Overview

This chapter describes the performance capabilities and limitations of communication and telecommunication systems utilizing fiber optic components and devices. FO-based optical add/drop multiplexers and demultiplexers are discussed in greater detail with particular emphasis on channel homowavelength crosstalk and out-of-band crosstalk. Fiber optic communication links are described, which are best suited to control the command signals for the Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules in high power missile defense radars. Passive wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) and dense-WDM (DWDM) technologies involving free-space diffraction gratings, Fabry-Perot tunable bandpass filters and erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are extensively discussed. Performance capabilities and critical operating parameters of DWDM systems using thin-film filters, Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs), arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) and hybrid devices based on free-space optics and diffraction gratings are identified. Advantages and disadvantages of thin-filters, arrayed waveguide gratings and free-space diffraction gratings are described with emphasis on channel capacity, channel isolation and component integration capability.

Performance improvements in long-haul, high data capacity, transmission lines (4,000 km, 64-40 Gbit/s channels) incorporating distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, counter-propagating Raman amplifiers, and forward error-correction technology are described. Cost-effective networking techniques using WDM and DWDM technologies and incorporating wide band EDFAs and FBGs are briefly discussed. Forward error-correction techniques using sensitive and powerful algorithms are evaluated for long-haul telecommunication systems operating beyond 5,000 km distance. Performance requirements for wide band Raman Amplifiers and EDFAs widely used in long-haul transmission systems are identified with emphasis on gain flatness over wide spectral bandwidth. Advantages of forward error-correction technique in Raman Amplifiers used by a long-haul...