Titular Professors
Professors
Physics, electromagnetism and electromagnetic propagation basis.
Learning Outcomes of this subject are:
RA.1 Ability to understand the general organization of an optical communications system and the different elements that comprise it.
RA.2 Ability to analyze and characterize the basic components and circuits of a fiber optic network.
RA.3 Know how to design a fiber optic link.
RA.4 Know the basic parameters in the configuration of an FTTH access network. Understand the GPON standard.
RA.5 Know the latest trends in networks and components used in optical communication systems.
1. Introduction to Optical Communications
1.1. Evolution of optical communications technology.
1.2. Evolution of fiber optic telecommunication systems from point-to-point systems towards point-multipoint optical networks.
1.3. Optical communications system - Basic components.
2. Optical fibers - Propagation
2.1. Introduction and basic concepts of propagation in optical fibers.
2.2. Analysis of the propagation in optical fibers through Geometric Optics
2.3. Analysis of the propagation in optical fibers through the Electromagnetic Theory
2.4. Types of fibers and their properties: multimode fibers and single-mode fibers.
2.5. Fiber optic cables: types and characteristics.
2.6. Connection of optical fibers: mechanical, fusion.
3. Optical fibers - Transmission limiting phenomena
3.1. Attenuation in optical fibers. Transmission windows.
3.2. Dispersion in optical fibers: modal, chromatic, polarization mode.
3.3. Dispersion compensating fibers.
3.4. Nonlinearities in the fiber
3.5. Other phenomena: Rayleigh scattering, Brillouin scattering and Raman scattering
4. Optical Sources
4.1. LED diode: basic concepts, types and characteristic parameters.
4.2. Laser Diode: basic concepts, types and characteristic parameters
4.3. Tunable lasers
4.4. The laser in telecommunication systems
5. Optical signal modulation
5.1. Direct intensity modulation
5.2. Analog and digital modulation
5.3. External modulation of the optical carrier
6. Optical receivers
6.1. Opto-electronic conversion
6.2. Types of photodetectors: PIN and APD photodiodes
6.3. Quantum efficiency and responsiveness
6.4. Shot noise, avalanche noise and thermal noise.
6.5. Direct Detection Receiver.
6.6. Receiving parameters: Receiver sensitivity, BER, SNR, Eye Diagram.
7. Optical Amplifiers
7.1. Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)
7.2. Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)
7.3. Raman fiber amplifier
7.4. Noise in optical amplifiers. ASE noise
7.5. Receiver with optical pre-amplifier.
8. Optical Communications Systems ? Modeling and design
8.1. Block diagram of the IM-DD system
8.2. Modeling of the optical communications system.
8.3. System performance based on different parameters: fiber, bit rate, modulation format, receiver type, amplification.
8.4. Passive Interconnect Optical Elements: Polarizers, Fiber Optic Couplers, Attenuators, Isolators, Circulators, Optical Filters
8.5. Wavelength selective passive optical elements: AWGs.
8.6. Calculation of powers. Balance of losses. Receiver sensitivity.
8.7. Design and dimensioning of a practical optical communication system.
9. Optical Communications Systems ? Topics in Implementation
9.1. Optical Access Networks and FTTH Networks based on the GPON standard
9.2. ITU-T 984.x GPON standard
9.3. Practical implementation of FTTH networks: OLTs, ONTs, ODN
9.4. Measurement equipment: OTDR, Power Meter, BER Meters, Oscilloscope, Spectrum Analyzer
9.5. WDM, DWDM, uDWDM systems
9.6. Optical Transport Networks. Submarine fiber optic cables.
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.
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.
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.
The evaluation will be carried out based on:
Theory tests (Midterm and final exam)
Laboratory Practices: Operations and measurements in fibers and passive optical devices, Optical Sources and Optical Receivers.
Continuous assessment activities, which include classroom exercises, home exercises, system and network design exercises.
The evaluation will be carried out with the following weighting:
Midterm Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
Average of Laboratory Practices: 10%
Average of Continuous Assessment Practices: 30%
Agrawal, G.P. "Fiber-Optic Communication Systems". Wiley Interscience (2010)
Senior, J.M. "Optical fiber communications: principles and practice". 3 ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008.
Capmany, José "Fundamentos de comunicaciones ópticas". Síntesis. 2001. 8477385998
Keiser, Gerd; "Optical Fiber Communications", McGraw-Hill (2010)