| Instructor: | Steve Blair (MEB 4514, 5-6157) |
| Office Hours: | MF 2:30-3:30 |
| Prerequisites: | ECE 5410 preferred, but not required |
| Class Time: | MWF 12:55-1:45 PM |
| Location: | MEB 2555 |
| Text book: | Joseph C. Palais, Fiber Optic Communications, Fifth Ed. |
| References: | S. O. Kasap, Optoelectronics and Photonics |
| B. E. A. Saleh and M. C. Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics | |
| D. Marcuse, Theory of Dielectric Optical Waveguides | |
| G. Keiser, Optical Fiber Communications | |
| R. Ramaswami and K. N. Sivarajan, Optical Newtorks | |
| Homework: | Homework and solutions will be posted. |
| Labs: | A schedule will be arranged for three to four labs |
| Project: | Each student will do a project. Presentations will be made during final exam period. |
| Exams: | Two exams during the semester. |
| Grading: | 10% Homework |
| 30% Laboratory | |
| 40% Exams | |
| 20% Project (based upon presentation) |
This is an introductory course in fiber optic communications systems. Beginning with a broad overview of this rapidly-growing field, wave propagation in optical fiber is studied, including fiber transverse modes, optical phase and group velocity, attenuation, chromatic and modal dispersion, and the increasingly important nonlinear effects. The main optical source is the semiconductor laser. The transient behavior of these lasers is studied for direct current modulation. High-speed (> 2.5 Gb/s) external electro-optic modulation is also discussed, in addition to optical amplifiers and noise sources. Optical detectors such as the PIN and avalanch photo-diodes are covered, along with detector responsivity, bandwidth, and noise. Finally, complete fiber communications system are studied: direct detection single and multi-channel systems. Systems issues such as attenuation limitations, signal dependent noise, additive noise, quantum noise, bit error rate, and dispersion and nonlinearity limitations are also covered. Each student will do a project on fiber to the home (FTTH). This is probably the most active area of optical communications. The project will involve proposing a network architecture for FTTH. Design issues include performance, scalability, and cost.