Link simulation of four channel CWDM transceiver modules

Abstract

Optical communication systems are extremely complex and difficult to analyze. It is often hard to predict the effect of various characteristics of the devices used on the signal fidelity in a fiber optic link. This work involves simulation of 2.5 Gigabits per second (Gbps) coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) transceiver for end-to-end link performance. Simulation software is available commercially which can realistically model an optical link. Such simulation helps in analyzing the module under development and predicts the performance for a given link distance and the simulation output helps eliminating any likely performance degradation before realizing the actual hardware. The objective of the fiber optic link is to transport data or communication signals reliably over a longer distance. The desired Q factor is approximately 7 and the desired bit error rate (BER) is approximately 10/sup -12/. The simulation objective is to ensure that the received pulses are of appropriate shape and of sufficient intensity, with minimized loss due to noise or attenuation, and to remove distortion present in the signal. The Q factor and BER obtained from either the eye diagram analyzer or the BER analyzer are used to analyze the degradation of the signal at the receiver components.