Fundamentals on electromagnetic fields, Fundamentals on optical communications.
Students graduated of the course in optical communication acquire the knowledge and develop the skills listed below:
1. The student acquires knowledge that gives him a solid basis to face complex designs of optical fiber links.
2. The student consolidates the most general concepts about optical communication which makes possible to study deeper this subject and to carry out research works.
3. The approach of the subject helps the student to develop his capacities of learning and search for information.
4. The student is aware of the latest trends in optical-communications components, which imply a permanent training in these topics.
1 Introduction to Optical Communications
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Fiber Optic Networks
2 Signal propagation in optical fibers
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Analysis of light propagation
2.3 Dispersion in the optical fiber
2.4 Non linear effects
2.5 Optical fibers manufacture methods
3 Components
3.1 Optical couplers
3.2 Circulators and isolators
3.3 Optical filters
3.4 Problems with optical communications
3.5 Optical amplifiers
3.6 Lasers
3.7 LED
3.8 Light detectors
3.9 Optical switches
3.10 Wavelength converters
4. Fiber optics networks
4.1 Bus and star topologies
4.2 Ring topology
5. Fault management
5.1 Fault management in point to point networks
5.2 Fault management in generic networks.
5.3 Fault management in ring networks.
6. Reflectometric measures and problems with optical communications.
The total course consists in 90 sessions of one hour each. Students have a set of slides, exercises form last-years exams, notices that the professor uploads to emphasize in a specific aspect of the course and datasheets with various optical-fiber components to consolidate the concepts explained in class.
If a student has doubts about the subject, he can send an e-mail to the teacher to set an appointment for clarifying concepts, solve questions, offer exercises, etc.
On-site Format
The methodology is based in lectures. Slides are used to help students to understand the teacher´s explanations. These slides are available before each session so students can take notes in them during classes. After each theme and before each exam, some classes are dedicated to solve problems related with the subject.
Blended format
Blended students follow the sessions through slides, theoretical notes and books if necessary. They may get an electronic copy of these references, so they don´t miss any content.
Blended students also may ask questions in a forum where they can expose their doubts and the teacher will propose some ways to answer them. In some cases, there is a possibility to have on-site classes (lectures) or virtual classes (they consist on virtual meeting between a reduced group of students and a teacher).
The student has the following responsibilities after class time:
1. Search for complementary documentation if he wants to extend specific aspects studied in class. The information can be searched in the suggested bibliography and the student may ask the professor for the most interesting books according the personal objectives.
2. Study individually or in groups the themes applied in class. They may use the complementary bibliography, but with the concepts explained in classes is enough to understand the assignment.
3. Solve individually or in groups the proposed problems from last-years exams. The students must solve the problems by themselves, and just in case that he/she doesn´t know how to pose the problem after thinking it carefully, he/she may ask for his classmates´ opinion in the forum.
A. Exams
The exam consists in two parts:
1. Theoretical part: Some theoretical questions are asked about concepts studied in classes.
2. Problems part: The pose of the problems is asset based in the student´s knowledge and the obtained result. The interpretation made by the student about the results is also taken into account.
L. Laboratory
The subject has two practical activities, one is guided by the professor and the other is done by the student with a minimal intervention of the professor. These practices are done in group.
Objective 1:
- The student shall demonstrate the ability to solve complex problems about the design of optical fiber links [A].
Objective 2:
- The student shall demonstrate that is capable to make a careful study of the subject matter and explain one of the themes studied in class or one completely new [D].
Objective 3:
- The student shall demonstrate that is capable to boost his capacity to learn and search for information [A+D].
Objective 4:
- The student shall demonstrate that he is able to continue his training by being interested in the last trends [D].
Simó Graells i Castellà. Transparències de Comunicacions Òptiques. Enginyeria i Arquitectura la Salle.
Rajiv Ramaswami & Kumar N. Sivarajan, OPTICAL NETWORKS: A Practical Perspective, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1998.