NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment -4

Noise in Lasers- Relative Intensity Noise, Phase noise,

effect of noise on different modulation schemes, External
Modulation- generation of OOK, BPSK, QPSK and
16QAM

1. A laser diode emits at 10 mW constant optical power with a flat RIN spectral density of -130
dB/Hz. Find the electrical bandwidth so that the RMS optical power fluctuation is less than
0.1 mW ?
(a) ≤ 1 GHz
(b) ≤ 2 GHz
(c) ≤ 4 GHz
(d) ≤ 0.5 GHz

Solution: [Ans: a]
Given RIN is -130dB/Hz, which is represented in linear scale as 10−13 .

∆P qR
f2
= f1
Si (f )
P
√
0.1/10 = BW × 10−13

BW ≤ 109 Hz
≤ 1 GHz

Use the following data for questions 2 to 5 The spectral density of laser emission has a
Lorentzian shape of full-width at half-maximum of 10 MHz.

2. Find the spectral width at - 20 dB level ?

(a) 99.5 MHz
(b) 49.7 MHz
(c) 28.8 MHz
(d) 14.4 MHz

Solution: [Ans: a]

1 Γ/2
P (ν) =
π (ν − ν0 )2 + (Γ/2)2
Pmax = P (ν = ν0 )
2
=
πΓ
NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

-20 dB level in log scale correspond to 1/100 in linear scale,

1 1 Γ/2
Pmax /100 = =
50πΓ π (ν − ν0 )2 + (Γ/2)2
ν − ν0 = ±49.7 M Hz
ν1 − ν0 = 49.7 M Hz
ν2 − ν0 = −49.7 M Hz
ν1 − ν2 = 99.5 M Hz

3. Find the coherence time of this laser ? Write answer in ns.

Solution: [Ans: 31.83 ns ; Answer range : 31 to 32.5 ns]

1
τcoh = = 31.8 ns
π∆ν

4. Find the phase error accumulated over one symbol slot, for a 25 Gbaud transmission system
? Write the answer in degrees.

Solution: [Ans: 2.8 ; Answer range : 2.5 to 3]

tbaud = 1/(25 × 109 )

= 40 ps
p
σ∆φ = 2π∆νtbaud × Nsymb
= 50.13 mrad = 2.80

5. What is the smallest baud rate that you can safely use this laser for phase modulation, so
that the phase error is less than 10 degree over 109 symbols.
(a) 4.8 × 1028 Hz
(b) 2 × 1027 Hz
(c) 14 × 1013 Hz
(d) 17 × 1013 Hz

Solution: [Ans: b ]

p
σ∆φ = 2π∆νtbaud × Nsymb
p
= 2π × 10 × 106 × tbaud × 109 < 0.174rad
tbaud < 4.8 × 10−28
Rsymb > 2 × 1027 Hz

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NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

6. BPSK modulation can be achieved by

(a) Bias voltage at quadrature, swing voltage : Vπ
(b) Bias voltage at quadrature, swing voltage : Vπ
(c) Bias voltage at null, swing voltage : Vπ
(d) Bias voltage at null, swing voltage : Vπ

Solution: [Ans: b]

7. Extinction ratio of a modulator is defined as the ratio between

(a) Highest input voltage to the lowest input voltage
(b) Output power and input power of the modulator
(c) Highest transmitted power to the lowest transmitted power
(d) Highest output powers when the polarization state at the input is change

Solution: [Ans: c]

8. Insertion loss of the modulator is measured as the ratio between

(a) Output power to input power when the bias corresponds to peak transmission
(b) Maximum and minimum values of output powers at the peak bias points when the input
polarisation state is changed.
(c) Output power corresponding to peak and null bias points
(d) Output power to input power when the bias corresponds to null transmission

Solution: [Ans: a]

9. At a certain applied voltage to the MZM, the light in two arms interfere destructively, the
phase difference between them is equal to
(a) π/4
(b) π/2
(c) π
(d) −π/4

Solution: [Ans: c]

10. Commercial Mach Zehnder modulator works on the principle of

[Ans: c]
(a) Electro optic effect

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NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

(b) Acousto optic effect

(c) Zeeman effect
(d) Stark effect

Solution: [Ans: a]

11. Swing voltage for OOK modulation is generally kept lower than Vπ to
(a) Reduce the optical power consumed
(b) Increase the extinction ratio
(c) Reduce nonlinearities at the output
(d) Reduce the insertion loss

Solution: [Ans: c]

Use given data below for questions 12 to 15 A LiN bO3 based MZM was operated in a
push-pull configuration and its transfer function is obtained as shown in Fig 1. A DFB laser
at 1.55 µm, occupying a spectral with of 3MHz and with output power of 3 dBm was used
for the characterization.

0.8
Power (mW)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Voltage (V)

Figure 1: MZM transfer function

12. From the transfer function, estimate the Vπ of the modulator used.
(a) 4.9 V
(b) 3.9 V
(c) 3.0 V
(d) 2.4 V

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NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

Solution: [Ans: c]
From the graph, V (at Pmax )= 0.9 V and V (at Pmin )=3.9 V
Vπ of the modulator = V (at Pmax ) - V (at Pmin ) = 3.0 V

13. The minimum power obtained using this modulator is -36.03 dBm and given that the insertion
loss of the MZM is about 4 dB. Estimate the extinction ratio of the modulator.
(a) 32.03 dB
(b) 35.03 dB
(c) 40.03 dB
(d) 36.03 dB

Solution: [Ans: c]
Maximum Output Power= Input Power- Insertion Loss = -1 dBm
Extinction ratio= Maximum Output Power- Minimum Output Power= 35.03 dB

14. If this modulator was to be used to generate a 10 Gbps OOK data, where should the modulator
be biased?
(a) 2.4 V
(b) 0 V
(c) 3.9 V
(d) 0.9 V

Solution: [Ans: a]
For OOK Modulator,

V (atPmax ) + V (atPmin )
Vbias = = 2.4V
2

Voltage swing can be from 0.9 V to 3.9 V

15. If this modulator was to be used to generate a 12.5 Gbps BPSK data, where should the
modulator be biased and what should be the input voltage swing to the modulator. After
how many bit transmission would the accumulated phase be 450 ?
(a) 1632
(b) 204
(c) 816
(d) 409

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NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

Solution: [Ans: d]
For BPSK data, Vbias = V(at Pmin ) = 3.9 V
Voltage swing = 0.9 V to 6.9 V.
Spectral Width= 3 MHz
Accumulated phase will be due to phase noise,
p
σ∆φ = 2π∆νtbaud × Nsymb
r
1
= 2 × π × 3 × 106 × Nsymb × < 0.785rad
12.5 × 109
Nsymb = 409 symbols = 409 bits

16. An optical system is to be designed for 100 Gbps transmission. The best available symbol
rate for all the components is limited to 25 GSymbols/sec. Which one the following strategies
will be used to meet the required datarate ?
(a) QPSK with dual polarization
(b) BPSK with dual polarization
(c) OOK with dual polarization
(d) BPSK with single polarization

Solution: [Ans: a]

Symbol rate is 25 Gbps and QPSK is having 2 bits per symbols - which corresponds to 50
Gbps. To transport 100 Gbps data, data is to be transmitted in both the polarizations so
modulator required is Dual Polarization IQ-MZM.
I

IQ- modulator
MZM a

0
90
MZM b
Phase shifter
  

Q
Polarization Polarization
Laser Coherent 
Beam Splitter Beam
Receiver
Combiner
I

IQ- modulator
MZM a

0
90
MZM b
Phase shifter
  

Bias Voltage = Vpi Input drive voltages are from 0 to 2Vpi

17. An electro-optic intensity modulator is operated such that voltage is applied only on one of
the arms. One of the two branches of the interferometer has a loss (0 < η < 1) relative to
the other, so that the output field E0 = 0.5(ejφ1 + ηejφ2 )Ein . Find the extinction ratio (ER)
as a function of η. (Extinction ratio is defined as the ratio of maximum output power and
minimum outpuut power acheivable in a modulator)

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NPTEL- Fiber Optic Communication Technology Assignment-4

1+η
(a) ER = 1−η
1−η
(b) ER = 1+η
2η
(c) ER = 1−η
2η
(d) ER = 1+η

Solution: [Ans: a]

E0 = 0.5(ejφ1 + ηejφ2 )Ein (1)

Ein
= (((cos(φ1 ) + ηcos(φ2 )) + 1j((sin(φ1 ) + ηsin(φ2 )) (2)
2
2
Ein
The output power is given by, P0 = E02 = (1 + ηcos(φ1 − φ2 )) 2

2
Ein
When φ1 − φ2 = 0, Pmax = (1 + η) 2
E2
When φ1 − φ2 = π, Pmin = (1 − η) 2in

1+η
Extinction ratio= PPmax
min
= 1−η

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