Name: Solutions 1

ECE 5411 - Optical Communication Systems

Exam I - Spring 2012
You have until approximately 1:45 pm to work this exam. Please pay attention to units and
the reasonableness of your answers. The questions add up to 100 points, but I will only count
your best answers, up to a maximum of 80 points.
Problem 1 (20 pts)
You need to transmit data over an optical link of 100 km with ber loss of 0.2 dB/km. The
link has ve splices with 0.05 dB loss per splice and two connectors with 0.2 dB per connector.
The receiver sensitivity is 20 W. Express the minimum transmitter power in both mW and dBm.
You can express the loss budget of the system (in dB) using
P
tr,dBm
P
rec,dBm
= L + L
fixed
,
where L
fixed
represents the xed losses in the system (i.e. losses that do not depend upon ber
length). Remember that = 0.2 dB/km < 0 for loss.
From the problem statement, the xed losses add up to
L
fixed
= 2 L
connector
+ 5 L
splice
= 2 0.2 dB + 5 0.05 dB = 0.65 dB,
and the ber loss
L = 0.2 dB/km100 km = 20 dB.
Now, we need to express the receiver sensitivity in dBm, which we do by
P
rec,dBm
= 10 log

20 W
1 mW

= 17.0 dBm.
Solving for the transmitter power, we get
P
tr,dBm
= P
rec,dBm
L + L
fixed
= 17.0 dBm + 20 dB + 0.65 dB = 3.66 dBm.
Expressed in mW, P
tr
= 2.32 mW.
Name: Solutions 2
Problem 2 (40 pts)
Consider an optical ber of 50 m diameter, core index n
1
= 1.5, and cladding index n
2
= 1.49
for operation at = 1.31 m.
a) What is the numerical aperture (NA) of this ber?
The numerical aperture is dened as
NA sin =

n
2
1
n
2
2
.
Plugging in the numbers, we get
NA =

1.5
2
1.49
2
= 0.173.
b) How many modes does this ber support?
We rst have to calculate the V number for the ber
V =
2a

n
2
1
n
2
2
=
2a

NA.
Note that 2a is the diameter. Plugging in the numbers, we get
V =
50 m
1.31 m
0.173 = 20.7.
Since V > 10, we can use V
2
/2 for the number of modes, which comes out to be 215.
c) What would be the pulse spread due to modal dispersion over a distance of 10 km?
Pulse spread due to modal dispersion is described by

modal
=
n
1
L
c
,
where
=
n
1
n
2
n
1
=
1.5 1.49
1.5
= 6.67 10
3
.
Now, plugging in the rest of the numbers,

modal
=
1.5 10 km
3 10
5
km/sec
6.67 10
3
= 333 ns.
d) What would the maximum ber diameter need to be for the ber to operate with a single
mode?
For a single-mode ber, we must have the condition that V 2.405. Solving for 2a,
V =
2a

NA = 2.405 2a =
2.405
NA
=
2.405 1.31
0.173
m = 5.80 m.
Name: Solutions 3
Problem 3 (40 pts)
For an optical communications system, the transmitter and receiver operate at 2.5 Gb/sec
NRZ (B
NRZ
) at a central wavelength of 1550 nm, using a laser with a spectral linewidth of
= 0.05 nm. The ber has a dispersion parameter of M = 20 ps/nmkm.
a) Calculate the pulse spread per unit distance (ps/km).
The pulse spread due to chromatic dispersion is written

chrom
= M L

chrom
= M = 20 ps/nm km0.05 nm = 1 ps/km.
b) What is the maximum length of ber that allows the stated system bit rate?
We have to go back to the expression for dispersion-limited bit-rate
B
NRZ
= 2 f
3dB,elec
=
0.7

=
0.7
(/L)
chrom
L
.
Now, we solve for the unknown L,
L =
0.7
(/L)
chrom
B
NRZ
=
0.7
1 ps/km2.5 Gb/sec
= 280 km.
c) If the system were to operate at 10 Gb/sec NRZ, then what would be the required optical
bandwidth f
3dB,optical
? Hint: you dont need ber length or for this calculation.
We have to go back to the relationships among the dierent bandwidths. We know that
f
3dB,electrical
=

2
2
f
3dB,optical
and that
B
NRZ
= 2 f
3dB,electrical
=

2f
3dB,optical
,
so that
f
3dB,optical
=
B
NRZ

2
= 7.07 GHz.
d) Given the optical bandwidth of part c), then what would be the optical frequency spread in
terms of ? What would be the maximum ber length?
The 3 dB optical bandwidth is just , and we can use the relationship

to solve for . Doing so, we get

=

=
7.07 GHz
193.5 THz
1550 nm = 0.057 nm.
Name: Solutions 4
We have to calculate the new wavelength spread, which is done by

2
=
2
source
+
2
modulation
= (0.05 nm)
2
+ (0.057 nm)
2
= 0.076 nm.
Using this new wavelength spread, we can recalculate the dispersion limited distance
L =
0.7
(/L)
chrom
B
NRZ
=
0.7
20 ps/nm km0.076 nm10 Gb/sec
= 46 km.