A 1320 nm experimental optical phase-locked loop

An experimental balanced optical second-order phase-locked loop constructed using 1320 nm diode laser pumped miniature Nd:YAG lasers is discussed. The loop is stable and has a phase error of less than 1.8° when the received signal power is -65 dBm or more. The phase error appears to be dominated by the lasers' frequency noise as long as the signal power is more than -60 dBm     

Optical local area network technologies

To utilize the large bandwidth of optical fiber, optical LANs must employ architectures that fundamentally differ from current single-channel LAN architectures. With computer processor speeds continuing to grow exponentially and multimedia applications growing even faster, there is a strong need for higher-speed local area networks (LANs) that can handle the traffic generated by tomorrow's LAN users. Optical fiber is well suited for high-speed traffic transport, but the busty nature of computer traffic and large number of users makes it difficult to utilize the fiber's capacity in LANs. The incorporation of multiple payload channels in future LANs is seen as a necessity; WDM is a good candidate for achieving this. The rapidly improving optical component technologies allow more flexible WDM architecture designs for various emerging applications     

Dynamic range of coherent analog fiber-optic links

We investigate the performance of coherent analog optical links employing amplitude modulation (AM), phase modulation (PM), and frequency modulation (FM). The performance of these coherent links is compared to that of AM direct-detection (DD) links. The signal-to-noise ratios, nonlinearities, and-spurious-free dynamic ranges (SFDR's) of the foregoing links are evaluated. We calculate the SFDR for links using DFB and Nd:YAG lasers with typical linewidths of 10 MHz and 5 kHz, respectively. The performance of PM and FM links is dominated by phase noise above a critical value of received optical power. For a linewidth of 10 MHz, and SFDR's of PM and FM links are 30 and 31 dB, respectively, for a received optical power above -27 dBm in a 1 GHz bandwidth. For a linewidth of 5 kHz, the corresponding SFDR's above a received power level of 0 dBm are 51 and 53 dB. The performance of DD and AM links is dominated by RIN above a critical value of received optical power. For a RIN level of -155 dB/Hz, the SFDR's of DD and AM links are 49 and 47 dB, respectively, for a received optical power of 10 dBm in a 1 GHz bandwidth. The SFDR's of the DD and coherent links used for transmission of subcarrier-multiplexed (SCM) signals are also derived. We evaluate target laser parameters needed by a number of different applications. For AM video and antenna remoting applications, linewidths of <1 and <3 kHz are required to use PM and FM links, respectively. For FM video, linewidths of <150 and <350 MHz are required to use PM and FM links. For SCM digital applications, linewidths of <80 and <200 MHz are required to use PM and FM links. The paper concludes with a discussion of system implementation issues, including linearization, optical frequency modulation, balanced receivers, and IF issues     

Traffic grooming on WDM rings using optical burst transport

A sublambda traffic-grooming scheme on wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) rings, which is called optical burst transport (OBT), is proposed. The network protocol and architecture allow increased flexibility to tailor the transport network behavior for efficient delivery of bursty data traffic. Using different network parameters, its performance is analyzed via simulation, and the implementation issues including the media-access-control (MAC) protocol, tunable-filter controller, and burst-mode receiver are addressed. Finally, the feasibility of the OBT with an experimental testbed built by the authors is demonstrated and a streaming-video application is used to present its overall functionality.     

Performance of coherent ASK lightwave systems with finiteintermediate frequency

The impact of finite intermediate frequency (IF) on the performance of heterodyne ASK lightwave systems is examined and quantified in the presence of laser phase noise and shot noise. For negligible linewidths, it is shown that certain finite choices of IF (R _b,3R_b/2,2R_b,5R_b/2, etc.) lead to the same ideal bit-error-rate (BER) performance as infinite choices of IF. Results indicate that for negligible linewidths the worst case sensitivity penalty is 0.9 dB for proper heterodyne detection and occurs when f_IF=1.25 R_b. For nonnegligible linewidths (e.g., when ΔνT⩾0.04) the sensitivity penalty is always less than 0.9 dB for finite choices of IF. The analysis presented does lead to a closed-form signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) expression at the decision gate of the receiver which can readily be used for BER and sensitivity penalty computations. The SNR expression provided includes all the key system parameters of interest such as system bit rate (R_b), the peak IF SNR (ξ), laser linewidth (Δν), and the IF filter expansion factor (α). The findings of this work suggest that the number of channels in a multichannel heterodyne ASK lightwave system can be increased substantially by properly choosing a small value for the IF at the expense of a small penalty <1 dB. On the negative side, IF frequency stabilization becomes a more critical requirement in multichannel systems employing small values of IF     

Modeling gain dynamics of thulium-doped fiber amplifiers

The transient response of single-(14xx nm) and dual-(14xx + 1550 nm) wavelength-pumped thulium-doped fiber amplifiers is modeled. With an optimally chosen method for numerical integration of rate equations involving several energy levels, we can estimate the transient response and frequency dependent characteristics during add-drop transitions. Results correspond to the experimental data with good accuracy.     

Performance analysis and laser linewidth requirements for optical PSK heterodyne communications systems

An optical PSK heterodyne communications receiver is investigated. The receiver is based on the decision-directed phase-locked loop. The performance of the phase-locked loop subsystem is analyzed taking into account both shot noise and laser phase noise. It is shown that for reliable phase locking (rms phase error less than 10°), heterodyne second-order loops require at least 6771 electrons/s per volt every hertz of the laser linewidth. This number corresponds to the limit when the loop dumping factor η is infinitely large; ifeta = 0.7, then the loop needs 10 157 electrons/(s . Hz). If the detector has a unity quantum efficiency andlambda = 1.5 mum, the above quoted numberers give 0.9 pW/ kHz foreta rightarrow inftyand 1.35 pW/kHz fornu = 0.7. The loop bandwidth required is also evaluated and found to be155 Deltanu, whereDeltanuis the laser linewidth. Finally, the linewidth permitted for PSK heterodyne recievers is evaluated and found to be2.26 cdot 10^{-3} R_{b}where Rbis the system bit rate. ForR_{b}=100Mbit/s, this leads toDeltanu < 226kHz. Such and better linewidths have been demonstrated with laboratory external cavity lasers. For comparison, ASK and FSK heterodyne receivers are much more tolerant to phase noise,-they can tolerateDeltanuup to 0.09 Rb. At the same time, homodyne receivers impose much more stringent requirements on the laser linewidth (Deltanu < 3 cdot 10^{4} R_{b}).     

Raman fiber oscillator as optical amplifier

A Raman fiber oscillator used for optical amplification is demonstrated to have lower double Rayleigh scattering, transient spikes, cross-phase modulation, and higher saturation input threshold compared with a conventional discrete Raman amplifier at similar operating conditions. This could be a promising technology for deployment in practical systems.     

Demonstration and system analysis of the HORNET architecture

The HORNET architecture is a packet-over-wavelength-division-multiplexing ring network that utilizes fast-tunable packet transmitters and wavelength routing to enable it to scale cost-effectively to ultrahigh capacities. In this paper, we present the HORNET architecture and a novel control-channel-based media access control protocol. The survivability of the architecture is demonstrated with an experimental laboratory testbed. Mathematical analysis of the architecture shows that the wavelength routed network can scale to relatively large sizes ranging between 30 and 50 nodes, depending on the component performance. This is true even for arrangements that do not contain high-power optical amplifiers in every node.     

M-ary sequential detection under conditions of a priori uncertainty

Sequential detection under conditions of a priori uncertainty is investigated. A MAP sequential detector is developed and its performance is evaluated using mean path approximation. The result obtained are verified via comparison with previously published computer simulation research. The comparison shows a good agreement between theory and experiment. The sequential approach is shown to provide a greatly reduced error rate as compared with one nonsequential approach under the same signal/noise conditions.