Poglavlje 6

Dizajn optikih beinih predajnika

6.1 Uvod u dizajn optikih beinih predajnika
Na optem prikazu sistema sa optikom vidljivou (Free-space optical, FSO) ilustrovanog na Slici 6.1, informacija pre prenosa od izvora do prijemnika postoji u elektrinom obliku (pre modulacije). Predajnik, koji se sastoji iz dva dela, kola interfejsa i source drive circuit, konvertuje ulazni signal u optiki signal pogodan za prenos. The drive circuit (pogonski sklop?) predajnika pretvara elektrini signal u optiki menjanjem toka struje current flow kroz svetlosni izvor. Postoje dva tipa optike svetlosti: (1) dioda koja emituje svetlost (Light-emitting diode, LED dioda) ili (2) laserska dioda (LD dioda) (videti Poglavlje 3.5). Informacioni signal modulie polje generisano putem optikog izvora. Modulisano optiko polje zatim prodire putanjom kroz slobodan prostor pre nego to pristigne na prijemnik. Tu fotodetektor ponovo konvertuje optiki signal u elektrinu formu. Prijemnik se sastoji iz dva dela: (1) optikog detektora i (2) kola za poboljanje signala. Optiki detektor prima optiki signal, a kolo za poboljanje signala regulie izlaz detektora tako da se izlaz prijemnika slae sa originalnim ulazom na predajniku. Dobar prijemnik pojaava i procesuira optiki signal bez uma ili remeenja signala. Efekti uma i ogranienja kola za poboljanje signala uzrokuju remeenje u elektrinom izlaznom signalu prijemnika. Optiki detektor koji se koristi na prijemniku moe biti ili poluprovodnika PIN dioda (pozitivan-istnegativan, Positive-intrinsic-negative,PIN) ili APD dioda, lavinska fotodioda (Avalanche photodiode, APD) [267].

Slika 6.1 Blok dijagram optikog beinog linka sa prikazom prednjeg dela optikog predajnika i prijemnika. Slika 6.2 ematski prikaz tipinog optikog predajnika praenog transponderom za obnovu podataka.

Kod praktinih optikih beinih linkova, i blokovi predajnika i blokovi prijemnika razvijeni su u jednom kolu koga nazivamo optikim primopredajnikom. Funkcija ovog primopredajnika jeste da obezbedi full-duplex komunikaciju kakva je predstavljena na Slici 6.2. Neki optiki beini primopredajnici razvijeni su u pojedinanim integrisanim kolima (Integrated circuits, IC) i to primenom integrisane optoelektronske IC (IOEC) tehnologije. Da bi se to izvelo, paralelni podaci sa digitalnog logikog bloka spajaju se u jedinstven niz podataka velike brzine multipleksera (MUX). Radi kontrole odabranih linija MUX, takt (sat) uzorkovanja mora se sintetisati iz sporijeg generatora rei, to vri clock multiplication unit (CMU). A laser driver or modulator driver drives the corresponding opto-electronic device. The laser driver modulie struju LD diode, dok modulator driver modulie napon du modulatora, koji zatim modulie intenzitet svetlosti kontitualno-talasnog lasera.

Slika 6.3 Komercijalni modul primopredajnika sa optikom vidljivou (FlightExpress 100) proizvoaa LightPointe Communications, (Vidi: [100].) Nekim od laser/modulator drivers potreban je takt (sat) uzorkovanja od CMU radi ponovnog vremenskog usklaivanja podataka. Na bloku prijemnika, deava se identian proces, samo obrnutim redosledom. Detektovani optiki signal prima se iz otvorenog prostora od strane fotodetektora koji proizvodi malu izlaznu struju proporcionalnu optikom signalu. Ovu struju predpojaava pojaava i konvertuje u napon. Predpojaava prate glavni pojaavai prijemnika (Receiver main amplifiers, RMA) radi daljeg pojaavanja naponskog signala. RMA ili irokopojasni pojaavai mogu biti ograniavajui pojaavai (Limiting amplifiers, LA) ili pojaavai sa automatskom kontrolom gain-a (Automatic gain control, AGC). Pojaani signal uvodi se u kolo za oporavak takta/podataka (Clock and data recovery, CDR), koje izvlai taktni signal i ponovo vremenski usklauje signal podataka. Kod prijemnika velike brzine, demultiplekser (DMUX) konvertuje brze serijske nizove podataka u n paralelnih nizova podataka male brzine, kojeje mogue bolje procesirati uz pomo digitalnog logikog bloka. Neki od CDR sami izvravaju zadatak DMUX, to je u sklopu njihove funkcionalnosti. Digitalni logiki blok deskrembluje ili dekodira bitove, sprovodi kontrolu greaka, izvlai payload podataka iz framing informacije, sinhronizuje se sa drugim clock domain, itd. Slika 6.3 prikazuje komercijalni modul primopredajnika sa optikom vidljivou pod nazivom FlightLite 100 proizvoaa LightPointe Communications. Ovaj optiki prijemnik sposoban je za beini prenos nekompresovanih HDTV signala pri full-duplex propusnosti od 100 Mbps za preporuene udaljenosti do 500 metara u spoljanjoj sredini [100]. To moe biti alternativa T1/E1 linijama ili 802.11 LAN reenjima.

6.2 Osvrt na dizajn primopredajnika

The development of optical fiber transmitter systems has spawned semiconductor lasers with broad bandwidths and high launch powers, features that should be equally attractive to optical wireless applications. Unfortunately, as explained in Chapter 3, one of the most important restrictions to optical wireless transmitters is precisely the optical power level emitted by the source, which, when exceeding specific levels, is potentially dangerous to the human eye.

Slika 6.4 Structure of an optical transmitter module. This situation must be taken into account, particularly for indoor free-space optic applications where lasers pose a particular safety hazard to unaware bystanders, which may walk through the path of a wireless IR link. The creation of eye safety standards is justified by the large number of people who may be exposed to the IR radiation of an optical wireless system not just during system operation, but also during system development, installation, and maintenance. Further information on the issue of eye safety can be found in Chapter 3. The reader is also encouraged to check the appropriate ANSI, OSHA, and FDA specifications. The optical transmitter front end consists of a driver circuit along with a light source. The general structure of the optical transmitter may consist of a lens, an LD or an LED, a driver IC, a Peltier element for cooling, and a modulator block. All these components can be assembled into a mini-sized package, as illustrated in Figure 6.4. For outdoor use, this module package generally presents a special casing to protect it from the rain and from direct exposure to sunlight.

6.3 Optical Source Characteristics

To transmit light in an optical wireless communication link, a suitable light source is needed at the end of the transmitter circuit. The appropriate light source, which as discussed above can be a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode (LD), is chosen depending on the specific application of the system. These optical sources are often considered the active component in an optical communication system. Their basic principle of operation is discussed in detail in a number of reference books [101104]. The output properties and the characteristics of the optical source used for the transmitter are important parameters to consider when designing and evaluating an

Slika 6.5 Light power versus current (LI) characteristics of an LD and an LED showing the temperature dependency of the laser. optical wireless communication system. It is important, for example, that the light source launches its energy at angles that optimize the transmitted beam. It is also important that the frequency response of the light source exceeds the frequency of the input signal. Furthermore, the light source should have a long lifetime, present a sufficiently high intensity, and be reasonably monochromatic. Both LEDs and LDs provide good brightness, small size, low drive voltage, and are able to emit a signal at a desired wavelength or range of wavelengths. The selection of one over another depends on the characteristic of the particular application in which they are to be used. When deciding whether to choose an LED or an LD as the light source in a particular transmitter system, one of the main features to consider is their optical power versus current characteristics. This is particularly important because the characteristics of these devices differ considerably (as illustrated in Figure 6.5). It can be seen in the figure that, near the origin, the LED response is linear, although it becomes nonlinear for larger power values. The laser response, on the other hand, is linear above the threshold. Sometimes, mode-hopping creates a slightly nonlinear response above the threshold in a multimode laser. Single-mode lasers exhibit a linear response above the threshold. The linearity of the source is particularly important for analog systems. The power supplied by both devices is similar (about 10 to 20 mW) [102], but LDs are much more sensitive to temperature variations than LEDs. This is illustrated in Figure 6.5, where it can be observed that, as the temperature increases, the laser diodes gain decreases (for example, a laser that

At certain current values, the maximum emission suddenly hops to an adjacent spectral line.

Slika 6.6 Small-signal frequency response of an LED and an LD with negligible parasitic effects. at 30 C requires 70 mA to output 2 mW of optical power may require in excess of 130 mA at 80 C). This implies that more current is required before oscillation. Another important feature that must be taken into account when deciding whether to use an LD or an LED for a specific application is the speed of the device. LDs, for example, are much faster than LEDs due to the fact that the rise time of an LED is determined by the natural spontaneous-emission lifetime of the material, whereas the rise time of the laser diode depends on the stimulated emission lifetime. Because an LED emits spontaneous radiation, the speed of modulation is limited by the spontaneous recombination time of the carriers. LEDs have a large capacitance, which means that their modulation bandwidths are not very large (a few hundred megahertz). Biasing the diode with a forward current can reduce the capacitance, resulting in an increase of the modulation speed. In the case of a laser above the threshold, the electrons remain in the conduction band for a very short time due to the stimulated recombination; therefore, very fast modulation is possible (up to 10 GHz). Figure 6.6 shows this characteristic. The spectral emission of an LD remains more stable with temperature than that of an LED. Figure 6.7 shows the spectral shift due to temperature variation in a typical LD. Changes in the output power of the LD with temperature can be prevented by stabilizing the heat sink temperature with a Peltier element and a control circuit. This generally requires more complicated electronic circuits than the ones used for LEDs. Laser diodes are semiconductor junction devices that contain etched or cleaved substrates, to act as reflecting facets for field reinforcements over the junctions. They therefore combine the properties of an LED and a cavity reflector, producing an external light radiation that is higher in power (10 to 50 mW) and has a better

Slika 6.7 Typical LD spectral dependency with temperature. focused beam than that of a simple LED. LED radiation, on the other hand, is projected outward in all directions, depending on its aperture. The ways in which light is emitted by the source can influence its apparent brightness. First-generation optical communication sources were designed to operate between 800 and 900 nm. This is because, originally, the properties of the semiconductor materials used lend themselves to emission at these wavelengths. An LED is formed from semiconductor junctions that interact when subjected to an external current, which results in radiated light energy. The choice of junction material determines the emitted wavelength. These materials must emit light at a suitable wavelength if they are to be utilized in conjunction with commonly available detectors, whose spectral response is in the range 0.8 to 1.7m. Ideally, to achieve emission at a desired specific wavelength, they must allow bandgap variation, which can be achieved through appropriate doping and fabrication. Semiconductor optical sources are typically formed from compounds of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and produce light as presented in Table 6.1 [102]. Most optical transmission technology is designed to operate at a wavelength of 850 nm. However, the latest technology includes 1.55-m devices [24, 105], which are attractive due to the fact that, up to certain power levels, they do not harm the human eye as the cornea filters incoming light and allows only wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 1.4 m into the retina. Thus, transmissions at 1.55 m do not pass through the corneal filter, and cannot harm the sensitive retina. This means that, at these wavelengths, the emitted power is allowed to reach values up to l0 mW [106] when the source is used as the transmitter of a wireless IR link. As discussed in Chapter 3, IR sources pose a potential safety hazard if operated incorrectly. For this reason, safety standards have been established to classify optical sources according to their total emitted power [107]. LEDs, for example, do not produce a concentrated light beam. They are large-area devices that cannot be focused by the retina. LDs, on the other hand, are collimated sources whose energycan be focused by the retina. This means that a much lower launch power can be used in order to be considered Class 1 (eye safe). This favors the use of LEDs for indoor applications. The penalty, however, is bandwidth. Whereas the speed of LDs extends to gigabits per second (Gbps), the speed of LEDs is limited typically to l0 Mbps, perhaps extending to 50 Mbps for some specialty devices [106].

Table 6.1 Material Combinations Used in the Fabrication of Optical Sources Material Systems Active Layer/Confining Layers GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs GaAs/InxGa1-xP AlyGa1-yAs /AlxGa1-xAs InyGa1-yAs /InxGa1-xP GaAs1-xSbx /Ga1-yAlyAs1-xSbx Ga1-yAlyAs1-xSbx/GaSb In1-xGaxAsyP1-y/InP Useful Wavelength Range (m) 0.80.9 0.9 0.650.9 0.851.1 0.91.1 1.01.7 0.921.7 Substrate GaAl GaAs GaAs GaAl GaAs GaSb InP

Unlike indoor optical wireless systems, the design of an outdoor wireless link or line-ofsight terrestrial system must deal with propagation effects due to atmospheric phenomena (which attenuate the transmitted signal) and with high levels of atmospheric turbulence across the path (cf. Chapter 2). In outdoor environments, the properties of LDs such as narrow spectra, high power launch capability, and higher access speed make these devices the favorite optical source for long-distance and outdoor directed-LOS links. However, recent developments in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), which offer a safer peak wavelength at 1.55 m [108], is changing this situation. VCSELs are becoming an increasingly attractive option for outdoor and even indoor applications due to their well-controlled, narrow beam properties, high modulation bandwidth, high-speed operation, excellent reliability, low power consumption, and the possibility of having array arrangements. The most commonly developed VCSELs today are the selective oxide-confined ones. In these devices, the operation current is increased to obtain an optical output power that results in a multiple cone-shaped far-field pattern (FFP). A high-power VCSEL can be obtained by increasing the size of the current confinement aperture; however, this method raises concerns regarding device characteristics such as low-frequency performance and a large dip at the center of the FFP [109]. Simultaneously driven VCSEL arrays have been developed by [110] to overcome these issues. Figure 6.8

Slika 6.8 Microscopic top views of the simultaneously driven 33 and 44 VCSEL arrays. (Source: From [110].)

Slika 6.9 Optical modulators: (a) internal modulator and (b) external modulator. illustrates the microscopic top views of two VCSEL arrays (33 and 44). These devices consist of several high-speed VCSELs placed 50 m apart and integrated on a single chip. The epitaxial layers of these VCSELs consist of AlxGa1-xAs semiconductors grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The development and use of effective VCSEL arrays in optical wireless applications is a topic of increasing interest and ongoing research [111, 112].

6.4 Types of Optical Modulation

Optical modulation can be achieved in two ways: (1) by directly modulating the light source (also known as internal modulation) or (2) by external modulation. These two methods are illustrated in Figure 6.9. In each case, analog or digital modulation schemes can be employed. The modulation of the source information can be in the form of frequency modulation (FM), amplitude modulation (AM), or phase modulation (PM), each of which can be theoretically implemented at any carrier frequency (cf. Chapter 3).

Slika 6.10 RZ signal reformation for an optical transmitter. In the case of a digital modulation scheme, the first step involves the conversion of an analog signal into digital data (ON/OFF bit 1 or bit 0 pulses based on pulse code modulation, PCM). The ON/OFF pulses can then be line coded into different formats. In a practical optical system, line coding formats such as non-return-to-zero (NRZ) are generally used. To produce a very high-speed return-to-zero (RZ) modulated signal, a cascade of two optical modulators can be used. In this arrangement, illustrated in Figure 6.10, the first modulator modulates the light from the laser with an NRZ signal; and the second modulator converts the NRZ signal to an RZ signal in the optical domain. It has been shown [113] that the return-to-zero (RZ) format leads to higher receiver sensitivity, which in turn allows for larger system margins. Sensitivity can be further increased using more sophisticated formats, such as differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) [113]. This technique, recently improved and presented by [114] for next-generation optical transmission, operates at speeds of 40 Gbps or 43 Gbps utilizing a forward error correction (FEC)

format. In the approach taken by [114], one device, the electrically synchronized self-pulsating PhaseCOMB laser, replaced the laser. The first modulator includes the electrical amplifier and the first optical amplifier. The self-pulsating laser, also used for all-optical clock recovery [115], is a compact (length <1 mm), three-section laser consisting of two detuned distributed feedback (DFB) gratings and an integrated phase tuning section. In intensity modulation, the source itself is directly modified by the information signal (analog or digital) to produce a modulated optical field. The laser output intensity is proportional to changes in the injected current, which gives this technique its name. In the case of analog signals, where minimum signal distortion is required, the laser bias current must be higher than the threshold value. Frequency or phase modulation can be inserted on a laser tube by varying its cavity length. Pulse modulation is easily applied to a diode by driving it above and below threshold. Such modulations, in general, are limited to the linear range of the power characteristic. The concept of intensity modulation can be explained with the use of a graph illustrating the behaviors of a laser diode, for a digital or an analog signal, as shown in Figures 6.11a and 6.11b, respectively. For digital modulation, the diode is modulated by a current source, which simply turns the LED on and off. As sketched in Figure 6.11a, a binary 1 is generated