Optical Fiber Communications

(3-0-3-4)

CMPE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 3 supervised lab hours and 0 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Groups / Course Categories: Threads / ECE Electives

Course Coordinator: Stephen E Ralph

Prerequisites: ECE 3025 [min C]

Catalog Description

Combined lecture-laboratory exploration of the technology of fiber optics, with emphasis on optical fiber communication systems.

Textbook(s)

Fiber Optic Communications: Fundamentals and Applications

Course Outcomes

Be conversant on optical waveguide components, including single and multimode fiber, fiber couplers, connectors, and fiber amplifiers. 

Demonstrate basic fiber handling skills, including cleaving and splicing. 

Identify and measure fundamental system impairments and know the mitigation methods. 

Operate instrumentation for measuring fiber and optical system properties,.

Measure noise and its effects on system performance. 

Describe signal processing methods and their impact on fiber communication links. 

Design, construct, and test a basic fiber communication link. 

Demonstrate sophistication in experimental data processing, interpretation, and presentation. 

Write a good technical report. 

Give a clear and informative team presentation.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

N/A

Topic List

Laboratory I: Fiber loss and dispersion measurements
Laboratory II: Receivers and eye diagrams
Laboratory III: Basic OOK optical links
Laboratory IV: Advanced optical links, noise and impairment assessment
Laboratory V: Final Project

  1. Optical Fiber Transmission
    Basic elements of optical fiber links, Fiber structure and the ray picture, Multi-mode fibers, Modes of a step-index optical fiber, Fiber loss, Fiber dispersion, Pulse propagation in single-mode fibers, Types of single mode fiber, Fiber manufacturing, Fiber connectors, Basic measurement techniques for optical fiber links.
  2. Lasers
    Basic concepts and conditions for laser oscillations, Semiconductor lasers, Tunable semiconductor lasers, Laser noise, Spot Size and Gaussian beams
  3. Optical Modulators and Modulation Schemes
    Signaling basics, Digital modulation schemes, Optical modulator types, Mach-Zehnder modulators, Quadrature amplitude modulation
  4. Optical Receivers
    Photodetector types and performance characteristics, PiN photodiodes, Direct detection receivers, Coherent receivers, Advanced measurement techniques for optical fiber links
  5. Optical Amplifiers
    Optical amplifier architectures, Semiconductor optical amplifiers, Erbium-doped fiber amplifier, Raman amplifiers, Noise figure, OSNR and system impact of ASE
  6. Transmission Systems and Performance Analysis
    Eye diagrams and bit error rates, Direct detection links, DWDM systems, Dispersion management, Multi-span systems and cascaded amplifiers
  7. Nonlinear Effects in Fibers
    Origin of linear and nonlinear refractive indices, Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation, Self-phase modulation, Inter and intra channel nonlinear effects
  8. Digital Signal Processing
    IF estimation and compensation, Phase estimation and compensation, CD equalization, Adaptive equalizers, Polarization Demux and PMD equalization