Gerd Keiser - Fiber Optic Communications

Chapter gives the motivations and advantages for using optical fibers, the spectral bands of interest, methods used to boost the transmission capacity of an optical fiber, and what standards are being applied.

Despite its apparent simplicity, an optical fiber is one of the most important elements in a fiber link. Chapter gives details on the physical structures, constituent materials, and lightwave propagation mechanisms of optical fibers.

Chapter gives details on the attenuation behavior and signal dispersion characteristics of the wide variety of common optical fibers. In addition, the chapter discusses international standards for manufacturing optical fibers.

Chapter addresses the structures, light-emitting principles, operating characteristics of light sources, and optical signal modulation techniques.

How to couple the light source to a fiber is described in Chap. , as well as how to join two fibers in order to ensure a low optical power loss at the joints.

Chapter covers the structures and performances of photodetectors. Because an optical signal generally is weakened and distorted at the end of link, the photodetector must possess a high sensitivity, have a fast response time, and add minimum noise effects to the system. In addition, its size must be compatible with that of the fiber output.

The lightwave receiver detects an arriving optical signal and converts it into an electrical signal for information processing. Chapter describes receiver principles and functions, which include signal detection statistics and eye diagram error measurements schemes.

Chapter discusses digital link design methods including power budgets and bandwidth limitations. In addition, the topics include power penalties, basic coherent detection schemes, and details of error control methods for digital signals.

Chapter examines the concepts of analog links for sending radio frequency (RF) signals at microwave frequencies over optical fibers. An expanding application of these techniques is for broadband radio-over-fiber networks.

Chapter addresses wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), examines the functions of a generic WDM link, and discusses international standards for different WDM schemes. It also includes descriptions of passive WDM devices, such as fiber Bragg gratings, thin-film filters, and various types of gratings.

Chapter describes the concepts for creating optical amplification and the applications of these devices. Among the topics are semiconductor optical amplifiers, doped fiber amplifiers, and Raman amplification schemes.

Chapter is devoted to the origins and effects of nonlinear processes in optical fibers. Some of these nonlinear effects degrade system performance and need to be controlled, whereas others can have beneficial uses.

Chapter is devoted to optical networking concepts for long distance, metro, data center, and access networks. Among the topics are optical add/drop multiplexing and optical cross-connects, wavelength routing, optical packet switching, optical burst switching, and passive optical networks.