4.30 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.

31
4.8. FUNDAMENTAL RECEIVER OPERATION The noise output is then reduced to the desired level by the band limiting

The design of an optical receiver is much more complicated than that of an filter and the signal is then amplified to the signal data level. Since most fiber
optic systems use a two level binary digital signal.
-

optical transmitter because, the receiver must first detect weak signal,
distorted signals and then make decisions on what type of data was sent
4.8.1. Digital Signal Transmission
based on an amplified version of this distorted signal.
Tb Tb
OM AGC amplifier 1 0 1 LED or
Bandwidth Optical
limiting filter
Electrical t t t laser
transmitter t t t fiber t t t
Pre amplifier and amplifier Attenuated and
data output Electrical Electrical
distorted optical
input pulses input pulses
power pulses

A APD
Input Peak amplitude
Pin or Amplifier
optical detector
dat
avalanche
photodiode
t t t and
filter
t t t
Electric current Voltage pulses
pulse containing and amplifier
High voltage AGC control AGC reference photodetector noise noise
power supply circuit voltage

Fig. 4.17. Fiber optic link receiver

Decision circuit
and pulse
regenerator
1 0 1

t t t
Regenerated output
Signal
processing
equipment
t
The arrows
When the optical data are incident on the APD, higher current pulses flow voltage pulses denote the time
slot centers
through the circuit.
The. photocurrent is amplified by the preamplifier. Thus it converts the Fig.4.18. Signal path through an optical data link.
voltage pulses to have adequate voltage level. Bit period:
The peak amplitude of the voltage pulses are maintained as constant by the
The transmitted signal is a two level binary data stream consisting of
-

AGC controlled amplifier.

either a0 or al in a time slot of duration Tb. This time slot is referred to a
The signal from the output of AGC amplifier is fed back to the AGC
bit period.
amplifier via a peak amplitude detector.
One of the simplest techniques for sending binary data is amplitude shift
A compensation is made between the input and the reference voltage level
keying, wherein a voltage level is switched between two values, which
and a required output signal is generated which controls the gain of the AGC
are usually on or off.
amplifier.
The optical transmitter converts the electrical signal into optical signal.
An electrical current i(t) can be used to modulate an optical source (either
an LED or a laser diode) to produce an optical output power p(t).
4.32 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.33
The optical signal equivalent for "1" is pulse of optical power of duration Noise
"Tb" whereas "0" is absence of light. The optical pulse gets attenuated as The term noise is used to describe unwanted components of an electric
it propagates in the fiber. signal that tend to disturb the transmission and processing of the signal in
Pin or avalanche photo diode at the receiver, convert the optical signal to a physical system, and over which we have incomplete control.
electrical signal. Amplified and filtered signals are compared in a
decision circuit with the threshold voltage. . Types of Noise:

Threshold level: The noise sources can be either external or internal to the system.

A decision circuit compares the signal in each time slot with a certain Noise

reference voltage known as the threshold level. 4.

Internal
4.
External
(i) Received signal > Threshold = 1
(Eg. atmosphere noise,
(ii) Received signal < Threshold = 0 4.
Shot Thermal
equipment-generated noise)
If the received signal is greater than threshold "1" is received else zero.
In some cases, an optical amplifier is placed ahead of the photodiode to Fig. 4.20.
boost the optical signal level before photo detection. An optical
Internal noise:
preamplifier provides a larger gain factor and broader bandwidth.
Internal noise is caused by the spontaneous fluctuations of current or
However, this process also introduces additional noise to the optical
voltage in electric circuits.
signal.
The two most common internal noises are shot noise and thermal noise.
4.8.2. Error sources Shot noise arises in electronic devices because of the discrete nature
of current flow in the device.
Errors in the detection mechanism can arise from various noise and
Thermal noise arises from the random motion of electrons in a
disturbances associated with signal detection system.
conductor.
Photon stream Bias resistor The random arrival rate of signal photons produces a quantum (or shot)
Photo detector
Amplifier
(gain M)
hv noise at the photo detector. This noise depends on the signal level.
For APD and pin diodes additional shot noise arises from statistical
Photon detection * Amplifier noise
Bulk dark current
quantum noise nature of the multiplication process. With increasing avalanche gain
Surface leakage
(Poisson fluctuation) current (M) the noise level increases.
Statistical gain * Thermal
fluctuation (for noise The dark current and surface leakage current noises are independent of
avalanche photodiodes) the photons. Thermal noise arising from the detector load resistor and

Fig. 4.19. Noise sources and disturbances in the optical pulse detection mechanism.
4.34 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.35
from the amplifier electronics dominate in low signal to noise ratio Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI):
applications. The thermal noises are gaussian in nature.
When the pulse spreading in the optical fiber, the inter-symbol-interference
The primary photocurrent generated by the photodiode is a time varying
-

(ISI) will be occur.

Poisson process resulting from the random arrival of photons at the
detector.
If the detector is illuminated by an optical signal p(t), then the average

Received signal level

number of electronhole pairs N generated in a time "T" is

N= fp(t)dt = 21
E
hv o hv

Where,
rl The detector quantum efficiency.
hv The photon energy and Fig. 4.21. Pulse spreading in an optical signal that leads to inter symbol interference
E The energy received in a time interval T.
Some of the transmitted energy spread progressively into the neighboring
The actual number of electronhole pairs "n" that are generated
time slots as the pulse propagates along the fiber.
fluctuates from the average according to the poisson distribution
If "v" is the fraction of energy remaining in the appropriate time slot then
"1 v" is fraction of energy that spread into adjacent time slots.
Pr (n) = 1Cn e N ... (2)
n!
4.8.3. Receiver Configuration
where, Pr(n) is the probability that "n" electrons are emitted in
an interval T. The fig. shows the schematic diagram of a typical optical receiver. The three
The random nature of the avalanche multiplication process gives rise to basic stages of the receiver are
a type of shot noise. (i) Photo detector
A detector with a mean avalanche gain M and an ionization rate ratio (ii) An amplifier and
K, the excess noise factor F(M) for electron injection is (iii) An equalizer
The photo detector can be either an avalanche photodiode with a mean gain
1 ( 3
F(M) = KM + 2-- (1K) ( ) M or a pin photodiode for which M = 1. The photo diode has a quantum
M
efficiency ti and a capacitor Cd. The detector bias resistor has a resistance Rb
This equation is often approximated by the empirical expression.
which generates a thermal noise current ib(t).
F(M)cz-', M x (0<x <1.0) ... (4)
4.36 OpticalCommunication FiberOptical Receivers 4.37
V The amplifier input impendence is the parallel combination of a resistance Ra Where,
and a shunt capacitance Ca. Voltages appearing across this impedance cause P(t) Received optical power
current to flow in the amplifier output. Amplitude of nthmessage digit
Tb Bit period and
h p(t) Received pulse shape, which is positive for all t.
For binary data the parameter ba can take on the two values, b, and buff
corresponding to a binary 1 and 0 respectively.
If hp(t) is the non negative photodiode input pulse normalized to have unit
area.

Photodetector and Amplifier and its input fh p(t) dt = 1 ... (2)

its bias resistor parameters

Fig.4.22. Schematic diagram of a typical optical receiver. th

Then b,, represents the energy in the n pulse.
Amplifying function is represented by the voltage-controlled current source The mean output current from the photodiode at time "t" due to pulse train is
which is characterized by a transconductance grn. given as
There are two amplifier noise sources. One is thermal noise due to resistor
4 ( ) (3)
"R a" and noise voltage source ea (t) represents the thermal noise of amplifier (1(0
)=ZA P t
channel. Substitute equation (1) in equation (3)
These noise sources are assumed to be Gaussian in statistics and have flat
spectrum and hence known as white noise. (i(t)) = R o M b o hp (t nTb) . (4)
The equalizer is a linear frequency-shaping filter used to compensate the
R =
effects of signal distortion and inter symbol interference. It accepts the hv
combined frequency response of transmitter, fiber and the receiver and Where, "i" is the quantum efficiency and Ro is the responsivity of the detector.
transforms it into a signal response that it suitable for the following signal-
This current is then amplified and filtered to produce a mean voltage at the
processing electronics. output of the equalizer.
Expression for mean output from photodiode:
4.9. DIGITAL RECEIVER PERFORMANCE
The binary pulse train incident on the photo detector is given by
The digital receiver performance can be evaluated by measuring the
CO
probability of error and quantum limit.
P(t)= b h p (t n T1, )
4.38 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.39
4.9.1. Probability of Error

In practice, several standard ways are available to measuring the rate of error P(y/1)

occurrences in a digital data stream.

1
One common approach is Bit Error Rate (BER) or Error Rate. Po(v)
Threshold voltage

Bit Error Rate (BER):

(v)
BER is defined by the ratio between number of errors (NQ)
P(y/0)
occurring over a certain time interval t to the number of pulses Additive noise, y
transmitted (NI) during this interval.
Fig. 4.23.
BER = N1- = N e Probability distributions for received logical 0 and 1 signal pulses. The different
Nt B t
widths of the two distributions are caused by various signal distortion effects.
Where, B t = 1 is the bit rate (i.e the pulse transmission rate). The fig. shows the probability distribution for received logic 0 and
Tb
1. The functions P(Y/1) and P(Y/0) are the conditional probability
The error rates for optical fiber telecommunication systems range distribution functions; that is, P(Y/X) is the probability that the
from 10-9to 16-12. The error rate depends on the S/N at the receiver. output voltage is Y, given that an X was transmitted.
The probability distribution of signal at the equalizer output should be If the threshold voltage is Vth, then the error probability Peis defined
known to compute BER. Here the decision is made as to whether a 0 as
or 1 is sent. Pe = a Pi Nth )+ b Po (Vth ... (4)

p1(v) = 1 P(Y/OdY ... (2) The weighting factors a and b are determined by the prior
distribution of the data. That is, a and b are the probabilities that
either al or a0 occurs respectively.
Po(v) = I P(Y/0)4
To calculate the "Pe", the mean and standard deviation of the output

Where, voltage Vout(t) should be known.

P 1(V) Probability that the equalizer output voltage is less than Thus, let us assume that a signal s (which can be either a noise
disturbance or a desired information-bearing signal) has a gaussion
"V" when logic "1" is sent.
probability distribution function with a mean value m.
Po(V) Probability that the output voltage exceeds "V" when
2
logic "0" is transmitted. (s m)-
2
1
f(s)ds = 26 ds (5)
V2rca 2
4.40 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.41
Where, f(s) is the probability density function for signal "s", Using equations (3) and (5)
m is the mean, 00

62is the noise variance, and

Po (Vth) =1P(Y/O)dy
Vth
G is the standard deviation, which is a measure of the width Go

= ff0(Y)dy
of the probability distribution.
Vth

00 (V boff )2
Variance G2on 1
on Po (Vth exp dv ... (6)
12n Goff Vth
, 262
off
a)
>
a) Where subscript 0 denotes the presence of a 0 bit.
Threshold level
Vth
Cn Probability of error when 1 pulse sent:

Transmitted pulse 1 is misinterpreted as a 0 by decoder electronics following

the equalizer.
Variance 020ff
Time t vth
Pi Nth = P (Y/OdY
Fig. 4.24. Gaussian noise statistics of a binary signal showing variances about the
Vth
on and off signal levels. = ft (v)dv
Now we can use the probability density function to determine the
probability of error for a data stream in which the 1 pulses with
amplitude V.
(7 )
The fig shows, the mean and variance of the Gaussian output for a 1
Where the subscript 1 denotes the presence of 1 bit.
pulse are bon and (3-02n, respectively, whereas for a 0 pulse they are buff

and c,ff ,respectively. Bit Error Rate (BER) or Error Probability (Pe):

V If probabilities of 0 and 1 pulses are equally likely then the Bit Error Rate
Probability of error when 0 pulse sent:
(BER) or error probability Feis given by
Let us first consider the case of a 0 pulse being sent, so that no pulse is co
BER = P, (Q)= fe-x2 dx
present at the decoding time. The probability of error in this case is the Afrc Q
probability that the noise will exceed the threshold voltage Vth and be
mistaken for a 1 pulse.
4.42 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.43
Q2 If an optical pulse of energy E falls on the photodetector in a time interval T.
2
1 1 e Then it can also be interpreted by the receiver as a "0" pulse. If no-electron
= 1 erf
2 2n Q hole pairs are generated.
The approximation is obtained from the asymptotic expension of erf(x). Here, The probability that n = 0 electrons are emitted in a time interval T is
the parameter Q is defined as 13, (0) e -N

V
th boff bon Where
( 9)
-
Vth
Q= (
G off Yon Average number of electron hole pairs N =
by
x 2 3
2 Thus, for a given error probability 1 ,(0), we can find the minimum energy E
and erf (x) = Se- dy
0 required at a specific wavelength k.
erf(x) is the error function. Since 'Q' is related to the signal to noise
4.11. PREAMPLIFIERS
ratio required to achieve a specific bit error rate. It's used to specify the
receiver performance. The receiver amplifiers are the front end preamplifier. The three basic
V
V Preamplifier structures are
When aoff = Gon = a and buff = 0 and bon = V then Vth = and Q =
2 2a (i) Low impedance Preamplifier (LZ)
Where, "cy" is called the rms noise, and (ii) High-impedance Preamplifier (HZ) and
(iii) Transimpedance Preamplifier.
V is
i the peak signal-to-rms-noise ratio.
Advantages of preamplifiers:
A Preamplifier should satisfy the following requirements; low noise
In this case, equation (8) becomes
level, high bandwidth, high dynamic range, high sensitivity and high gain.

4.11.1. Low Impedance Preamplifier

4.10. THE QUANTUM LIMIT

Ideal photodetector which has unity quantum efficiency and which produces
no dark current that is, no electron hole pairs are generated in the absence
of an optical pulse.
Detector and bias Voltage amplifier
In this condition, it is possible to find the minimum received optical power
required for a specific bit error-rate performance in a digital system. This Fig. 4.25.
minimum received power level is known as the quantum limit.
4.44 OpticalCommunication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.45
Low impedance front end optical fiber receiver with voltage amplifier.
Photo diode operates into a low-impedance amplifier bias or load resistor "Rb"
is used to match the amplifier impedance.
Rb along with the input capacitance of amplifier decides the bandwidth of
amplifier.
Preamplifier bandwidth is equal to or greater than the single bandwidth.
Photodiode with Amplifier and its input Equalizer
.4--
The total load resistance RTL is given by bias registor parameters

_ Ra Fig. 4.26. High input impedance preamplifier

"TL Rb Ra

The high impedance produces a large input RC time constant, the front end
Low impedance preamplifier can operate over a wide bandwidth but they have
bandwidth is less than the signal bandwidth. Thus, the input signal is
poor receiver sensitivity.
integrated and equalization techniques must be employed to compensate for
They are used in special short distance application where high sensitivity is
-

this.
not a major concern.
4.11.2.1. High-Impedance FET Amplifiers
4.11.2. High Impedance (Integrating) Pre amplifier
+V 0 +V 0
The second configuration consists of a high input impedance amplifier together
with a large detector bias resistor (Ra) in order to reduce the effect of thermal
noise.
Main
Equalizer ---,-
In high-impedance preamplifier, the goal is to reduce all sources of noise to the hv amp
photodiode Vow 0)
absolute minimum. This can be achieved by
- Reducing input capacitance through the selection of low-capacitance FET

high frequency devices. Coupling

b capacitor
Selecting detectors with low dark currents and
Minimizing thermal noise of biasing resistors.
Using high impedance amplifier with large Rb (e.g. a bipolar
R s = Large bias resistor
transistor or a field effect transistor (FET))
Fig. 4.27. Simple high impedance preamplifier design using a FET.

For gigabit per second data rates, the lowest noise receivers are made using
- -

GaAs MESFET (metal semiconductor field-effect transistor) Preamplifiers.



4.46 Optical Communication 4.47

Fiber Optical Receivers
At lower frequencies, .Tilicon MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field-
Thermal noise characteristic equation "W" is a very useful figure of merit for a
effect transistors) or JFETs are generally used.
receiver as it measures.
Basic noise sources in the circuit are: 1 ( 4K SE (27cC)2
SE I3
W= SI + B
T
+ I + 2
B ... (4)
q B 2
Rb R 2
j
2
Thermal noise associated with FET channel conductance.
Thermal noise from load or feedback resistor Substituting S1 and SE, the equalizer output "w" is then
Shot noise due to gate leakage current and
-

(27cC \ 2 4K TF
1 4K B T 4K B T F
- A fourth noise source is FET
1 noise. W= 2q ' gate + 12 + B 13 B (5)
q2B Rb gm R b gm
f
1
Where, C = Cd + C gs+ Cgd + Ca
This (
noise was not included in the above analyses because it contributes
f / Here, C gsand Cgd are the FET gate source and gate drain capacitances,
- -

to the overall noise only at very low bit rates. respectively.

As the amplifier input resistance is very high, the input current noise spectral 1 .
noise corner frequency I,:
density SI is
1
4K BBT The noise corner frequency feis defined as the frequency at which
I,FET +2qi gate
Ra f
1
1
FET has very large input resistance "Ra" usually greater than 106 52 For - noise, which dominates the FET noise at low frequencies and has
f f
practical purpose Ra = V.
power spectrum, becomes equal to the high frequency channel noise
S
I,FET al gate
I ... (2) described by E
To minimize the noise in a high-impedance design, the bias resistor should be
'gateis the gate leakage current of the FET, the thermal noise of the
very large. The effect of this is that the detector output signal is integrated by
conducting channel resistance is characterized by the trans conductance g,n.
the amplifier input resistance.
The voltage noise spectral density is
4K TF
SE = B
gm ( 3)

Where the "I' is the channel noise factor. It is a numerical constant that
-

accounts for thermal noise and gate included noise plus the correlation
Detector and bias High input impedance
between these two noises. voltage amplifier
Fig. 4.28. High impedance integrating front end optical fiber receiver with equalized
voltage amplifier.


4.48 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.49

It is to be compensated by differentiation in the equalizing filter. This So Ra for a transistor amplifier is adjustable by the designer.
integration-differentiation approach is known as the high-impedance The spectral density (in A2 / Hz) of the input noise current source which results
amplifier design technique. from shot noise of the base current is

= 2q 'BB (3)
4.11.2.2. High-impedance bipolar transistor:
KB
From equation (1), T substitute in equation (3)
Rin IBB

2K B T
= ... (4)
R in

hv Equalizer
N. ..r photodiode V.ut (t) The trans conductance gn, is related to the shot noise and is given by

FET qI c
gm =
Coupling KB I
capacitor

From equation(1), K B = R in g 'BBsubstitute in equation (5)

T

q lc T
13 ... (6)
g.
R h, q I BB T R ia
Bias resistors R1, R2 >> Ra

Fig. 4.29.Simple high impedance preamplifier design using a bipolar transistor Where, 13 =
'BB
The circuit shows a simple bipolar grounded-emitter transistor amplifier. v2
,
The input resistance (Rh) of a bipolar transistor is given as 7 The spectral height of the noise voltage source in is
Hz
KT
KB T.
Ri = 2K B T
'BB SE = (7)
gm
Where, IBB is base bias current.
Where, KB is the Boltzmann's constant.
The amplifier input resistance Rais given by the parallel combination of the
bias resistors RI and R2 and the transistor input resistance Bin. Thermal noise characteristic equation for receiver amplifier:
For Low noise design (R1 & R2 >>Rm)
-

The performance of receiver is expressed by thermal noise characteristic

R a r-z.1 R iii ... (2) equation(w).
4.50 OpticalCommunication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.51
\
1 ( 4KB T SE (27tC)2 4.11.3. Transimpedance Amplifier
W SI + + / T 2+
-
2 SERB ' ( 8)
q B\
2
Rb R A/V\/\
Rf
Substituting Rai, SI and SE in characteristic equation.

1 2K B T 4K B T 2KB T 2
(27,c) 2KBT
ea(t)
W= 2 + 12 + 2 13B Photo if(t) ^

q B R in Rb g m R` q gm hv diode Vout (t)

A(w) Equalizer---).-
a(t)
is(t) hout (t)
2K B T [1 2 1 (27E0 13B 2
1 2+ (9)
q2B Rb gm
q 2
gm
Fig.4.30. An equivalent circuit of a transimpedance receiver design.

The transimpedance amplifier is nothing but the low noise high impedance
amplifier with a negative feed back "Rf" resistor. The device therefore
a 13 operates as a current mode amplifier.
em
Rin Transimpedance amplifier design over comes the drawbacks of high
Already we know impedance amplifier. Such as
(i) For broadband applications, equalization is required.
1
(ii) It has limited dynamic range.
Tb
The thermal noise characteristic "WTZ" at equalizer output can be found by
Where Tb bit period replacing Rb and R ib .
13 Rb Rf
Rin
1(b = (1)
Rb
Substitute equations (10) and (11) in equation (9)
Due to Rib, the thermal noise characteristic equation becomes,
1 2 R12 \ (2702 R
W = 2 2 K. T -F n 12 2 13 ... (12) Tb / 4K 11B T SE \T (2rtC)2
q ,R in Rb ) oR Tb q j "TZ = 2 + + SE T
... (2)
R ib (WY 2
Cl Tb
If Rb > > Ra then R Ra Rin, equation (12) becomes
1 1 1 1 1 1
Where, (3)
Tb R Rf +
R
W _
2K
B
T
13-F1 I + (2702 R
2
q2 Rin 13 I3Tb n 3
4.52 Optical Communication, Fiber Optical Receivers 4.53
In practice, Rf >> Ra Transfer function of feedback (transimpedance) amplifier:
R' R ... (4)
For the transimpedance amplifier the transfer function HTZ is
Equation (4) in (2), so equation (2) becomes, For feedback amplifier, the transfer function

Tb 4KB T 1
WTZ = WHz + I, HTZ = ( 9)
1+ j2nRCVA
q2 Rf
Where, The bandwidth of transimpedance amplifier B TZ (10)
= 4RC
WHz is the high-impedance amplifier noise characteristic given by
Band width of transimpedance amplifier is A times that of high impedance
either FET or bipolar transistor designs.
-

amplifier. Because of this equalization becomes easy.

The thermal noise characteristics are modeled as the sum of output noise of a
non feedback amplifier plus the thermal noise associated with the feedback Advantages of Transimpedance amplifier:
resistance.
(i) Wide dynamic range
Transfer function of non feedback amplifier: (ii) Little or no equalization is required
The transfer function of non,fied back amplifier is given by (iii) Less susceptible to pick up noise, cross talk, EMI.
(iv) It is very easily controllable and stable.
AR (v) Less Sensitivity.
Hf=
1+j2nRCf

Where, A is the frequency-independent gain of the amplifier. 4.11.4. High-Speed Circuit

In equation (6), R and C are given by Now fiber optic technology is widely employed for long distance -

R a Rb communication, LAN and in telephone networks also because of

R ,C = C a +C d ( 7) improvement in overall performance, reliable operation and cost
R a +R b
effectiveness.
Where, Ca is the detector capacitance and Fiber optic link offers wide bandwidth to support high speed analog and
Ca is the amplifier input capacitance. digital communication.
The bandwidth of non feedback amplifier is,
Because of advancement in technology minimized transmitters and
1 receivers are available in integrated circuit package.
B ... (8)
4RC Many different types of receivers with operating speeds up to
multigigahertz rates are commercially available.
4.54 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.55
4.12. SOLVED PROBLEMS Solution:

Problem 1 Number of electron hole pairs generated

=
Number of incident photons
Determine the Quantum efficiency and the responsivity of the photodiode at 5.4x10 6
0.75,um when 2 x 10" photons with 0.75,um wavelength incident on photodiode, on 6x10 6
average 1.2 x 1011electrons hole pairs are generated at the terminals of the = 0.90
device? The quantum efficiency in percentage = 0.9 x 100 = 90%
Solution:
Probleth 3
1) = Number ofelectronshole pairs generated
(i) Quantum efficiency 0- A photodiode is constructed of GaAs, which has a band gap of 1.53eV at
Number of incident photons
300K. Find out cut-off wavelength.
_
1.2x1011
11 11
Solution:
2x10
Given Eg= 1.53eV
rl = 0.6
= 1.24
Cut-off wavelength X e
The quantum efficiency in percentage = 0.6 x 100 = 60% E g (eV)
C = vX 1.24
TiqX
(ii) Responsivity, R= v=
C 1.53
hC X_ Xc = 0.810tim or 810nm
0.6x1.602x10 -19 x 0.75x10-6
6.626x10-34 x3x108
Problem 4
-25
0.7209x10
19.878x10-26 Photons of energy 1.53 x 1049 J are incident on a photodiode which has a
responsivity of 0.75 A/W. If the optical power level is 10,uw, then find out the photo
-1
R = 0.362Aw
current generated?

Solution:
Problem 2
Given Ro = 0.75A/W
In a 100 ns pulse, 6 x 106 photons at a wavelength of 1300nm fall on an
6 Po = 1011w
In6aAs photodetector. On the average 5.4 x 10 electron hole (e-h) pairs are
generated. What is quantum efficiency?
4.56 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.57
48x10 -33
R=.-5L-1
I =R 0 Po
Ip Po 19.875x10-26
= (0.75A/W) (10[tw) = 2.415 x 10-7
Ip = 7.511A Ip = 0.2415pA

M = IM
Problem 5 I F,

A given silicon avalanche photodiode has a quantum efficiency of 75percent at 121.LA

a wavelength of 800nm. Suppose 0.5,uw of optical power produces a multiplied 0.2415pA
photocurrent of 12,uA. Find out the multiplication factor (M)? =49.7:150
Thus, the primary photocurrent is multiplied by a factor 50.
Solution:

N Problem 6
Multiplication factor (M) = IM
Ip
An In GaAs pin photodiode has the following parameters at a wavelength of
(i) Primary photocurrent (Ip): 1200nm. ID = 4nA, rl = 0.80, RL = _wog and the surface leakage current is
negligible. The incident optical power is 300nw, and the receiver bandwidth is
R= Ip
I p =R Po0 Po 20MHz. Let us find the various noise terms of the receiver.

Solution:
= 11c1 P hv
hv R=111
(i) Primary photocurrent (Ip):
C=vk
p C I p=R Po
hC = TR D
o
given rl = 0.75 hv
44= 1211A = riqk po
= 800nm he
= 8 x 10 -7m = (0.80) (1.6x10-19 01.2x10-6 m) x 3x1
0-7 w
Po = 0.5[Lw (6.625x10-34 J.$)(3x108 m/s)
=5 x 10 -7w 4.608x10-32
-19 -7
= (0.75) (1.6x10 C)(8x10 m) x5x10-7 w 19.875x10-26
( 6.625X l iY34IS) (3 X 108M S)
4.58 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.59
=0.231 x 10 -6 A = 32.347 x10 -17

Ip = 0.23111A = 323.47x10 -18 A 2

(ii) Mean-square quantum noise current for a pin photodiode is (or)
(10 = 2qI p B
(i0 2= 18nA
=2(1.6x10-19 C) (0.231x10-6 A)(20x106 Hz)
=14.784x10 -19A 2 Problem

(I0 = 1.48x10 -18 A 2 If the photodiode capacitance is 3PF, the amplifier capacitance is 4PF, the load

(Or) resistor is 1KS2, and the amplifier input resistance is 1MS2 find out the circuit
bandwidth?
=1.216nA
Solution:
(iii) Mean-square dark current (i) Total capacitance CT = Ca + Cd
(gB ) = 2qI D B = 4PF + 3PF
= 7PF
=2(1.6x10 -19
04x10-9 420x106 Hz) R
R
-20 2
(ii) Total Resistance RT = L a
= 2.56x10 A R L +Ra
-2
A2 (1x10 3 ) (1x10 6 )
ND ) = 2.56x10
1x103+1x106
(Or)
. 1x109
(IDB )2 = 0.16nA 1001x10 3
= 999.090
(iv) Mean-square thermal noise current
4K T RT 1K0
(.2) = BB B
RL Bandwidth of photodiode
1
4 (1.38x10-23 J/K)(293K) B=
x20x106Hz 27tR T er
1000
1
32347.2x10-17
1000 27c x (10 3 x x10-12F)
4.60 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.61
1 09
27E x 7 Problem 9

= 227364304.4Hz The quantum efficiency of a particular silicon RAPD is 80% for the detection of
B = 23MHz radiation at a wavelength of 0.9ian. When the incident optical power is 0.5,uw, the
output current from the device (after avalanche gain) is 11,uA. Determine the

Problem
multiplication factor of the photodiode under these conditions.

Solution:
A digital fiber optic link operating at 850nm requires a maximum BER of 10 - 9
find out the energy of incident photon? (i) Responsivity (R):
qk
Solution: R=
he
The probability error Pr(0) = e-N =10-9 0.8x1.602x10 -19 x0.9x10 -6
Solving for N, 6.626x10 -34 x 2.998x108
N = 91n 10 = 20.7
R= 0.581AW -1
N X21

An average of 21 photons per pulse is required for this BER. (ii) Photocurrent (Ip):
Already we know, IP = PO R

Average no of each pairs generated in time T, N = TIE = 0.5x10 -6
hv
Ip = 0.2941A
1Thv
E=
1
1
(iii) Multiplication factor (M)
hv
IM
The energy of incident photon E = 20.7 M=
1
1 1p

11X10 -6
0.291x10 -6

M = 37.8
4.62 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.63
4.13. TWO MARKS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 6. Define output power signal to noise ratio of an optical receiver?
- -

S Signalpower from photocurrent

1. Define quantum efficiency? N Photo det ector noise power + Amplifier noise power
Quantum efficiency (i) is defined as the number of electron-hole pairs
7.To acheieve high , what are the conditions one should follow?
generated per incident photon of energy, and is given by
1 = Numberof electron - hole pairs generated (i) The photodetector must have a high quantum efficiency to generate a large
1
Number of incident photons signal power.
(ii) The photodetector and amplifier noises should be kept as low as possible.
2. Define responsivity?
8.What are the factors on which response time depends?
The responsivity is a useful parameter as it gives the transfer characteristic of
(i) The transit time of the photo carriers in the depletion region.
the detector.
(ii) The diffusion time of the photo carriers generated outside the depletion region.
It is defined as the ratio of output photocurrent to the incident optical power.
(iii) The RC time constant of the photodiode and its associated circuit.
I -1
R = -P-
(AW )
Po 9.What is the transit time of the photo carriers?
The transit time (td) of the photo carriers in the depletion region is the ratio
3. What is meant by impact ionization in APD?
between carrier drift velocities (Vd) and the depletion layer width (w) and is given
The photogenerated carriers traverse a region where a very high electric field
is present. A photogenerated electron or hole can gain enough energy in this high by t d = -vv

Vd
electric field and excite new electron hole pairs. This process is known as impact
ionization. 10. How does quantum noise arise?

4. What is avalanche effect? The quantum or shot noise arises from the statistical nature of production and
collection of photoelectrons when an optical signal is incident on a photodetector.
Due to impact ionization effect new carriers are generated. The newly created
Mean square value of quantum noise (iQ) = 2q I p B2F(M)
carriers also accelerated by high electric field, thus gaining enough energy to
Where,
cause further impact ionization. This phenomenon is known as avalanche effect.
B - Bandwidth,
5. Define ionization rate?
Ip- Average value of the photocurrent,
The average number of electron-hole pairs created by a carrier per unit q - Electron charge,
distance traveled is called the ionization,rate. M - Multiplication factor,
F(M) - Noise figure associated with the random nature of avalanche
process.
4.64 Optical Communication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.65
11. Define photodiode dark current? 17. What is Inter-symbol Interface(ISI)?
It is the current that continues to flow through the bias circuit of the device When a pulse is transmitted in a given time slot, most of the pulse energy will
when no light is incident on the photodiode. This is a combination of bulk and arrive in the corresponding time slot at the receiver.
surface currents. However, because of pulse spreading induced by the fiber, some of the
12. How does dark current arise? transmitted energy will progressively spread into neighboring time slots as the
pulse propagates along the fiber.
The bulk dark current arises from electrons and/or holes which are thermally
The presence of this energy in adjacent time slots results in an interfering
generated in the pn junction of the photo diode.
signal. This is called as Inter-Symbol-Interference.
2
Meansquare value (i 2DB= 2q IDBM F(M)
18. Define Extinction ratio?
Where, ID is the primary (unmultiplied) detector bulk dark current.
Extinction ratio is defined as the ratio of the optical power in a zero pulse to
13. How does surface-leakage current arise? the power in a one pulse.
Surface-leakage current arises due to surface defects, cleanliness, bias voltage 19. Name the functions performed by optical detector?
and surface area.
Optical detector convert the received optical signal into an electrical signal,
Mean square value (i 2D5 ) = 2q,1L B which is then amplified before further processing.
Where, IL is the surface leakage current.
20. What do you meant by photo carriers?
14. What is bit period? A phone incident near or in the deplection region of the detector which has an
The transmitted signal is two level binary data stream consisting of either 0 or energy greater than or equal to the bandgap energy (Eg) of the fabricating material
1 in a time slot of duration T. This time slot is referred to a bit period. (i.e. hf Eg).

15. How is internal noise caused? The incident photon can give up its energy and excite an electron from the
valence band to the conduction band. This process leaves an empty hole in the
Internal noise is caused by the spontaneous fluctuations of current or voltage
valance band and is known as the photo generation of an free electron hole pairs,
in electric circuits.
which are know as photo carriers.
16. Define bit error rate (BER)?
21. Define photo current.
To divide the number of errors (NO occurring over a certain time internal t by
The high electric field present in the deplection region causes the photo
the number of pulses (Nt) transmitted during this interval. This is called either the
carriers to separate and be collected across the reverse biased junction. This
error rate or the bit error rate (BER).
gives raise a current flow in an external circuit. This current flow is known as the
BER = N
--9-=Ne photocurrent.
N t Bt
4.66 OpticalCommunication Fiber Optical Receivers 4.67
22. What is carrier life time? 28. What is fall time?
The time taken for an electron or hole to recombine is known as the carrier The fall time is measured from 90 to 10 percent of the falling edge of the
life time. output pulse.
23. What is P+irPn+reach through structure? 29. What do you meant by excess noise factor?
In the P+(heavy doped P type) substrate, high resistivity P type material Excess noise factor is a measure of the increase detector noise that results
is deposited followed by the construction of an n+(heavily doped n type) layer. from the randomness of the multiplication process.
The it layer is an intrinsic layer but has some P doping because of imperfect It depends on the ratio of the electron and hole ionization rates and on the
purification. carrier multiplication.

24. Give a note on avalanche multVication (M). 30. Define threshold level.

In the high electric field or avalanche region or multiplication region, the
charge carrier multiplication takes place by impact ionization or avalanche effect.
Im
Avalanche multiplication (M) =
Ip
Where, In, The average value of the total multiplied output current and
Ip The primary or initial unmultiplied photocurrent.
25. Define the term noise.
The term noise is used to describe unwanted components of an electrical
signal that tend to disturb the transmission and processing of the signal in a
physical system and over which we have incomplete control.
26. Mention the noise in optical receiver.
In the optical receiver, there are two noises
(i) Photo detector noise
(ii) Amplifier noise
A decision circuit compares the signal in each time slot with a certain
reference voltage known as the threshold level.
31. Define quantum limit.
To find the minimum received optical power required for a specific bit error
rate performance in a digital system. This minimum received power level is
known as the quantum limit.
1
32. What do you meant by noise corner frequency?
1 1
f noise corner frequency fc is defined as the frequency at which
The
1
power
noise, which dominates the FET noise at low frequencies and has
spectrum, becomes equal to the high frequency channel noise described by F.
33. Mention the drawbacks of high impedance amplifier.

27. Define life time. Drawbacks of high impedance amplifier

(i) For broadband applications, equalization is required.
The rise time is measured from 10 to 90 percent of the leading edge of the
(ii) It has lime dynamic range.
output pulse.
4.68 Optical Communication 1

4.14. REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. With a proper sketch briefly explain the structure of PIN diode?

2. Explain the structure and principle of working of APD?
3. Discuss the different error sources occurring at the optical receiver?
4. What is probability of error in the digital receiver? Deduce an expression for
it?
5. Define quantum limit in digital and analog receivers? Explain in detail?
6. Explain the following term relating to PIN photo diode with proper DIGITAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
expressions?
i.Cut-off wavelength
5.1. POINT TO POINT LINKS
Quantum efficiency
Responsivity The simplest transmission link is a point to point link that has a
7. Deduce the expression for total current density for APD? transmitter on one end and a receiver on the other end.
8. How the response time of APD is estimated?
Optical fiber
9. Give expression for passband of APD detector? Information Optical Optical User j
source transmitter receiver
10. Compare the performance of PIN and APD?
11. Find the expression for mean square noise voltage for optical receivers? 5.1. Simplex point-to-point link
12. What is the role of preamplifier in optical receiver? Explain in brief different
types of preamplifier available? The cost and performance are very important factors in fiber optic
communication links.
This type of links is used at the less demand on optical fiber technology.
Designer carefully chooses the components to give desired performance
* == * == * = = * == *
over the expected lifetime.

: For analyzing a link the following requirements are needed.

The desired (or possible) transmission distance.

The data rate or channel bandwidth.
The bit-error rate (BER)