Assignment #1 for

Fiber-Optic Communications
due at April 27, 2005
(1). A 15 km optical fiber link uses fiber with a loss of 1.5 dB/km. The fiber
is jointed every kilometer with connectors which given an attenuation
of 0.8 dB each. Determine the minimum mean optical power which
must be launched into the fiber in order to maintain a mean optical
power of 0.3 W at the detector.
(2). A graded index fiber with a core axis refractive index of 1.5 has a
characteristic index profile () of 1.90, a relative refractive index
difference of 1.3% and a core diameter of 40 m.
(a). Estimate the number of guide modes propagating in the fiber when the
transmitted light has a wavelength of 1.55 m, and
(b). Determine the cutoff value of the normalized frequency for a single
mode transmission in the fiber.
(3). Consider a fiber with a 100 m core diameter and a 140 m cladding
diameter. If n1 = 1.48 and = 1%,
(a). Calculate the V-parameter if the operating wavelength is 850 nm.
(b). Find the value of V at a wavelength of 1300 nm if the diameter of core is
50 m;
(c). Calculate the number of modes if the operating wavelength is 850 nm
and the core diameter is 50 m;
(d). Calculate the percentage of the optical power that is carried in the
cladding for the above cases of (b) and (c).

(4). A double-heterojunction InGaAsP LED emitting at a peak wavelength of

1310 nm has radiative and nonradiative recombination times of 25 and
90ns, respectively. The drive current is 35 mA.
(a). Find the internal quantum efficiency and the internal power level.
(b). If the refractive index of the light source material is n = 3.5, find the
power emitted from the device.

(5). Consider a silicon avalanche photodiode with parameters as given

below, operating in a link with no intersymbol interference present.
Parameter
|
Value
F(M)
|
M0.35
Responsivity (at M = 1)
|
0.25 A/W
Surface dark current

1 A

Temperature

300 oK

Load resistor RL

1.2 K

Bulk dark current

Bandwidth of receiver

|
|

1.0 nA
10 MHz

(a). Calculate the dc optical power that must be incident on the detector to
make the optimum gain of this APD have a value of 80.
(b). For a gain value of 80, calculate the ratio (in dB) of the mean-square
noise current due to the shot noise caused by the bulk dark current to the
mean-square noise current due to the thermal noise.
(6). In optical PIN receiver dominated by thermal noise, the decision circuit
compares the sampled current I with a threshold ID and calls it bit 1 (bit
0) if I > ID (I < ID). An error occurs if I < ID (I > ID) for bit 1 (bit 0)
because of receiver noise. Let I1 (I0) and 12 (02) denote the average
detected current and the corresponding variance for bit 1 (bit 0). If bit 1
and bit 0 are equally likely and the receiver noise is Gaussian
distributed,

(a). With optimum threshold setting of ID = (I1+I0)/2 = 1Q, derive out the
bit-error-rate (BER) as a function of Q-parameter;

(b). With detected current I1=2RPrec and I0=0, R being detector responsivity,
find out the receiver sensitivity Prec as a function of Q-parameter.