gain competition
Nonlinear effects in fibers

Output Power Limitations

High power densities in SM fiber can cause

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS)
Four wave mixing (FWM)
Self-phase and cross-phase modulation (SPM, CPM)

Most designs limit total output power to +17

dBm
Available channel power: 50/N mW
(N = number of channels)

Raman Amplification

Raman Amplification

Original signal has additional photons

New photon can be joined by many more from the pump
Continue to be scattered when travel down the fiber
Result of Cascading process

Original signal is amplified

Raman Amplification

Raman Amplification
Requires no special doping in the optical fiber
Distributed amplification
happens throughout the length of the actual transmission fiber
Versus all in one place in a small box (as with an EDFA for
example).
Into the same fiber that is carrying the signal
Add a high-power pump wavelength (say of a few watts power)
Will amplify the signal along many kilometers of fiber until the pump
signal eventually fades away
Pumping at the beginning of the fiber = forward pumping or co-pumping
Pumping from the far end of the fiber known as backward pumping
or counter-pumping (usually better performance)
combination of the two (co-counter pumping)
Different pump wavelengths to achieve the required amplification at
every wavelength

Raman Amplification
Key Points
Amplifies in the actual transmission fiber, over many km
Lower wavelength (higher energy) pump light scatters
from atoms in fiber
Scattered light loses energy, then has higher
wavelength, joining signal
Several pump wavelengths needed for flat amplification
of WDM system
Co-pumping from fiber start, counter-pumping from end;
co-counter is both

Transmission Effects
Optical non-linearities:
Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS)
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
Four Wave Mixing (FWM)
Self Phase Modulation (SPM)
Dispersion properties:
Chromatic Dispersion (CD)
Polarization properties:
Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)

Scattering
Kerr Effect

Reference: ITU-T G.663 (Application related aspects of optical

fibre amplifier

devices and sub-systems)

Non-Linear Effects

Nonlinear Effects
Linear system
Output is directly proportional to the input
Input increases, Output grows to same degree
Nonlinear system
No straight-line relationship, but bit of a curve
Output does not scale linearly with Input
Input signal doubles in power, Output is less than double

Nonlinear usually means Mathematics and

Equations involved will get infinitely more difficult
and complex

Nonlinear Effects

Nonlinear Effects
Nonlinear effects become noticeable at
High optical powers
WDM systems
Higher and higher bit-rates being used
Low bit-rate systems they can often be ignored completely

Nonlinear Effects

Nonlinear Effects
Key Points
Output no longer scales linearly with input
Nonlinear effects more significant with high optical powers
Intensity-dependence of refractive index the Kerr effect
Kerr effects : self-phase modulation, cross-phase
modulation, four-wave mixing
Scattering effects: stimulated Raman and stimulated
Brillouin scattering
Some useful effects e.g. Raman amplification but most
are undesirable

Nonlinear Effects, Scattering

Stimulated Raman scattering
involves light losing energy to molecules in the fiber
being re-emitted at a longer wavelength (due to the
loss of energy)
Stimulated Brillouin scattering
light in the fiber can create acoustic waves
these then scatter light to different wavelengths.
Due to optical nonlinear effects, nice crisp signals can be
smeared and mixed, making it difficult to distinguish them
at the end of the system

Stimulated Raman Scattering

(SRS)
SRS causes a signal wavelength to behave as a pump for
longer wavelengths, when the SRS threshold is exceeded (around
1 W), either other signal channels or spontaneously scattered
Raman-shifted light. The shorter wavelengths are attenuated by
this process, which amplifies the longer wavelengths.
This effect depends on both channel spacing and link length.

Stimulated Brillouin Scattering

(SBS)
1) Effect and consequences
In an intensity modulated system using a source with
narrow linewidth, significant optical power is transferred
from the forward propagating signal to a backward
propagating signal when the SBS power threshold (around
5 to 10 mW) is exceeded.
This limits the amount of transmitted light.
2) Counteractions
to adopt techniques for increasing the SBS power thresholds

Kerr Effect
Optical Kerr effect: n = n0 + n2 I (intensity-dependent
refractive index)
non-linear phase shift
self-phase modulation (SPM), i.e.
spectral broadening
temporal pulse distortion (when
combined with chromatic dispersion)

Limits the integrated power along the line:

Linear regime

Non-linear regime

Nonlinear Effects, Kerr

Fiber core has specific refractive index that determines how light
travels through it
Intensity of light traveling in the core, changes refractive index
Intensity-dependence of refractive index is called the
Kerr effect
Consists of three phenomena :
Self-phase modulation of a signal - wavelength spreads out onto
adjacent wavelengths by itself
Cross-phase modulation - several different wavelengths in a
WDM system can cause each other to spread out
Four-wave mixing - two or more signal wavelengths can interact
to create a new wavelength

Four Wave Mixing (FWM)

1) Effect and consequences
generation of new optical waves (mixing products) due to the interaction of
the transmitted optical waves at different wavelengths, the mixing products
interfere with the transmitted channels causing consequent eye closing and
BER degradation.Channel spacing and chromatic dispersion affect the FWM.
2) Counteractions
use of G.652, G.655 fibres; adopt a unequal channel spacing for preventing
the mixing products to interfere with the transmitted channels

f113

f213
f123
f112

f223

f312
f132

f221

fijk - fi = fj - fk (i,j <> k)

f231
f321
f332

f331

Self Phase Modulation (SPM)

The refractive index of the fiber is not constant,

but has an Intensity dependent factor
n = n0 + n2.I

The temporal variation of the intensity

of the signal induces a modulation of its
phase. SPM will gradually broaden the
signal spectrum. Once spectrum
broadening is introduced, the signal
experiences a greater temporal
broadening due to chromatic dispersion.

Dispersion Properties

Dispersion

Each wavelength in an optical network consists of on/off

flashes of light representing data
A 10-Gbit/s wavelength corresponds to 10,000,000,000
bits being sent every second, meaning that each of these
bits can last a maximum of 100 ps in time

Dispersion

Dispersion
After traveling through many km of optical fiber, it is
possible for pulses to spread out in time :
Tightly defined 100 ps duration pulses at the beginning
could possibly "smear" out into 120 ps, 150 ps, or even 200
ps pulses
Increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish two
adjacent bits, as they will have smeared into each other
The problem becomes worse at higher bit rates where the
duration of the pulses (the "bit-period") becomes even
smaller

This spreading of pulses in time is known as

dispersion

Types of Dispersion

There are two types of dispersion:

intermodal dispersion
intramodal dispersion

Intermodal Dispersion

Intermodal dispersion contributes largely to

pulse spreading in multimode fibres.
Light rays in a multimode fibre follow several
paths (by total internal reflection) of different
lengths: they do not reach the end of the fibre at
the same time.
This difference in propagation delay broadens the
pulse

Intramodal Dispersion
There are two contributions to the intramodal
dispersion:
the material dispersion of the glass
the waveguide dispersion
Waveguide dispersion is usually smaller than
material dispersion and depends on the index
profile of the fibre

Chromatic Dispersion (CD)

Light sources are NOT monochromatic
(linewidth of source, chirp effects, modulation sidebands)
Different wavelengths travel at slightly different speeds
(this effect is called Chromatic Dispersion)
Chromatic dispersion causes pulse broadening
(problem at high bit rates over long distances)
Standard single-mode fiber:
1300 nm window has lowest CD
1550 nm lowest loss

Dispersion-Shifted Fiber (DSF)

C. Dispersion
ps/(nm km)

Additional doping to shift zero dispersion to 1550 nm

Now 1550 nm lowest loss AND lowest dispersion
Can cause nonlinear effects in DWDM systems (see later)
Non-Zero Dispersion Shifted Fiber (NZDSF)
Low dispersion around 1550 nm and low nonlinear effects
Requires chromatic dispersion compensators on long distances

SMF

NZDSF
DSF

20
10
0
1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
-10

Chromatic Dispersion
The most well understood forms of dispersion occur
because different wavelengths of light travel at slightly
different speeds in optical fiber
Material dispersion causes different wavelengths to travel at
different speeds due to the variation of refractive index of the fiber
core with wavelength
Waveguide dispersion - proportion of the light also travels in the
cladding of the fiber, which has a different refractive index again
and therefore propagates light through it at a different speed to the
core

Material and waveguide dispersion are combined to

give an overall effect called

"chromatic dispersion"

Chromatic Dispersion
In a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) system it is not
necessarily a problem for each different signal wavelength to travel
at a different speed, as they are demultiplexed at the end and
detected separately anyway
Chromatic dispersion is still a problem :
individual signal wavelengths contains a range of different
wavelengths
Standard Fabry-Perot lasers give out a broad range of
wavelengths, actually spanning as much as 2 nm or so in total
Distributed Feedback (DFB) lasers have much purer emission, but
nevertheless still contain maybe a 0.2 nm range of wavelengths

Chromatic Dispersion

Chromatic Dispersion
A light pulse will typically have a curved shape when
looking at its intensity with respect to time
At each of these points in time the pulse could contain the
whole spread of wavelengths being emitted
With positive chromatic dispersion :
Shorter wavelengths travel faster than the longer ones
After a while, the shorter wavelengths have moved
forward in time with respect to the longer wavelengths
Beginning of the pulse in time and the end of the pulse in
time have spread further apart and the pulse has
experienced

chromatic dispersion

Chromatic Dispersion
Measured in ps/nm/km
Every km of fiber traveled through, a pulse with a 1 nm
spread of wavelengths will disperse by 1 ps for a
dispersion of 1 ps/nm/km
With a 1 ps/nm/km chromatic dispersion, a 10-Gbit/s
pulse with a 0.2nm spectral width will have spread by a
whole bit period (100 ps) after 500 km of fiber and will
then be completely indistinguishable

Chromatic Dispersion
The amount of chromatic dispersion experienced in fiber :
Dependent on the wavelength at which light is being transmitted

Graph shows this for regular singlemode fibre

Note that there is a "slope" to the dispersion each wavelength
experiences a different amount of dispersion

Chromatic Dispersion
Chromatic dispersion does not limit the distance of optical systems to a
few hundred km
Create negative chromatic dispersion
longer wavelengths travel faster
Chromatic dispersion can be corrected, or "compensated
Use of such specially designed optical fibers
Dispersion slope" can make perfect compensation at all wavelengths
quite tricky
Systems utilising the low loss 1550 nm region of optical fibre can pick
a type of fiber that reduces the amount of chromatic dispersion
experienced from the very large 15 or so ps/nm/km in the standard type

Chromatic Dispersion (CD)

1) Effect and consequences
The refractive index has a wavelength dependent factor,
wavelengths are not travelling at the same speed (the higher
frequencies travel faster than the lower frequencies)
The resulting effect is a broadening of the signal and a
consequent interference
2) Counteractions
use of TDM rates <= 2.5 Gb/s; electrical regeneration;
dispersion compensation, use of DS or NZDS fibres, use of
soliton transmission

Polarization Properties

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
Light used in optical networks is generally in the infrared
region of the electromagnetic spectrum
These light waves, as part of the electromagnetic spectrum,
have associated electric and magnetic fields
For a given light wave
Electric and magnetic fields
Perpendicular to each other
perpendicular to the direction of travel of the light

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
DGD

Rx
Fast
PSP

PSP: PRINCIPAL STATE OF POLARIZATION

DGD: DIFFERENTIAL GROUP DELAY
PMD: POLARISATION MODE DISPERSION

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
Single-mode fiber actually transmits two modes
Modes have opposite states of polarization
Severe limitation at 10 Gb/s over distances > 50 km
Power is randomly coupled between the two modes
PMD of a link fluctuates significantly over time
Components can exhibit PMD as well
mostly constant PMD
manufacturers trying to
minimize it by design

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
Light emitted from a laser = Many individual waves
Their electric and magnetic fields is in a range of
random directions with respect to eachother
Electric and magnetic fields of each individual wave
will always be perpendicular

"unpolarized Light
If the electric fields could all be lined up with each other,
then the same would be true for the magnetic fields

"linearly polarized

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
Each waves random field orientation can be separated
into a component that is vertical and one that is horizontal
- in much the same way that vectors can be written as a
horizontal and vertical component In the language of physics, these different components of
the field orientation are referred to as

"polarization states" or "principal states

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
When traveling through a perfectly straight length of perfectly cylindrical
optical fiber, both of these polarization states will travel at exactly the
same speed
Real-world optical fiber is not so nice to us
Flaws in the fiber that cause it to be non-cylindrical
Points of stress on the fiber which are not spread in a symmetric
manner
Result = Trouble for the polarization states
Causing them to travel at different speeds
At the end of the system these states will have separated slightly
in time
Result = light pulses to spread out in time
The pulses will have experienced Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
PMD is a random effect due to the imperfect symmetry and constantly
fluctuating stresses that a fiber experiences, and so it is measured as an
average value over time
Randomness makes it a lot more difficult to compensate for and much
research is still taking place in this area
PMD has not been a significant effect at the bit rates up to 10 Gbit/s
deployed at the moment
Tight (25 ps) bit period of 40-Gbit/s systems is expected to cause an
issue in the near future

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
Key Points

Dispersion is the spreading out of light pulses in time

Chromatic dispersion is caused by different wavelengths of light
traveling at different speeds, and is a combination of material and
waveguide dispersion
It can cause adjacent bits to smear into each other in a signal,
because the signal actually contains a small range of wavelengths
Advanced fiber types can be used to compensate for chromatic
dispersion
Polarization Mode Dispersion is caused by the lightwaves
different principal states traveling at different speeds
It is caused by imperfections in fiber symmetry and fluctuating
fiber stresses, which make it a random effect

Polarization Mode Dispersion

(PMD)
1) Effect and consequences
Difference between propagation delay times due to fibre lack
of perfect symmetry (non perfect concentricity of fibre core)
and stress-induced perturbations.
2) Counteractions
use of TDM rates <= 2.5 Gb/s; optimise/improve fibre/cable
manufacture or PMD mitigator

Conclusion
A compromise has to be found between two conflicting requirements in
WDM systems:
increase channel spacing to reduce four wave mixing
between channels and to facilitate add and drop function
decrease channel spacing due to the limited optical gain
bandwidth of optical amplifiers and to reduce Raman
scattering between channels

BUT, main concerns are attenuation, chromatic

and polarisation mode dispersion.

Scattering
Scattering is a complex phenomenon arising from
the interaction between an electromagnetic
radiation such as light with small particles or
molecules.
The incident radiation is partially deflected in all
directions by the small particles.
There are several types of scattering depending on
what happens to the incident radiation. We will only
mention:
Rayleigh scattering
Mie scattering

Rayleigh Scattering

Rayleigh Scattering
Rayleigh scattering occurs when radiation "hits" a
spherical particle or a molecule whose diameter is
smaller than the wavelength of the radiation.
Some of the radiation continues in its original
direction but some of it is deflected or scattered in
other directions without change in energy: the collision
is called elastic.
The power of Rayleigh scattering is inversely
proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength.
Short wavelength radiation is scattered more than long
wavelength radiation

Mie Scattering

Mie Scattering

Mie scattering is more general than Rayleigh

scattering: it occurs when radiation "hits" a spherical
particle or a molecule whose diameter is similar or
greater than the wavelength of the radiation

What do Impurities Do?

Absorption of light by these impurities causes the
electrons in low-level energy states to go to levels of
higher energy.
The only way to minimise the effects of these unwanted
elements is to have a material as pure as possible.
The OH ions pose a big problem in fibre fabrication as
they are quite easy to create: light is absorbed significantly
by OH at 1.37, 1.23 and 0.95 m.
These wavelengths must be avoided when transmitting
light in a fibre.

Absorption by Atomic Defects

Atomic defects act like impurities: they can also
contributes to light attenuation.
Atomic defects come in different "shapes"!
Namely they are atoms or group of atoms which do
not occupy the place in a network or lattice of atoms
that they should occupy.
Atomic defects are created during the manufacture
of the fibre. They can also be created by exposure to
X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons and electron beams

Commercial Designs
EDF

EDF
Output
Isolator

Input
Isolator
Pump Lasers
Input
Monitor

Telemetry &
Remote Control

Output
Monitor