Transmission Link Analysis

Design Considerations
• Link Power Budget
– There is enough power margin in the system to
meet the given BER
• Rise Time Budget
– Each element of the link is fast enough to meet
the given bit rate

These two budgets give necessary conditions

for satisfactory operation
 Simple point-to-point link

This p-p link forms the basis for examining

more complex systems

System Requirements
1. Transmission Distance
2. Data Rate for a given BER
 Selecting the Fiber
Bit rate and distance are the major factors
Other factors to consider:
• Attenuation
• Bandwidth-Length product

Then decide
• Multimode or single mode
• Step or graded index fiber
 Selecting the LED
LASER
Optical Source
• Emission wavelength
• Spectral line width
(FWHM) and number
of modes
• Output power
• Stability
• Emission pattern
• Effective radiating area
 Selecting the detector
• Type of detector
– APD: High sensitivity but complex, high bias voltage
(40V or more) and expensive
– PIN: Simpler, thermally stable, low bias voltage (5V or
less) and less expensive
• Responsivity
• Operating wavelength and spectral selectivity
• Speed
• Sensitivity
 Typical bit rates at different
wavelengths
Wavelength LED Systems LASER Systems.

800-900 nm 150 Mb/s.km 2500 Mb/s.km

(Typically
Multimode Fiber)
1300 nm (Lowest 1500 Mb/s.km 25 Gb/s.km
dispersion) (InGaAsP Laser)
1550 nm (Lowest 1200 Mb/s.km Up to 500
Attenuation) Gb/s.km
(Best demo)
 Optical power-loss model

PT  Ps  PR  mlc  nlsp   f L  System Margin

PT : Total loss; Ps : Source power; PR : Rx sensitivity

m connectors; n splices
 Optical power-loss model (Cont…..)

PT  Ps  PR  mlc  nlsp   f L  System Margin

PT :- Total Loss
PS :- Source Power
PR :- Receiver Sensitivity
lsp :- Splice loss
n :- No. of splices
lc :- Connector loss
m :- No. of Connectors
 Example 1
A network provider choose the components with the
following characteristics-
Receiver sensitivity= - 50dBm (at 1Gb/s)
Fiber loss 0.5 dB/km
Transmitter launch power into the fiber is 0 dBm
Detector coupling loss is 1 dB.
It is anticipated that in addition, 20 splices each of loss 0.5
dB are required.

Calculate the power budget to construct an optical link of

40km and bandwidth of 1Gb/s. Also determine whether
the system operates with sufficient power margin or not.
 Solution
Transmitter Output = 0 dBm
Receiver Sensitivity = -50dBm
Available Power = 50dB

System Loss
Fiber Loss of 0.5dB/Km, 40Km = 20dB
Detector Coupling Loss = 1dB
Total Splicing Loss (0.5dBX20) = 10dB
System margin = 6dB

Total Attenuation = 37dB

Hence the excess power margin is 13dB. It is sufficient for

the operation of the optical link.
 Example 2
Consider a LED source of emitted power 0dBm.
Available length of fiber is 2km. Assume that source
coupling loss is 3dB, detector coupling loss is 1dB,
system margin is 5dB, splice loss is 0.2dB per splice and
attenuation is 2dB/km for the operating wavelength
850nm. Determine the maximum permissible link
length. Receiver sensitivity is –30dBm.
 Solution
Transmitter Output = 0 dBm
Receiver Sensitivity = -30dBm
Available Power = 30dB

Loss due to source and detector coupling and system margin =

3dB + 1 dB + 5 dB = 9dB

Thus Power left = 30dB – 9dB = 21dB

Let length of the link = L km (Length of each fiber section 2km)

So, there are (L/2 – 1) Splices in the link.

So, (L/2 – 1) X (0.2) + L X 2 = 21dB

From this L = 10km.