EEE 449

Introduction: Introduction to optical fiber communication systems. Elements of optical fiber communication links, advantages over microwave systems. Propagation of light over optical fibers: Transmission characteristics of optical fibers, optical fiber construction, mechanisms of attenuation and dispersion. Optical cables, optical connector, splice and couplers. Optical sources: Light emitting diodes and laser diodes, and their characteristics. Intensity modulation, direct detection, coherent systems.
Optical transmitters and amplifiers. Optical detectors and receivers: PIN photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes, their characteristics. Optical waveguides and optical soliton. Optical link design: Limitations in bandwidth and distance due to attenuation and dispersion. Link budget calculations. Applications: Selection of components for different applications. State-of-the-art applications of optical fiber communications. Analog and digital communication systems. Low BW and bitrate to ultra-wide band and ultra-high bitrate communication systems. Introduction to communication networks (LANs, MANs and WANs).