Intensity modulation

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In optical communications, intensity modulation (IM) is a form of modulation in which the optical power output of a source is varied in accordance with some characteristic of the modulating signal. The envelope of the modulated optical signal is an analog of the modulating signal in the sense that the instantaneous power of the envelope is an analog of the characteristic of interest in the modulating signal.

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The recovery of the modulating signal is typically achieved by direct detection, not heterodyning. However, optical heterodyne detection is possible and has been actively studied since 1979. Bell Laboratories had a working, but impractical, system in 1969. [1] Heterodyne and homodyne systems are of interest because they are expected to produce an increase in sensitivity of up to 20 dB [2] allowing longer hops between islands for instance. Such systems also have the important advantage of very narrow channel spacing in optical frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. [3] OFDM is a step beyond wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Normal WDM using direct detection does not achieve anything like the close channel spacing of radio frequency FDM. [4]

Intensity modulation with direct detection

Intensity Modulation / Direct Detection (IM/DD) is a scheme is simple and cost-effective in fiber optic communication, making it a suitable for various optical communication applications. It involves modulating the optical power of the carrier signal to represent the transmitted data. This modulation can be achieved using techniques, such as on-off keying (OOK). The intensity-modulated optical signal is generated by modulating the amplitude or the current of the light source, typically a laser diode with one or two cavity designs such as Fabry-Perot or distributed feedback (DFB). [5]

At the receiver end, direct detection (DD) is used to recover the modulated signal. The modulated optical signal is detected by a photodetector (most commonly PIN or APD photodiode), which converts the optical power variations into corresponding electrical current or voltage variations. The output of the photodetector is then processed and decoded to retrieve the original information. [5]

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Related Research Articles

In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a separate signal called the modulation signal that typically contains information to be transmitted. For example, the modulation signal might be an audio signal representing sound from a microphone, a video signal representing moving images from a video camera, or a digital signal representing a sequence of binary digits, a bitstream from a computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiplexing</span> Method of combining multiple signals into one signal over a shared medium

In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a physical transmission medium. For example, in telecommunications, several telephone calls may be carried using one wire. Multiplexing originated in telegraphy in the 1870s, and is now widely applied in communications. In telephony, George Owen Squier is credited with the development of telephone carrier multiplexing in 1910.

Data communication or digital communications, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibers, wireless communication using radio spectrum, storage media and computer buses. The data are represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage, radiowave, microwave, or infrared signal.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wavelength-division multiplexing</span> Fiber-optic communications technology

In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths of laser light. This technique enables bidirectional communications over a single strand of fiber, also called wavelength-division duplexing, as well as multiplication of capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frequency-division multiplexing</span> Signal processing technique in telecommunications

In telecommunications, frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) is a technique by which the total bandwidth available in a communication medium is divided into a series of non-overlapping frequency bands, each of which is used to carry a separate signal. This allows a single transmission medium such as a microwave radio link, cable or optical fiber to be shared by multiple independent signals. Another use is to carry separate serial bits or segments of a higher rate signal in parallel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrier wave</span> Waveform that is modulated with a signal to convey information

In telecommunications, a carrier wave, carrier signal, or just carrier, is a waveform that is modulated (modified) with an information-bearing signal for the purpose of conveying information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical communication</span> Use of light to convey information

Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. The earliest basic forms of optical communication date back several millennia, while the earliest electrical device created to do so was the photophone, invented in 1880.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photonics</span> Technical applications of optics

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In optics, a frequency comb is a laser source whose spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines. Frequency combs can be generated by a number of mechanisms, including periodic modulation of a continuous-wave laser, four-wave mixing in nonlinear media, or stabilization of the pulse train generated by a mode-locked laser. Much work has been devoted to this last mechanism, which was developed around the turn of the 21st century and ultimately led to one half of the Nobel Prize in Physics being shared by John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiber-optic communication</span> Method of transmitting information

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared or visible light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference is required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks or across long distances.

Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an analog modulation method such as frequency modulation (FM) or amplitude modulation (AM), or no modulation at all.

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical-heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) is an ultra-sensitive laser-based absorption technique that utilizes laser light to assess the concentration or the amount of a species in gas phase by absorption spectrometry (AS).

Optical heterodyne detection is a method of extracting information encoded as modulation of the phase, frequency or both of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength band of visible or infrared light. The light signal is compared with standard or reference light from a "local oscillator" (LO) that would have a fixed offset in frequency and phase from the signal if the latter carried null information. "Heterodyne" signifies more than one frequency, in contrast to the single frequency employed in homodyne detection.

The time-stretch analog-to-digital converter (TS-ADC), also known as the time-stretch enhanced recorder (TiSER), is an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) system that has the capability of digitizing very high bandwidth signals that cannot be captured by conventional electronic ADCs. Alternatively, it is also known as the photonic time-stretch (PTS) digitizer, since it uses an optical frontend. It relies on the process of time-stretch, which effectively slows down the analog signal in time before it can be digitized by a standard electronic ADC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orbital angular momentum multiplexing</span> Optical multiplexing technique

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing is a physical layer method for multiplexing signals carried on electromagnetic waves using the orbital angular momentum of the electromagnetic waves to distinguish between the different orthogonal signals.

A super-channel is an evolution in dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) in which multiple, coherent optical carriers are combined to create a unified channel of a higher data rate, and which is brought into service in a single operational cycle.

An optical module is a typically hot-pluggable optical transceiver used in high-bandwidth data communications applications. Optical modules typically have an electrical interface on the side that connects to the inside of the system and an optical interface on the side that connects to the outside world through a fiber optic cable. The form factor and electrical interface are often specified by an interested group using a multi-source agreement (MSA). Optical modules can either plug into a front panel socket or an on-board socket. Sometimes the optical module is replaced by an electrical interface module that implements either an active or passive electrical connection to the outside world. A large industry supports the manufacturing and use of optical modules.

Coherent optical module refers to a typically hot-pluggable coherent optical transceiver that uses coherent modulation (BPSK/QPSK/QAM) rather than amplitude modulation (RZ/NRZ/PAM4) and is typically used in high-bandwidth data communications applications. Optical modules typically have an electrical interface on the side that connects to the inside of the system and an optical interface on the side that connects to the outside world through a fiber optic cable. The technical details of coherent optical modules were proprietary for many years, but have recently attracted efforts by multi-source agreement (MSA) groups and a standards development organizations such as the Optical Internetworking Forum. Coherent optical modules can either plug into a front panel socket or an on-board socket. Coherent optical modules form a smaller piece of a much larger optical module industry.

References

  1. T. Okoshi, Coherent Optical Fiber Communications, pages 2-3, Springer, 1988 ISBN   9027726779.
  2. T. G. Hodgkinson, D. W. Smith, R. Wyatt, D. J. Malyon, "Coherent optical fibre transmission systems", in Bishnu P Pal (ed), Fundamentals Of Fibre Optics In Telecommunication And Sensor Systems ,page 470, Bohem Press, 1992 ISBN   8122404693.
  3. Chinlon Lin, "Opto-electronics and the information age: a perspective", in Bishnu P Pal (ed), Fundamentals Of Fibre Optics In Telecommunication And Sensor Systems ,page 20, Bohem Press, 1992 ISBN   8122404693.
  4. Ananth Selvarajan, Subrat Kar, T. Srinivas. Optical Fiber Communication: Principles and Systems, page 129, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2003 ISBN   0070445567.
  5. 1 2 Cox, C.; Ackerman, E.; Helkey, R.; Betts, G.E. (August 1997). "Techniques and Performance of Intensity-Modulation Direct-Detection Analog Optical Links". IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. 45 (8): 1375–1383. doi:10.1109/22.618439. ISSN   0018-9480.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from Federal Standard 1037C. General Services Administration. (in support of MIL-STD-188).

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