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Numerical Simulation of Chromatic Dispersion and Fiber Attenuation in a

Single-Mode Optical Fiber System

Article  in  IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering · January 2012

DOI: 10.9790/2834-0363134

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IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering (IOSR-JECE)
ISSN: 2278-2834, ISBN: 2278-8735. Volume 3, Issue 6 (Nov. - Dec. 2012), PP 31-34
www.iosrjournals.org

Numerical Simulation of Chromatic Dispersion and Fiber

Attenuation in a Single-Mode Optical Fiber System
S. H. Lawan1, M. Ajiya2 and D. S. Shu’aibu3
1, 2, 3
(Department of Electrical Engineering Bayero University, Kano-Nigeria)

Abstract: Chromatic dispersion and fiber attenuation pose a great problem in the detection of optical signals.
Dispersion causes pulse broadening which limits the information carrying capacity of the fiber while
attenuation limits the maximum transmission distance along the fiber. An approximate Gaussian pulse
propagation model is obtained from the solution of Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation to represent the effects of
chromatic dispersion and attenuation using Split-Step Fourier Method. It was found that pulse broadening and
intensity loss in the optical signal is increasing proportionately with the propagation length of the fiber and this
is what contributes to the causes of detection errors at the receiver.
Keywords - Chromatic dispersion, fiber attenuation, intensity loss, optical signals, pulse broadening

I. Introduction
Optical fibers are becoming dominant transmission media in long distance transmission, optical fiber
transmission is used from a short distance below 1ft up to transoceanic distances in undersea cable. In fact all
currently future plans in transoceanic cables are fiber optic based. Advantages of fiber optic as a medium of
transmission are many from unlimited bandwidth, immunity from both radio frequency interference (RFI) and
electromagnetic interference (EMI) to excellent attenuation properties, when compared with other transmission
media like coaxial cable [1].
Attenuation is the loss of optical power as light travels along the fiber [2, 3]. Signal attenuation is
defined as the ratio of optical input power (Pin) to the optical output power (Pout) [3]. Optical input power is the
power injected into the fiber from an optical source. Optical output power is the power received at the fiber end
or optical detector.
An intrinsic limit to the information carrying capacity of optical fibers is set by the wavelength
dependence of the propagation constant, resulting in chromatic dispersion and in consequent bandwidth
penalty[4]. Hence, the need of an efficient measurement technique to evaluate chromatic dispersion properties
of optical fibers in an accurate and possibly simple way [4]. Chromatic dispersion in an optical fiber is the
limiting factor in achieving very high bandwidth communication systems [5]. Recent progress in optical fiber
amplifier technology makes fiber dispersion the ultimate limiting factor for high-speed long-distance optical
fiber transmission [6]. Dispersion is the spreading out of a light pulse in time as it propagates down the fiber [3].
This is the dispersion spread that results in system bandwidth reduction or the fiber information-carrying
capacity, it limits how fast information is transferred [7]. The chromatic dispersion of optical fiber is critical to
the design and construction of long-haul and high-speed optical communication systems and to the manufacture
of optical fiber [8]. it is important to reduce the accumulated chromatic dispersion after long distance
transmission [9]. Dispersion in optical fiber includes modal dispersion and chromatic dispersion, chromatic
dispersion consist of material dispersion and waveguide dispersion [10].
Material dispersion is the result of the finite linewidth of the light source and the dependence of
refractive index of the material on wavelength [11, 12]. Material dispersion is a type of chromatic dispersion.
Waveguide dispersion is only important in single mode fibers[3]. It is caused by the fact that some light travels
in the fiber cladding compared to most light travels in the fiber core [13]. Since fiber cladding has lower
refractive index than fiber core, light ray that travels in the cladding travels faster than that in the core [13].

II. Methodology
The pulse envelope in time t at the spatial position z, propagating from transmitting to the
receiving end of an optical fiber communication system is A(z,t). Pulse propagation in an optical fiber
communication system is described by the non-linear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) [2].
𝜕𝐴 𝛽1 𝜕𝐴 𝑖 𝛽2 𝜕 2 𝐴 𝛼
+ − + 𝐴 = −𝑖𝛼𝑜 𝐴 2 𝐴 (1)
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡 2 𝜕𝑡 2 2
Where
A is the pulse envelope in spatial position z and in time t.
β1 in the first order dispersion parameter causes pulse delay due to polarization mode dispersion.
β2 is the second order dispersion parameter causes pulse broadening due to chromatic dispersion.
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Numerical Simulation of Chromatic Dispersion and Fiber Attenuation in a Single-Mode Optical Fiber

α is the attenuation coefficient of the fiber and

αo is the non-linearity coefficient of the fiber and it is a function of the light strength.
i is a complex vector notation

The solution of Equation (1) is obtainable using split-step Fourier method.

Considering the effect of chromatic dispersion and fiber attenuation only and that the pulse position is at
zero center-frequency, the solution of Equation (1) yields.
𝑖𝛽2 𝛼
𝐴 𝐿, 𝜔 = 𝑒𝑥𝑝 ( 𝜔2 − )𝐿 𝐴 0, 𝜔 (2)
2 2
It is clear from the above equation that the signal amplitude decreases as it is propagating along the
length of optical fiber this causes power loss and CD affects the phase of the signal spectrum without
changing the spectral power distribution and thereby causing the propagated pulse to be broadened.
The following equation defines signal attenuation as a unit of length [2]

10 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝛼𝑑𝐵 = − 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (3)
𝐿 𝑃𝑖𝑛
Signal attenuation is a log relationship. Length (L) is expressed in kilometers. Therefore, the unit of attenuation
is decibels/kilometer (dB/km). The attenuation constant 𝛼 is in per kilometer and mostly expressed in dB as 𝛼𝑑𝐵
[2]
𝛼𝑑𝐵 ≈ 4.343𝛼 (4)
There are different values of attenuation depending on the optical frequency range, here the window with
least attenuation of 0.2 to 0.25dB/km which corresponds to wavelength of around 1550nm is used. 𝛽 2 is
called the group velocity dispersion (GVD) or simply dispersion, the time delay between two different
spectral components separated by a certain frequency interval is determined using the dispersion
coefficient D given by [2]
2𝜋𝑐
𝐷 = − 2 𝛽2 (5)
𝜆

𝜆2
𝑜𝑟 𝛽2 = − 𝐷 (6)
2𝜋𝑐

Where c is the speed of light and 𝜆 = 2𝜋𝑐/𝜔 is the carrier wavelength, the time delay between two
different spectral component separated by a certain wavelength interval in determined by the dispersion
coefficient D in ps/nm-km. The propagation distance after which a Gaussian pulse is broadened by 40%
is termed the dispersion length and is given by [2]
𝑡𝑜 2
𝐿𝐷 = − (7)
𝛽2

where 𝑡o is the pulse full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)

The input is represented by a Gaussian pulse and it is defined as [2]

1 𝑡 2
𝐴 𝑡 = 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − 𝑡 (8)
2 𝑜
In general, a simulation is a computer model of a part of a real-world system. Here the simulation is a computer
model of a single mode optical fiber link system, includes attenuation function and chromatic dispersion
function. The attenuation is added in either time or frequency domain but the chromatic dispersion effect must
be added in frequency domain. The transformation of this signal from time to frequency to time is achieved
using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) [7].
The input signals are the signals that will be sent through the fiber link, or the output signals of the light
sources. These signals are converted in to a shape that is suitable for computer simulation. So, the input signal
must first be represented in the form of a numeric array. The array contains samples of the amplitude profile at a
number of equally spaced points. The sampling resolution must be fine enough to resolve all spatial features of
the amplitude profile, at the same time it must sparse enough to allow reasonable processing speed on a
computer. The type of pulse that used in the simulation is Gaussian pulse. The Gaussian pulse is used because
the optical sources have a distribution of power with wavelength that is approximately Gaussian distribution in
form [7].

www.iosrjournals.org 32 | Page
Numerical Simulation of Chromatic Dispersion and Fiber Attenuation in a Single-Mode Optical Fiber

III. Results And Discussion

Gaussian pulse was taken as an input signal and the effects of chromatic dispersion and attenuation are
studied. The effect of attenuation is shown in Figure 1. and that of chromatic dispersion is shown in Figure 3. for
distances up to 200km at 50km interval. Linear relation of Pulse broadening due chromatic dispersion in ps/nm-
km and fiber attenuation in dB with transmission length of fiber in km are obtained as shown below in Figure 2.
And Figure 4. Respectively.
1
Input pulse
0.9 received pulse

0.8

0.7
Normalized Intensity

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
time t sec -10
x 10

Figure 1. Attenuation effects at 50, 100, 150 and 200km distance

43
38
Fiber Attenuation (dB)

33
28
23
18
13
8
3
-2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Fiber Transmission Length (km)
Figure 2. Fiber Attenuation
Signal intensity loss due to fiber attenuation increases with propagation distance as shown in Figure 2. fiber
attenuation effect on the input pulse is shown in purple with a slope of 0.2dB/km.

1
Input pulse
0.9 received pulse

0.8

0.7
Normalized Intensity

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
time t sec -10
x 10
Figure 3. Dispersion effects at 50, 100, 150 and 200km distance

www.iosrjournals.org 33 | Page
 Numerical Simulation of Chromatic Dispersion and Fiber Attenuation in a Single-Mode Optical Fiber

60

Pulse Broadening (ps/nm-

50
40
30

km)
20
10
0
0 50 100 150 200 250

Fiber Transmission Length (km)

Figure 4. Pulse Broadening due to Chromatic Dispersion

Pulse broadening due to chromatic dispersion in the optical signal is increasing proportionately with the
propagation length of the fiber as shown in Figure 4.

IV. Conclusion
The results indicate that the linear effects of chromatic dispersion and attenuation increase with
increasing the distance along the fiber optic length. As the input signal propagates degradation occur due to
these effects and eventually lead to detection problem. Therefore at certain distances there is need for repeaters
and dispersion management system to overcome such signal distortions.

References
[1] K. Thyagarajan and A. Ghatak, Fiber Optic Essentials. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inc., 2007.
[2] G. P. Agrawal, Nonlinear Fiber Optics, 3rd ed. UK: Academic Press. A Harcourt Sci. and Tec. Co., 2001.
[3] G. P. Agrawal, Fiber-optic Communication Systems. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inc., 2002.
[4] B. Costa, D. Mazzoni, M. Puleo, and E. Vezzoni, "Phase shift technique for the measurement of chromatic dispersion in optical
fibers using LED's," IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 18, pp. 1509-1515, 1982.
[5] P. Merritt, R. P. Tatam, and D. A. Jackson, "Interferometric chromatic dispersion measurements on short lengths of monomode
optical fiber," Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 7, pp. 703-716, 1989.
[6] A. E. N. A. Mohammed, "New technique of chromatic dispersion management in optical single-mode binary glass fiber," 2004, pp.
D9-1-12.
[7] S. H. S. Al-Bazzaz, "Simulation of Single mode fiber optics and optical communication Components Using VC++," International
Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, vol. 8, pp. 300-308, 2008.
[8] K. S. Jeon, H. J. Kim, D. S. Kang, and J. K. Pan, "Optical fiber chromatic dispersion measurement using bidirectional modulation of
an optical intensity modulator," Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE, vol. 14, pp. 1145-1147, 2002.
[9] H. Taga, S. Yamamoto, N. Edagawa, Y. Yoshida, S. Akiba, and H. Wakabayashi, "Fiber chromatic dispersion equalization at the
receiving terminal of IM-DD ultra-long distance optical communication systems," Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 12, pp.
1042-1046, 1994.
[10] G. P. Agrawal, Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, 3rd ed. NJ: Wiley, Hoboken, 2002
[11] C. R. Doerr and K. Okamoto, "Advances in silica planar lightwave circuits," Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 24, pp. 476 3-
4789, 2006.
[12] K. Okamoto, Fundamentals of optical waveguides: Academic press, 2006.
[13] H. J. R. Dutton and I. B. M. Corporation, Understanding optical communications: Prentice Hall PTR, 1998.

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