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Study and Optimization of High-Bit Rate Optical Fiber

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Article  in  Serbian Journal of Electrical Engineering · January 2008

DOI: 10.2298/SJEE0802361O

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SERBIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Vol. 5, No. 2, November 2008, 361-370

Study and Optimization of High-Bit

Rate Optical Fiber Transmission
Mimouna Oukli1, Malika Kandouci1,
Meriem Bouzid1, Abdelber Bendaoud2
Abstract: In this article, we present the modelling of an optical communication
link using the optical standard single-mode fiber working at λ = 1.55 μm single
wavelength The simulation confirmed the experimental characteristics like the
photodetector sensibility, bit error rate (BER), the eye pattern, as well as the
limitations and the performance of such optical transmission system.

Keywords: Laser, Optical fiber, Optical amplification, Optical filter, Optical

detection

1 Introduction
This paper presents a point-to-point optical link. Behavioural models for the
electro optic conversion in transmitters (lasers) and receivers (detectors) and the
propagation on single-mode fibers are presented as well. In addition, we will
show that behavioural modelling allows the optimization of the parameters of
physical components in terms of the bit error rate (BER).

2 Description of the Optical Link

We shall briefly present the models used to simulate a high-debit optical co-
mmunication link, the analysis tools we have developed, and the optimization
results. Fig. 1 shows the simulated link. The laser is directly modulated by a
pseudorandom generator.

Fig. 1 – Optical communication link.

1
Laboratory of Signals and Systems Transmission, University of Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria;
E-mail: [email protected]
2
Laboratory of Intelligent Control & Electrical Power Systems, University of Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria;
E-mail: [email protected]
361
M. Oukli, M. Kandouci, M. Bouzid, A.Bendaoud

The optical signal is transmitted along a standard single-mode fiber

subsequent to the optical amplification and filtering detected by a photodiode.
Post-processing tools allow us to draw the eye diagram, so as to automatically
find the optimal decision threshold, as well as to extract the BER aimed at
estimating the performance of the link.

3 Laser Model
The MQW DFB laser operates at 1.55µm. It is directly modulated at 10
Gb/s using a non return-to-zero (NRZ) pseudorandom current signal. The current
pulse from the laser driver is directly injected into coupled differential equations
(1) which solve the electron–photon balance. The whole laser model has two
coupled parts, i.e. a purely electrical one and the one describing the electro-optic
behavior. Thus, it allows the inclusion of optronic components into a classical
electronic CAD tool.
The electro-optic conversion is based on the rate equation approach: the
behavior of a single-mode semiconductor laser above threshold is described by
the following rate equations for the electron density N(t):
d N (t ) I n (t )
= − − vg g ( t ) S ( t ) . (1)
dt eV τs
And the photon density S ( t ) is [1]:
d S (t ) S (t ) N (t )
= Γ vg g ( t ) S ( t ) − + Γβ . (2)
dt τφ τs
The optical power and the complex envelope of electric field at the fiber
input can then be expressed by:
V ηhv
P (t ) = S (t ) , (3)
2Γτ p

Ein ( t ) = P ( t ) e jΦ . (4)

4 Fiber Model
The HDL-ATM fiber model includes only linear propagation phenomena
(whereby the injected power remains weak, the Kerr effect may be neglected),
so that the field at the fiber output Eout is computed as the convolution of its
impulse response h ( t ) and the input field Ein ( t ) :
Eout ( t ) = Ein ( t ) ⊗ h ( t ) (5)
and
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 Study and Optimization of High-Bit Rate Optical Fiber Transmission

Pout ( t ) = A Ein ( t ) ⊗ h ( t ) ,
2
(6)
with
1
h( t ) = (1+ j)( 4πβ2 L) 2 exp( − jt 2 2 β2L) ,
−
(7)

A, L, D = 2πcβ2 λ 02 stand for the attenuation, length and group velocity disper-
sion parameter of the fiber, respectively and c, β2, and λ0 are the speed of light,
the dispersion and the central wavelength of the optical signal, respectively.
In order to calculate Eout in the time domain, the infinite impulse response
(IIR) h ( t ) is approximated by a finite impulse response (FIR), numerical
filter and a digital process block samples Ein which provides computing the
convolution numerically.
N −1
Eout ( KTS ) = ∑ a ( n ) Ein ( K − n ) TS , (8)
n=0

where TS represent the sampling period and N is the FIR filter order (RIF).
To obtain the filter coefficients a ( n ) , h ( t ) is truncated and smoothed by
the classical time window function h W ( t ) .

(
h W ( t ) = 0.54 + 0.46cos π t NTS
p
) (9)

5 Detection
A. Principle of photo detection [7, 8]
The photons transmitted by fiber penetrate the detector made up of
semiconductor material.
Being absorptive, photons can allow the electrons to pass for state of
valence band in higher state of band conduction. Less dependent electrons
become free. The photon thus leaves room to a pair electron-positron pair.
The potential difference is applied in order to prevent the electrons from
falling down in its most stable state. Under the effect of the electric field, the two
categories of carriers separate, and are involved towards zones where they are in
a majority (named P or N). The carriers generated in such manner are then
collected in the form of photocurrent. The number of electron-positron pairs is
equal to the number of absorptive photons.
B. Characteristics of photo detection [7, 8]
Photons will not automatically undergo the photo detection. Firstly, a
photon has to possess a superior or equal energy Ephoton as high as the band of
energy forbidden Eg to make cross the electron of the band of Valencia to the
363
M. Oukli, M. Kandouci, M. Bouzid, A.Bendaoud

band of conduction. It implies a cut wavelength λ c beyond which the material

becomes transparent in the brilliance. λ c is determined by the energy of band
forbidden Eg of the semiconductor according to the following relation:
hc hc
E photon = ≥ Eg ⇒ λ c = . (10)
λ Eg
The detector is supposed to be purely quadratic: the generated signal is
proportional to the optical power output. The electrical signal is subsequently
filtered. The decision circuit is modelled by an ideal sampler, in which the
threshold and decision instants are adjustable.

6 Analysis Tools
The analysis tool developed in HDL-ATM computes quasi analytically the
BER displaying the BER during the simulation.
In order to determine the BER, the simulation is first driven without any
noise source, then each noise source is estimated and the variance of the global
noise is finally expressed as:
σ2 = σT2 + σ2S + σ2sp − sp + σ2sig − sp + σ2S − sp , (11)

where σT2 and σ 2S stand for variances of the thermal noise of electronic
amplification circuit and the shot noise of photodiode, respectively. The other
terms correspond to the beating of spontaneous emission of erbium-doped fiber
amplifier (EDFA) with itself, the signal, and the shot noise. Analytical
expressions for the terms appearing in (11) may be found in [2].
The BER is subsequently computed in a Gaussian approximation of the
noise and exhibiting intersymbol interference like:
1 M ⎛ Ii − D ⎞
BER = ∑ erfc ⎜⎜ ⎟ p (i ) ,
⎟ (12)
2M i =1 ⎝ 2σ i ⎠

Where M is the number of bits in the frame, D the decision threshold, Ii the
mean value, σi the square mean value of intensity corresponding to symbol i
and p ( i ) the conditional probability of symbol i [3].

7 Results of Simulation
The figures that follow show the typical simulation results of a point-to-
point link. In this example, the fiber impulse response has been approximated
with N = 100 (see Section 3). The fiber model includes only linear propagation
phenomena. The sampling criterion is largely satisfied since the sampling

364
 Study and Optimization of High-Bit Rate Optical Fiber Transmission

frequency is 500 GHz being much higher than the laser signal bandwidth
(10 GHz).

Fig. 2 – Drive current.

The Fig. 2 shows the current of modulation which serves for inciting the
laser. One of the main advantages of the optical fiber laser for telecommuni-
cations is in the fact that it provides easy modulation: the modulation of the
current which crosses it pulls directly the modulation of the emitted light either
in intensity or in optical frequency.
The modelling of the interactions between the populations of photons and
the bearers by the evolution equation allows us to explain a number of properties
of this modulation.
The equations (13) and (14) are interpreted in the following manner: by unit
of time, the density of bearers N, which disappears by spontaneous broadcast
(spontaneous emission and the time of life of spontaneous emission), or by
stimulated emission (term g(t)s(t)) including the injection of current I, (e is
charge of electron, V – active volume, V/Γ – volume of mode, g – the earning
and S is density of photon in the mode).
In the second equation, the density of photon in the whole of the mode
occurs as the a result of stimulated emission (term g ( t ) s ( t ) ) and of a
fraction β of the spontaneous emission (term Γβn τS ) but disappears as a
result of the internal losses α and the losses by mirrors αm (τϕ life span of
the photons which includes these two terms of losses):
d N (t ) I n (t )
= − − vg g ( t ) S ( t ) , (13)
dt eV τs
d S (t ) S (t ) N (t )
= Γvg g ( t ) S ( t ) − + Γβ , (14)
dt τφ τs
where vg is the group velocity of guided wave light including the dispersion of
the material. It is defined by the time of group.
365
M. Oukli, M. Kandouci, M. Bouzid, A.Bendaoud

Fig. 3 – Frequency chip.

Fig. 3 represents the frequency chip which allows us to know the frequency
at the moment given by the magnetic field.

Fig. 4 – Optical power at the fiber input.

Fig. 5 – Optical power after 50km of propagation in the fiber.

366
 Study and Optimization of High-Bit Rate Optical Fiber Transmission

Figs. 4 and 5 show respectively optical power at the fiber input and the one
after 50km of propagation in the fiber. Therefore it is about the same signal,
however the difference in optical power is observed, which is due to the enfee-
blement (for the standard fiber the enfeeblement is esteemed by A = 0.22dB km )
of the signal which has been sodden by its propagating in the fiber.
The distortion of the signal can be observed, Fig. 5. Although being
minimal in this kind of fiber, this distortion said standard fiber and with the
wavelength λ = 1.55 μm , it is not however unimportant, it is especially due to
the dispersion.

Fig. 6 – BER according to the sensibility of the detector (dBm).

The bit error rate provides measuring of the number of false bits. The rise in
the optical power results in the increase in the report signal with noise. Hence
the probability to see false bits in our transmission decreases.
Fig. 6 shows a curve of the BER according to sensibility of detector. We
obtained a BER of 10-5 for the optical power of -26 dBm noticing that the BER
decreases as the optical power increases, which justifies our earlier
presumptions.

a) b)
Fig. 7 – a) Noise parameters; b) Eye pattern.
367
M. Oukli, M. Kandouci, M. Bouzid, A.Bendaoud

Fig. 7 shows an eye pattern of electric signal detected in the borders of

electric filter after amplification for current of 50 mA and for signal with
λ = 1.55 μm of wavelength. The injected power was 30 mA.
The degradation of the level ″1″ and the level ″0″ is obvious on Fig. 7,
which is translated by a light lock of eye on vertical and horizontal plans.
The horizontal eye opening is induced by interference to intersymbol, which
is essentially due the chromatic dispersal caused by the standard optical fiber, its
dispersion coefficient being equal to D = 16 ps nmkm .
The vertical eye opening is due to the occurrence of noise (thermic noise,
amplification noise, noise of shot and that of photodiode), which is interpreted
by blurred and widened tracks and degradation of error probability due to the
intersymbol interference which is bigger as the eye is closed.

8 Mathematical Model
Taking into account coefficients of the sensibility of the detector as well as
those of the BER (Table 1), we tried to establish a mathematical model by using
“Regresionmod” software.
Table 1
Measured BER
Sensibility Sensibility
TEB TEB
Detector (dBm) Detector (dBm)
−6
-26 4.84319 ⋅10 -23.9956 1.72247 ⋅10−8
-25.9033 3.80343 ⋅10−6 -23.8462 1.02034 ⋅10−8
-25.6835 2.34565 ⋅10 −6 -23.7055 6.55129 ⋅10 −9
-25.5604 1.76935 ⋅10 −6 -23.6264 4.55924 ⋅10 −9
-25.4813 1.33464 ⋅10−6 -23.5648 3.17291 ⋅10−9
-25.411 1.28195 ⋅10−6 -23.4505 1.95679 ⋅10−9
-25.3758 1.04811 ⋅10−6 -23.3011 1.25639 ⋅10−9
-25.2879 8.92149 ⋅10−7 -23.2396 1.02722 ⋅10−9
-25.1209 5.96362 ⋅10 −7 -23.1868 8.06688 ⋅10−10
-24.9187 3.25926 ⋅10 −7 -23.0549 4.2347 ⋅10−10
-24.7868 2.17867 ⋅10−7 -22.9407 2.83071 ⋅10−10
-24.6462 1.51621 ⋅10−7 -22.8615 2.05094 ⋅10−10
-24.4967 8.62701 ⋅10−8 -22.7121 9.93309 ⋅10−11
-24.4264 6.77491 ⋅10−8 -22.6066 5.88409 ⋅10−11
-24.2593 4.71487 ⋅10 −8 -22.5011 3.62883 ⋅10−11
-24.0835 2.2835 ⋅10 −8

368
 Study and Optimization of High-Bit Rate Optical Fiber Transmission

Fig. 8 shows the comparison between simulated BER and measured BER.

Fig. 8 – The comparison between simulated BER and measured BER.

The mathematical model that we established is a polynomial, and can be
written as follows:
TEB = 2.60345093440033 ⋅ 10−7 X + 1.12271020455085 ⋅ 10−8 X 2 .

9 Conclusion
The objective of this work was to estimate the advantages and the limits of a
high debit optical link. For this purpose we used the simulator VHDL-AMS. Our
transmission chain comprises a DFB laser, modulated directly by a
pseudorandom generator whereby the optical signal is transmitted along a
standard single-mode fiber on a single wavelength λ = 1.55 μm , the chain of
reception, which includes the optical amplifier (EDFA) instead of a repeater
regenerator and optical filtering whereby the conversion of signal is made by
means of one photodiode and electric filtering. The modules of the evaluation of
the performances allow determining the eye pattern and the bit error rate (BER).
The results obtained by simulation suggest that the main limitation of such a
transmission and the enfeeblement caused by the chromatic dispersal as well as
the noise (accompanying the signal as it propagates and until its reception),
which is interpreted by a distortion of the signal, is a decline and a loss in the
optical power.
These limitations can be more important if we do not make the appropriate
choice of each of the elements which constitute our optical link.

10 References
[1] S. Mohrdiek, H. Burkhard, F. Steinhagen, H. Hillmer, R.Lösch, W. Schlapp, R. Göbel:
10-Gb/s Standard Fiber Transmission using Directly Modulated 1.55 µm Quantum-well DFB
Laser, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 7, No. 11, Nov. 1995, pp. 1357 – 1359.
[2] G.P. Agrawal: Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1992.

369
 M. Oukli, M. Kandouci, M. Bouzid, A.Bendaoud

[3] F.M. Gardner, J.D. Baker: Simulation Techniques: Models of Communication Signals and
Processes, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1997.
[4] K. Vuorinen, F. Gaffiot, G. Jacquemod: Modeling Single-mode Lasers and Standard Single-
mode Fibers using a Hardware Description Language, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 9,
No. 6, June 1997, pp 824 – 826.
[5] Glavieux, M. Joindot: Introduction aux communications numériques, Collection
Pédagogique de Télécommunication, Ellipses éditeur, 1991.
[6] Jean-Louis Verneuil: Simulation de systèmes de télécommunications par fibre optique à 40
Gbits/S, Thèse de Doctorat Université de Limoges, 2003.
[7] Erman Marko: Tendances et évolution des réseaux et technologies optiques, Revue des
Télécommunications d'Alcatel, 3ème trimestre 2001, pp. 173 – 176.
[8] Bruyere Frank: Le multiplexage en longueur d'onde dans les réseaux métropolitains, Revue
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