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Optical System Components (Part II)

This document discusses key components in optical communication systems, including wavelengths, wavelength converters, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), and optical amplifiers. It defines wavelengths and explains how wavelength converters allow data to be converted between different wavelengths. It also describes how WDM allows multiple optical carrier signals to be transmitted on a single fiber by using different wavelengths, and how optical amplifiers directly amplify optical signals to compensate for attenuation without converting them to electrical signals.

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26 views

Optical System Components (Part II)

This document discusses key components in optical communication systems, including wavelengths, wavelength converters, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), and optical amplifiers. It defines wavelengths and explains how wavelength converters allow data to be converted between different wavelengths. It also describes how WDM allows multiple optical carrier signals to be transmitted on a single fiber by using different wavelengths, and how optical amplifiers directly amplify optical signals to compensate for attenuation without converting them to electrical signals.

Uploaded by

بشير عماد كاظم
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Optical System

Components(Part II)
:In this lecture

 Wavelengths

 Wavelength converters

 Wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM)
 Optical Amplifiers
WAVELENGTH S
 Light travels as waves of
energy.
 Waves of light have
different wavelengths (the
distance between the top
of one wave and the top
of the next).
 Different colors of light
have different
wavelengths.
 Purple and blue light
waves have short
wavelengths.
 Red light has a longer
wavelength.
 This distance between those two points is called Wavelength.
 Hence the Wavelength is defined as the difference between

two points of same phase.

the Wavelength
unit is meters
 The wavelength and frequency of light are closely related.  
 The higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength.
 The equation that relates wavelength and frequency for

electromagnetic waves is: λ=where λ is the wavelength, ν is


the frequency and c is the speed of light.
 Wavelength is measured in units of

nanometers (nm) or micrometers (µm or


microns).
 Frequencies are measured in units of hertz

(or cycles per second).


Wavelength converters
A wavelength converter is a device that
converts data from one incoming wavelength to
another outgoing wavelength.

 Wavelength converters are useful components


in Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM )
networks for three major reasons:
 First, data may enter the network at a wavelength that is
not suitable for use within the network.
 For example, the first-generation networks
transmit data in the 1310 nm wavelength window,
using LEDs or lasers. Neither the wavelength nor the
type of laser is compatible with WDM networks.
 So at the inputs and outputs of the network, data must
be converted from these wavelengths to narrow-band
WDM signals in the 1550 nm wavelength range. A
wavelength converter used to perform this function is
sometimes called a transponder.

Second, wavelength converters may be
needed within the network to improve the
utilization of the available wavelengths on the
network links.
 Finally, wavelength converters may be

needed at boundaries between different


networks if the different networks are
managed by different entities.
Wavelength converters can be classified based on the range
of wavelengths that they can handle at their inputs and
outputs:
 A fixed-input, fixed-output device always takes in a fixed-

input wavelength and converts it to a fixed-output


wavelength.
 A variable-input, fixed-output device takes in a variety of

wavelengths but always converts the input signal to a fixed-


output wavelength.
 A fixed-input, variable-output device does the
opposite function.

 Finally, a variable-input, variable-output device can


convert any input wavelength to any output
wavelength.
Example
 Optoelectronic: This type of optical
wavelength converter is variable input,
fixed output type.
 It converts the input signal first to

electrical form, regenerates it and


transmits it using the laser device.
 Optical Receiver takes either 1310 or

1550 nm wavelength as input.


Wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM)

In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-
division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology
which multiplexes a number of optical carrier
signals onto a single optical fiber by using
different wavelengths (i.e., colors) of laser
light.
 Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is the
combining of different optical wavelengths From
two or more optical fibers into just one optical fiber.
 This combining or coupling of the wavelengths can
be very useful in increasing the bandwidth of a fiber
optic system.
 WDM multiplexers are used in pairs: one at the
beginning of the fiber to couple the inputs and one
at the end of the fiber to decouple and then route
the separated wavelengths into separate fibers.
 An WDM multiplexer can be thought of as an optical
fiber highway; the highway can support a very large
bandwidth, thus increasing the system’s capacity.
A WDM system uses a multiplexer at the
transmitter to join the signals together, and a
demultiplexer at the receiver to split them apart.
Optical Amplifiers
 In an optical communication system, the optical
signals from the transmitter are attenuated by
the optical fiber as they propagate through it.
 Other optical components, such as multiplexers
and couplers, also add loss.

 After some distance, the cumulative loss of signal


strength causes the signal to become too weak to
be detected.
 Before this happens, the signal strength has to be

restored.
 Prior to the advent of optical
amplifiers over the last decade, the
only option was to regenerate the
signal, that is, receive the signal
and retransmit it.
Thisprocess is accomplished by regenerators. A regenerator
converts the optical signal to an electrical signal, cleans it up, and
converts it back into an optical signal for onward transmission.

The amplifier directly amplifies optical signals without a need to


do the optical-to- electrical conversion
 Optical amplifiers offer several
advantages over regenerators.
 Amplifiers, however, are not perfect

devices.
 It introduce additional noise, and this

noise accumulates as the signal


passes through multiple amplifiers
along its path.

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