FTTP LINK POWER BUDGET

JFM.20374

In carrying out a link power-budget analysis, one first needs to determine the link power margin or allowed attenuation range. Simply, this is the maximum allowed difference in light power level between the optical transmitter output and the minimum receiver sensitivity needed to establish a specified Bit Error Rate (BER). As shown in Figure 1, the attenuation that is allowed can be allocated to fiber, splitter, splice, and connector losses, plus any additional optical power losses that may arise from other components, possible device degradations, transmission-line impairments, or temperature effects. If the choice of components did not allow the desired transmission distance to be achieved for the FTTP network, the components might have to be changed.

Figure 1: Power margin allocation to various link loss factors

Power-Budgeting Process The first step in calculating a power budget is to decide at which wavelength to transmit and then select components that operate in this region. For FTTP networks the main three wavelengths are 1310, 1490, and 1550 nm. A link power-budget calculation needs to be done at all three of these wavelengths. The two main reasons for doing this is that the fiber attenuation varies with wavelength and the receiver sensitivities are different in the upstream and downstream directions since the transmission rates are not the same. Once a wavelength has been selected for doing a power-budget

FTTP LINK POWER BUDGET

JFM.20374

calculation, the next step is to correlate the system performances of the major optical link building blocks. For an FTTP network these include the optical receiver, transmitter, splitter, connectors, splices, and fiber. Normally, the designer chooses the characteristics of two of these elements, selects average performance characteristics of the other components, and then does a power-budget calculation to see if the link margin requirements are met. A typical procedure is first to select the photodetector and the optical source. That is, the design engineer selects which class of optics the link should adhere to. Then the designer calculates how far signals can travel over a particular fiber with specific optical splitters, connectors, and splices. Figure 2 shows a hypothetical FTTP link between an OLT and an ONT. Here there are four connectors within the link, an optical power splitter in the central region, N splices located along the cable path, and WDM couplers at the OLT and at the ONT. The optical power arriving at the photodetector depends on the amount of light coupled into the fiber minus the losses incurred along the path. The link-loss budget is derived from the sequential loss contributions of each element in the link. Each of these losses is expressed in decibels as

where Pin and Pout are the optical powers entering and exiting, respectively, a fiber, splice, connector, or other link element. The link-loss budget simply considers the total optical power loss PT that is allowed between the light source and the photodetector, and allocates this loss to factors such as cable attenuation, connector and splice losses, losses in other link components, and system margin. Thus, referring to Figure 2, if Ps is the optical power from the source entering the WDM coupler at the OLT and if PR is the minimum receiver sensitivity needed for a specific BER at the ONT, then

where is the fiber attenuation in dB/km and L is the link length. The system margin can be selected to be around 3 dB.

Figure 2: Losses in an FTTP link between OLT and ONT

FTTP LINK POWER BUDGET

JFM.20374

Example Calculation for 1310-nm Power Budget An engineer plans to design a BPON-based FTTP network with a maximum link length of 20 km, as shown in Figure 3. The link design will use a class B attenuation range. This will allow a maximum attenuation of 25 dB across the optical data network (ODN) between its interfaces with the two WDM couplers. The network will use the following components and conditions: A 1 32 optical power splitter that has a throughput loss of 16.5 dB is used. An installed fiber that meets the G.652 specification is used. At 1310 nm the fiber attenuation is 0.4 dB/km and at 1490 nm it is 0.25 dB/km.

Figure 3: Optical Power Losses in a 1310 nm FTTP link For the 20-km cable span between the two WDM couplers there are a maximum of three lowloss LC connectors and one fusion splice with a loss of 0.1 dB each. There is a wavelength-combining and a wavelength-separating component at both the OLT and the ONT. Assume that each of these WDM components has a throughput loss of 1.5 dB. The downstream data rate is 1.25 Gbps and the upstream rate is 622 Mbps. For this system we assume that the BER desired is 10 -11 (i.e., at most one error can occur for every 1011 bits sent).

FTTP LINK POWER BUDGET

JFM.20374

There is a 3-dB power penalty associated with the optical receiver at the OLT, since it needs to operate in a burst mode.

Note that these loss values are conservative. Typically, in a practical fielded FTTP network some of these losses are larger, and there may be more connectors and splices, which also increases the link loss. In addition, the effects of other power penalties besides that due to the burst-mode receiver have not been included. The first step is to calculate the 1310-nm power budget. The engineer selects an ONT containing a laser diode that can launch Ps = 2.0 dBm (1.6 mW) of 1310-nm optical power into the fiber and an OLT that uses an InGaAs pin photodiode. The photodetector has a sensitivity of PR = -30 dBm at 622 Mbps for a 10 -11 BER at 1310 nm. The total optical power loss allowed between the ONT laser and the OLT photodetector can than be at most PT = Ps - PR = 32 dB. Assume that here, because of the way the equipment is arranged, a short optical jumper cable is needed in the central office between the incoming feeder cable and the OLT equipment rack. Assume that the jumper cable introduces a loss of 1.0 dB, which is due mainly to a 0.5-dB mated-connector loss at each end of the jumper. Two low-loss LC connectors (0.1 dB per mated pair) are located at each end of the drop cable running from the breakout box to the ONT at the subscribers premises. There is another LC connector at the interface between the splitter and the distribution cable. The main splice is at the end of the feeder cable where it attaches to the optical splitter. A convenient procedure for calculating the power budget is to use a tabular or spreadsheet form. This is illustrated in Table 1, which gives the spreadsheet for calculating the 1310-nm link power budget. This table lists the components in the leftmost column and the associated optical output, sensitivity, or loss in the center column. The rightmost column gives the power margin available after successively subtracting the component loss from the total optical power loss that is allowed between the light source and the photodetector. In this case the allowable loss between the two WDM couplers is 25 dB for class B operation. The final system margin is 0.1 dB, which is a very tight safety factor for this link. Therefore, operation at 1310 nm is barely adequate in this case. Thus, the designer may need to consider the use of class C components, which adds 5 dB to the attenuation range. Alternatively, the splitter size or link length can be reduced.

Table 1: Spreadsheet for Calculating the 1310-nm BPON-Based FTTP Link Power Budget for a Class B Attenuation Range