Akanksha Tiwari et al.

2017, Volume 5 Issue 2 International Journal of Science,

ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 Engineering and Technology
ISSN (Print): 2395-4752 An Open Access Journal

Analysis of Gain Characteristic of Erbium Doped

Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) with Pump Power and Fiber
Length
1
Akanksha Tiwari, 2Ramesh Bharti

Abstract

In this study our main objective is to design new configuration of EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber
Amplifier) to obtain higher gain characteristics in conventional band in terms of pump power
and fiber length using optic system. The pump power is set at 980nm. The EDFA parameters are
fixed. The input signal is set as 1550nm and input power is set at -40dbm. Two pump laser
are used in simulation in which one pump laser is fixed at 100mw pump power. We
analyzed gain for varying pump power of one pump laser and other is fixed at 100mw and
for vice-versa but in both case result are almost same and highest gain value is also same.
We analyzed gain by varying fiber length and at fixed pump power and also analyzed for
vice-versa by varying pump power and at fixed fiber length. The gain increases linearly with
the pump power when the length is fixed . We achieved highest gain at 100mw pump
power and 20m fiber length . Hence we also analyzed noise figure characteristics of EDFA but
couldnt achieve better noise figure characteristics. Noise figure increases for varying pump
power and fixed fiber length and decreases for varying fiber length and fixed pump power.
The result is displayed graphically.

Introduction

The EDFA became a key enabling technology for

optical communication networks, and have since
comprised the vast majority of all optical amplifiers
deployed in the field. Erbium doped fiber amplifier is
most common optical amplifier, commercially
available since the early 1990s. It is a most stable
optical amplifier with operating bands 1525 1565
nm wavelength region. It works best in this range
with gain upto 30 dB.
The main element in EDFA is Erbium doped fiber,
which is developed by conventional Silica fiber with
rare earth element Erbium. When a signal travels in
an optical fiber it suffers from various losses like fiber
attenuation losses, fiber tap losses and fiber splice
losses. Due to these losses it is difficult to detect the
signal at the receiver side. So in order to transmit
signal over a long distance in a fiber (more than
100km) it is necessary to compensate the losses in
the fiber.
Fig 1.1 Symbolic diagram of a simple Doped fiber
Amplifier
Optical amplifiers are used in general applications
like inline amplifiers, preamplifiers and power or
booster amplifiers and also in crucial applications to
carry information over long distances. They are used
in WDM networks.
EDFA is an amplifier that is best used because of its
low loss and high gain. For communication, there are
two windows 1530-1560nm(C-band) and 1560-
1610nm (L band). Optical fiber as a gain medium for
amplification of signal. The input and the pump
signal are directed into the fiber and the
amplification takes place when the doping ions
interact. EDFA is a well known example .Here the
doping of silica core is done with Er3+ .It could be

2017 Akanksha Tiwari et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
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original work is properly credited. 10.2348/ijset0317066 66

Akanksha Tiwari et al. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2017, Volume 5 Issue 2
ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 , ISSN (Print): 2395-4752
pumped effectively at wavelengths of 980nm or
1480nm and displays gain in the 1550 nm region.
Literature Review
In paper [1 ] an EDFA simulation program has been
written in Mat Lab to characterize Gain, Noise Figure
and ASE power variations of a forward pumped EDFA
operating in C band (1525-1565 nm) as functions of
Er3+ fiber length, injected pump power, signal input
power and Er3+ doping density. The program solves
the rate and propagation equations numerically and
shows the results graphically. Thus, Gain and Noise
Figure performance of an EDFA given with its
physical parameters can be graphically obtained or
the required physical parameters of an EDFA with
desired operating performance can easily be
optimized.
In this study, the rate and propagation equations
characterizing a forward pumped C band EDFA were
numerically solved in Mat lab environment and the
results were graphically simulated. After entering the
required parameters for a desired amplifier in main
menu and sub menus of the program, gain, noise
figure and ASE power variations can be obtained as a
function of four fundamental fiber parameters
namely : fiber length, pump power, signal input
power and erbium doping density. Thus, gain-NF
performance for typical parameters of a given EDFA
can be simulated or the required fiber parameters
and signal/pump power values can be optimized for
a desired EDFA gain-NF performance. The main
menu and some of the submenus of the simulation
program.
In this study, the rate and propagation equations
characterizing an EDFA operating in C band and
pumped at 1480 nm in forward direction was
numerically solved and the results were graphically
displayed. By entering the necessary parameters of
an EDFA to be simulated into the main and sub
menus of the simulation program; gain, noise figure
and ASE power variations were obtained as functions
of fiber length, pump power, signal input power and
erbium doping density. In this way, the gain and NF
performance could be simulated for the given EDFA
parameters or the required fiber parameters and
signal/pump power values could be optimized for a
desired EDFA Gain-NF performance.
According to our results, it was seen that the pump
power applied to EDFA sharply reduces due to
absorption in erbium doped fiber; in addition, gain
and NF is strongly dependent on the fiber length,
pumping power, signal input power and erbium ion
density. When the EDFA is supplied with sufficient
10.2348/ijset0317066
pump power, it was shown that EDFA could be
operated in saturation. regimes leading to maximum
gain and minimum NF. Due to the flexibility of the
simulation program, it is possible to simulate EDFAs
operating at 980 nm by using a few different
parameters. These simulations can also be performed
for distributed erbium doped fiber amplifiers
(DEDFA) by activating the background loss
coefficients.
In paper 2, the analysis of gain and noise figure (NF)
of EDFA is done at different pump power (10, 50, &
100mw) and at different fiber length (10, 30, & 50m)
for different pumping configuration i.e. forward
pumping, backward pumping, and bidirectional
pumping operating in C-band at high data rate.
In this paper the variation of Gain and NF for EDFA is
analyzed with different pumping techniques i.e.
forward pumping, backward pumping and
bidirectional pumping. And also the variation of gain
and NF is analyzed for different EDF length (10, 30, &
50 m) and at different pumping power (10, 50 & 100
Mw). The length of the EDF depends upon the input
signal power, pump power, Er+3 ion density and the
signal and pump wavelength.
In paper[3], a simulation of an EDFA has been
studied to characterize Gain, Noise Figure of a
forward pumped EDFA operating in C band (1525-
1565 nm) as functions of Er+3 fiber length, injected
pump power, signal input power and Er+3 doping
density. The simulation has been done by using Opty
system 5.0 software simulator (license product of a
Canadian based company) at bit rate 10 GbPs.
In this study, the performance characteristic of EDFA
operating in C band and pumped at 980nm
simulated: Gain and noise figure variations were
obtained as functions of fiber length, pump power,
signal input power and erbium doping density in
high bit rate 10Gbps.
According to our results, it was seen that the pump
power applied to EDFA sharply reduces due to
absorption in erbium doped fiber; in addition gain
and NF is strongly dependent on the fiber length,
pumping power, signal input power and erbium ion
density. The gain varies along the fiber length
because of pump power variations .When the EDFA
is supplied with sufficient pump power, it was shown
that EDFA could be operated in saturation regimes
leading to maximum gain and minimum NF.
It was seen that the variation of gain and noise figure
as functions of fiber length, pump power, signal
input power and erbium doping density do not
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Akanksha Tiwari et al. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2017, Volume 5 Issue 2
ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 , ISSN (Print): 2395-4752
change when bit rate is increased from (2.5 to 10
Gbps).
The increasing demand for new telecommunications
services is creating an increase in network capacity
requirements. System capacity can be increased by1)
deploying new optical fiber, 2) increasing
transmission bit rate, 3) multiplexing more channels
on to the existing fiber.
Deployment of new fiber is time and cost-prohibitive
because it involves equipment burial/installation,
while increasing transmission bit rate is problematic
due to the cost of replacing transmission equipment.
Wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) technology
employing erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs),
however, provides an immediate cost effective
alternative for increasing network capacity. In a
multichannel environment optical amplifiers should
provide a flat gain spectrum, independent of input
parameters; however, this is not the case with
erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. Indeed, the EDFA
exhibits a non-uniform and dynamic gain spectrum,
so that each channel input (at different wavelengths)
to the amplifier experiences a different gain [4].
In paper [5] High signal bandwidth of optical fiber is
not fully deployed due to use of electronic devices. A
way to overcome this limitation is all optical
transmission. Various amplifiers like RFA (Raman
Fiber Amplifiers), SLA (Semiconductor Laser
Amplifiers), Doped Amplifiers are used in all optical
communication. The RFA is based on the nonlinear
effect of stimulated Raman Scattering and Gain of
the SLA is polarization dependent so it suffers from
large inter modulation distortion and cross-talk. The
Performance of an Optical Communication system
can be improved by the use of EDFAs as an Optical
Amplifier. The erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is
the most deployed fiber amplifier as its amplification
window coincides with the third transmission window
of silica-based optical fiber. EDFAs are reliable for
transmitting data through long distance because of
their wide bandwidth and optimum bit error rate. But
major problem with EDFA is gain fluctuation as its
gain is wavelength dependent. In the past several
control strategies have been proposed to fix the
EDFA gain at a given operating point. The ability to
pump the devices at different wavelengths and low
coupling losses are the main features of an EDFA.
These features are also used in gain flattening.
Different pumping schemes are used as forward,
backward and bi-directional. Gain flattening
filters(GFF), Fiber brag gratings are used for more
optimization. The main advantages of EDFA are high
gain and low noise figure.
10.2348/ijset0317066
The performance of EDFA is highly affected by
temperature and Concentration of Erbium ions. If we
operate EDFA at 77 degree Kelvin we can optimize
the best solution but this is not practically feasible.
Further, we can change the doping concentration.
Multi-stage EDFA at 77 degree Kelvin we can
optimize the best solution but this is not practically
feasible. Further, we can change the doping
concentration. Multi-stage EDFA are also used for
gain optimization. Hybrid amplifiers are best
alternative for broadening and flattening of the gain.
But these solution are not feasible in case of multi-
wavelength system. Erbium doped fiber amplifier
(EDFA) is an important element in WDM networks
but the gain of signals fluctuates due to channel
add/drop networks. In future transparent
automatically switched optical networks switches can
initiate adds and drops with rise and fall times in the
order of milliseconds and power changes of more
than 10 dB.
Moreover, due to faults such as fiber cuts or sub
band component failures a sudden loss of many
WDM channels may occur. In both cases the
remaining traffic should be maintained without
exceeding the given BER margins. All optical gain
control scheme has been proposed. Furthermore,
electronic pump-power control suggested [2] is
widely used, which is based on a feed forward/-back
signal taken from a photodiode before or after the
amplifier. Also a combination of optical and electrical
control schemes is possible [6].
Methodology
The output power of EDFA can be increased by
changing the configuration of EDFA. The co-
pumping technique was found to be the most
preferred technique because of its low noise figure.
And bidirectional pumping is the most suitable for
high gain and low noise figure. The counter pumping
technique shows the highest gain and the worst
noise figure. One can work on pumping power and
pumping wavelength for higher gain and low noise
figure. Hence both Gain and Noise Figure are
essential characteristics of EDFA but in base paper
noise figure is too much large but gain is so small so
we planned to some increment in Gain even after
Noise Figure is reduced or enhanced.
So our motive in this thesis is to make synchronize
between Gain and Noise Figure values. Our main
concern in this thesis is increase to Gain
characteristics. Through some research papers we
found that Booster amplifier boost the output of
EDFA by adding another pump laser in bidirectional
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Akanksha Tiwari et al. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2017, Volume 5 Issue 2
ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 , ISSN (Print): 2395-4752
configuration. So we followed this same technique in
our experimental setup. We added a second pump
laser by replacing of optical null in experimental
setup in bidirectional configuration. So now we have
two pump lasers in our optimized setup but we have
to stable one pump laser at 100mW.power and
another is variable. We calculate the gain for both
conditions first is fixed and another is variable and
vice versa first is variable and second is at fixed
pump power at 100Mw. But we found the same Gain
and same Noise Figure values for both conditions
and maximum Gain is also same for both. So first
pump laser is varying for different pump powers and
second pump laser is kept at fixed 100mW power. In
expect of this second pump laser all components and
all parameters are similar to 4. SIMULATION
SETUP
Fig 4.1: optimized EDFA experimental setup
In this experiment the complete simulation, analysis
and characterization was planned for two different
cases. In first case pump power is fixed and fiber
length is variable and vice-versa fiber length is fixed
and pump power is variable. Variation of gain with
fiber length is observed for three different pump
powers are 10mw,50mw and 100mw. And the
variation of gain with pump power is analyzed for
three different fiber length are 20m,40m and 60m.
The EDFA setup was made with other passive optical
components spliced with EDF. Then after the EDFA
was characterized with different signal power, pump
power, fiber length and signal wave length.
The input section of EDFA contains input CW laser
and pump laser. The input CW laser and pump lasers
output is combined through pump coupler co-
propagating. And coupler co-propagating is spliced
to erbium doped fiber and also ensure that the
quality of splice is good. The main active optical
component EDF was taken at the predefined length
from fiber spool and wound on a bobbin. The one
end of the EDF was spliced with the common fiber
pigtail port of dual port WDM analyzer and other
end spliced with output s input fiber pigtail for taken
10.2348/ijset0317066
amplified output signal. This setup was used for
other EDF length by replacing the EDF only. This
EDFA experiment was characterized by different
parameters such as signal power, signal wavelength,
pump power and EDF length. Although mainly we
focused on gain characteristic but noise figure is also
analyzed for this same simulation and same
parameters values. The input signal wavelength
1550nm with different pump powers are applied to
EDFA, with different EDF length for gain calculation.
This same configuration is for noise figure
calculation.
The Gain calculation in dB is=Pout/Pin
And Noise figure in dB is= (SNR)in\(SNR)out.
The gain and noise figure is directly calculated by
dual port WDM analyzer. The gain and noise figure is
taken in comparatively form for different values of
pump power and fiber length. The simulation results
are displayed graphically.
Results and Discussions
Although mainly we focused on gain characteristic
but noise figure is also analyzed for this same
simulation and same parameters values.
The input signal wavelength 1550nm with different
pump powers are applied to EDFA, with different EDF
length for gain calculation. This same configuration is
for noise figure calculation.
The Gain calculation in dB is=Pout/Pin
And Noise figure in dB is= (SNR)in\(SNR)out
The gain and noise figure is directly calculated by
dual port WDM analyzer. The gain and noise figure is
taken in comparatively form for different values of
pump power and fiber length. The simulation results
are displayed graphically.
Gain Comparison for Different (10mW, 50mW,
100mW) Pump Powers
(i)Gain Comparison At 10mW
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Akanksha Tiwari et al. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2017, Volume 5 Issue 2
ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 , ISSN (Print): 2395-4752

Fig 5.1.1: Gain comparison with fiber length at

constant pump power 10Mw.

(ii)Gain Comparison At 50mW

Fig5.2.2: Gain comparison with pump power at

constant fiber length 40m

(iii)Gain Comparison At 60m

Fig5.1.2: Gain comparison with fiber length at

constant pump power 50Mw

(iii)Gain Comparison At 100mW

Fig5.2.3: Gain comparison with pump power at

constant fiber length 60m

Conclusion and Future Work

In the fifth chapter the variation of gain is observed

with pump power and fiber length. The experimental
setup is optimized by adding another pump laser in
bidirectional configuration. Then we found higher
Fig 5.1.3: Gain comparison with fiber length at
gain in compared to base paper. Hence gain
constant pump power 100mW
characteristic is our main concern of this thesis but
Gain Comparison for Different (20m, 40m, 60m) we also studied for noise figure but didnt get better
Fiber Length result.

(i)Gain Comparison At 20m Gain is studied at constant fiber length and varied
fiber length and vice-versa. And when fiber length is
constant gain is calculated for three different 10mW,
50mW and 100mW pump powers and in second case
when pump power is kept constant gain is calculated
for three different 20m,40m and 60m fiber length.

Maximum gain is around 46dB occurred at 20m fiber

length and 100mW pump power. We observed that
gain increases with increasing in pump power but
gain is achieved at 20m fiber length is greater than at
40m and similarly gain is achieved at 40m is greater
Fig5.2.1: Gain comparison with pump power at than at gain achieved at 60m whereas in second case
constant fiber length 20m gain at 10mW is less than gain at 50mW pump
power and similarly gain at 50mW is less than gain at
(ii) Gain Comparison At 40m 100mW pump power. So we can say that gain is
decreases with increasing in fiber length and
increases with increasing in fiber length. We
compared the result of experimental setup and
optimized setup graphically then we found that
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Akanksha Tiwari et al. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2017, Volume 5 Issue 2
ISSN (Online): 2348-4098 , ISSN (Print): 2395-4752
results are improved after optimizing. Gain is
increased by a particular percent of base gain.
This analysis can be implemented in an EDFA for
better performance with different pumping
techniques. We can observe the performance of
EDFA by replacing the pump laser with any passive
component
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Authors details
1
M.Tech Scholar, Jagan Nath University, Jaipur.
2
Associate Professor, Jagan Nath University, Jaipur.
Copy for Cite this Article- Akanksha Tiwari, Ramesh Bharti,
Analysis of Gain Characteristic of Erbium Doped
Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) with Pump Power and Fiber
Length, International Journal of Science, Engineering and
Technology, Volume 5 Issue 2: 2017, pp. 66- 71.
71