Ministry of Higher Education

and of Scientific Research

Professional Master's in New Technologies

Telecommunications and Networks (N2TR)

Optical communications
Chapter 4: Optical Components

2016-2017
 Objectives of Chapter 4
Study the main optical components used in a
optical communication system.
Calculate the budget of an optical link power.

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 Outline of Chapter 4
Optical couplers
Multiplexers
Optical amplifiers
. Role
. Basic principle
Types of optical amplifiers
. Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier (EDFA)
. Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
. Raman
Summary of an optical link

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 Optical couplers
An optical coupler is a passive tool that divides optical power.
brought by one input fiber to several output optical fibers.
A component is said to be passive if its operation is consistent over time,
and does not require a control signal (electrical or optical).
An optical coupler is characterized by a global insertion loss, due to
the imperfection of the component, defined by:
pins_glob=10log(Pe/ΣPSj)
which corresponds to the portion of incoming power that is not found on any
exit. Where Peis the incoming power and PYesis the output power in j.
The coupling report or sharing rate of the path i :Pyes/ΣPSj
The loss of insertion on the way i:pi=10log(Pe/PYes)

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 Optical couplers: the technologies of
fabrication
We distinguish two families of optical couplers, namely:
The simplest technique for building a passive coupler is based on
the fusion and stretching, over a reduced length, of two optical fibers,
thus obtaining the necessary input and output powers.
Usage type: Telephone connections on highways (SOS posts)

Fusion splicing of two optical fibers Integrated technology coupler

Integrated technology optical couplers: these couplers are manufactured
by juxtaposition of two planar guides in glass or SiO2/Si.
The advantage of this type of coupler is that it allows for miniaturization.
that of low costs for large production volumes.

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 Optical couplers: applications

In optical fiber networks, couplers allow for example to

distribute the optical signal from a single fiber to multiple fibers. We can
for example, combine several 1×2 couplers to create a 1×N coupler.

Coupler associations
Another achievement with a fiber coupler is the loop mirror. It
It is about creating a two-wave interferometer represented by this.

Creation of a loop mirror 6

 Wavelength multiplexers

Wavelength multiplexers (MUX) allow for transmission over

the same channel a very large amount of information coming from N channels
transmitter.
The demultiplexer (DMUX) performs the inverse operation.

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 Optical amplifiers
role
The role of optical amplification:
. Increase in transmission capacity,
. Improvement of the range
. Simultaneous amplification of a whole spectrum of frequency without a
opto-electric conversion for the amplifier.
Emerging roles for amplifiers:
. Compensate for the insertion losses of components like the
optical switches and routers in networks
metropolitans
. Equalization of the power of channels in networks
reconfigurables.

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 Optical amplifiers
Basic principle
An amplifier for telecommunications applications is composed
of three elements:
. The amplifier fiber itself
. A source of fiber excitation. This source is typically a laser of
high power, emitting from hundreds of mW to a few W. These lasers
are qualified pumping lasers.
. A multiplexer that allows coupling the signal to be amplified into the fiber like this
what the pump laser.

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 Optical amplifiers
Basic principle
The signal, which will be amplified, is guided through a gain medium (a fiber)
The gain medium is pumped by an appropriate energy source, a laser or a
electric current, which allows the medium to generate light at the
wavelength of the signal.
The signal stimulates the emission of identical light by the gain medium and this
increase the intensity of the light signal.

signal in
pump gain
signal out

The incident light enters the circuit, it is amplified and exits through the other side.
end to be coupled in the fiber.

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Types of optical amplifiers
The types of optical amplifiers:
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)
. Use the transitions of Er3 ions+ in the silica, produced by pumping
optics of a laser diode
. It is these Erbium ions that will give the fiber its properties.
amplifiers.
Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA): Amplifiers using
the population inversion
. Electric pumping of an active gain medium
Raman Fiber Amplifier (RFA): Exploitation of nonlinear effects in a
fiber
. Optical pumping of transmission fiber

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Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)
Advantage: the simplicity of the device.
This amplifier consists of an active fiber a few meters in length,
doped with appropriate ions (erbium), and connected to the line fiber,
pump and a device for coupling the pump light into the fiber
doped.
In most cases, the pump is a semiconductor laser.
We add two isolators (optical diodes), one at the input and the other at the output, which do not
let light pass through in one direction to avoid all reflections that
could: create a cavity, make the device oscillate, and transform it into a laser.
Works in the range of 1530 to 1565 nm,
Provides gain levels up to 30 dB (1000 photons at the output for a
photon at the entrance
Optically transparent
. Transparent at the wavelength
. RF band 'unlimited'

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Example of optical amplifier at
erbium-doped fiber

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Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
The first work on SOAs began in the early 1980s, starting from the
moment when semiconductor lasers operated continuously with a
acceptable reliability.
The gain is then provided in a semiconductor waveguide.
Semiconductor optical amplifiers have the same structure as a laser.
semiconductor but without a mirror to reduce light reflections towards
the inside of the circuit and to obtain a homogeneous widening of the laser line.
Light emitted by the electron-hole pair, pumped electrically or optically
Can be done for any wavelength where there are laser diodes.
Quaternary amplifier material: InGaAsP
. For amplification at 1.3μm and 1.55μm

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Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
In 'small signal' mode, the amplifier, which can be modeled as
a reservoir of photons likely to be stimulated, will generate in
average for an incoming photon, G0output photons (small gain)
signal).
Starting from a certain number of incoming photons Pinthe "reservoir" does not
can no longer provide enough photons and the amplifier operates in regime
of saturation. To the power Psatas an input, for an incoming photon, we
aG0/2 photons out.

Schematic of a semiconductor amplifier

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 The features of SOAs
The nonlinear phenomena of a SOA are used for processing
all-optical signals
. Optical signal detector,
. Optical gate with electrical or optical control,
. Logic gate (XOR, OR, NOR)
Quickly, SOAs can also be used for other functions such as:
. Switching in optical networks,
. The conversion of wavelengths of a WDM channel.

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 Raman amplifier
With the increase in channels within the fiber, the spectral bandwidth offered by the
erbium-doped fiber optic amplifiers, limited to a maximum of 40 nm,
can turn out to be a penalizing factor. This observation has rekindled studies on
new methods for increasing the spectral bandwidth.
New optical amplifiers such as Raman amplifiers take
a significant share in telecommunications systems.
No doped fiber needed - the transmission fiber can be a medium
of amplification.
Amplifying frequency bands simply by placing a pump 100 nm from
the region to amplify (13.2 THz): possibility to amplify any region.
A bandwidth of about 6 THz.
Fibre de transmission
Signal
Coupler

Pompe

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 Raman amplifier
Prince
They are based on the principle of Raman diffusion, which is a non-effect.
linear two-photon process in which a pump photon is absorbed and
a photon of lower energy is emitted at the same time as a phonon.
This phenomenon can be spontaneous if there is no signal photon, or
stimulated by the presence of a signal photon. Thus, in the case of
the Raman amplifier, the incident wave, called the pump wave, stimulated by
the signal wave will create another signal wave and a phonon. The amplification
is then carried out.
Like other optical amplifiers, the Raman amplifier has
need an external source, an optical source. YAG lasers are the
more often used in this case, they emit a wavelength
lower than that of the signal.

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 Noise figure
Amplifiers degrade the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signals that go through them.
they traverse due to spontaneous emissions that add noise to the signal during its
amplification. The degradation of the SNRest quantified by the noise figure Fnof
the amplifier defined as:
Fn=SNRin/SNRout
with SNR I
2
p
2
n

wherep is the current produced by a photo-detector when the optical power

the signal is detected (squared for the electrical SNR) and is the variance of the
2
n
noise associated with the signal.

In practice, Fnapproximately 5-7 dB.

For the application in optical communications, Fnmust be as low as possible.

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 Assessment of a relationship
Definition
An optical communication system includes transmitters, receivers, and
a network of connections.
The emitters are characterized by an output optical power expressed in
dBm. It depends on the core diameter of the fiber.
Receivers are characterized by a sensitivity also expressed in dBm.
The sensitivity of an optical receiver indicates the amount of light required for
receiver circuits to operate the equipment.
For example, the sensitivity of a classic receiver can vary from -30 dBm to -40 dBm.
In the calculation of this liaison report, a safety margin must be accounted for.
of an operating margin and a maintenance margin.
The margin of safety takes into account the variation in the characteristics of the
components with temperature and aging. The maintenance margin
it corresponds to the incidents that the optical cable may suffer (cutting
accidentally by a mechanical shovel e.g. repaired with a splice that leads to
additional losses). The recommended safety margin is 3dB.

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 Communication report
Calculation of losses
The calculation of a liaison balance consists of calculating the losses in a system.
given. It includes the attenuation losses based on the distance traveled
and the different elements encountered in the connection, particularly the losses of
due to the splices and connectors.

m: number of splices.
k: number of connectors.
L: fiber length.
Smaverage losses per splice (dB).
Cmaverage losses per connector (dB).
Fmaverage losses in the fiber per km ([Link])-1).
M: margin due to component drift.

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 Assessment of a relationship

The liaison balance (or Optical Budget) corresponds to the maximum permitted losses between
the transmitter and the receiver. It is equal to the difference in dB between the emitted power and the sensitivity
of the receiver.
Optical budget(dB)output power(dBm)sensitivity(dBm)
Optical budget(dB)= 10 log(Output Power/Sensitivity)
Connections include connectors (disconnectable) and splices (connections
definitives).
The attenuation depends on the wavelength of operation, the diameter of the core, and the number of
modes.

The orders of magnitude of attenuation

Typical losses of connectors

Total line losses (fiber + connections) must be lower than this link balance.

Margin = connection report – total losses online

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 Assessment of a relationship
Calculation of range
To calculate the range of a fiber optic link, it is necessary to determine the budget.
optics, then deduct the losses due to connectors, splices, to the
maintenance and wear (in these last 2 cases we take into account a
marge). By knowing the attenuation value of the cable used and the new
value of the optical budget, we will then be able to calculate the maximum capacity of the link.

Max range = (optical budget - losses) in dB / cable attenuation in dB/km

Definition of dBm
Power in dBm = 10 log P (expressed in mW)

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