Method and apparatus for chromatic dispersion measurement based on optoelectronic oscillations

Abstract

In this invention, a novel technique is introduced to measure chromatic dispersion (CD) in optical fibers. This technique is based on a relatively low-frequency optoelectronic oscillation (OEO) to provide fast, precise and low cost method for CD measurement that can be implemented easily in commercial instruments. In addition, another technique is presented to compensate for fiber thermal fluctuations during measurement which is based on a second simultaneously oscillating OEO. The proposed setup is implemented to measure the CD in normal single mode fibers with lengths of 40 km, 10 km, 1 km. Moreover, it is implemented to measure CD in 400 m of nonzero dispersion shifted fiber to test the system ability to resolve small chromatic delays. The proposed setup can resolve delays less than 0.1 ps/nm (which can be further improved by increasing the oscillation frequency) and measure CD with precision as low as 0.005 ps/nm.km as low as 20 seconds over a wavelength range from 1500 to 1630 nm. Further improvements may be possible by slightly better system design.

Claims

1- Chromatic dispersion measurement method and apparatus using optoelectronic oscillations with the fiber under test in its cavity.

2- Thermal fluctuation compensation using additional optoelectronic oscillator that has the same fiber under test in its cavity.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:

[0015] FIG. 1FIG. 1 depicts the basic scheme for chromatic dispersion measurement using optoelectronic oscillation (OEO) (TL: tunable laser, MZI: Intensity modulator, FT: Fiber under test, PD: Photodiode, AMP: RF amplifier, BPF: Band-pass filter, FC: Frequency counter).

[0016] FIG. 2FIG. 2 depicts the complete chromatic dispersion measurement setup with thermal compensation scheme using optoelectronic oscillation (OEO). DFBL: laser at 1310 nm, TL: Tunable laser, WM: Wavemeter, MZI: Mach-Zehnder Intensity modulator, PD: photodetector, FC: Frequency counter, SA: RF spectrum analyzer, BPF: Band-pass filter, AMP: RF amplifier, PC: Computer.

[0017] FIG. 3FIG. 3 depicts the sensitivity measurement of the optoelectronic oscillation (OEO) fundamental frequency at 1310 and 1550 nm to the thermal fluctuations on the fiber under test of 10 km length. (Dashed line: 1310 nm, continuous line 1550 nm)

[0018] FIG. 4FIG. 4 depicts the spectrum of Optoelectronic oscillation near 56 MHz with sidebands (Fiber under test length=10 km).

[0019] FIG. 5FIG. 5 depicts the chromatic dispersion measurement results at 5 nm scanning steps over wavelength range 1500-1630 nm for normal single mode fiber of length of 40 km STD: standard deviation, Oscillation frequency=56 MHz.

[0020] FIG. 6FIG. 6 depicts the chromatic dispersion measurement results at 5 nm scanning steps over wavelength range 1500-1630 nm for nonzero dispersion shifted fiber of length of 400 m STD: standard deviation, Oscillation frequency=56 MHz.

[0021] FIG. 7AFIG. 7A depicts the chromatic dispersion measurement of 1 km fiber with 1 nm scanning steps over wavelength scanning range from 1500-1630 nm at oscillation frequency of 56 MHz. (STD: standard deviation).

[0022] FIG. 7BFIG. 7B depicts the chromatic dispersion measurement of 1 km fiber with 1 nm scanning steps over wavelength scanning range from 1500-1630 nm at oscillation frequency of 900 MHz. (STD: standard deviation).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

[0024] Novel chromatic dispersion measurement technique is discussed herein. This technique is based on the optoelectronic oscillation (OEO). In addition, a technique for compensation of the thermal fluctuations in the fiber under test by using another optoelectronic oscillator is presented.

[0025] The basic oscillator comprises a tunable laser (TL) (1), an intensity modulator (MZI) (1), fiber under test (FT) (3), a photodetector (PD) (4), an amplifier (AMP) (5), a filter (BPF) (6), power splitter (7) and a frequency counter (FC)(8) which are connected as shown in FIG. 1).

[0026] The RF amplifier (5) should provide sufficient gain to compensate the loss inside the loop and therefore starting the oscillation. The basic condition for the OEO oscillation is that the accumulated phase around the loop in the optical and RF part to be integer multiples of 2.

[0027] The oscillation frequency of the OEO cavity can be described by the following equation:

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}{f}_q=\mathrm{qf}=\frac{q}{}=\frac{q}{{}_F+{}_{\mathrm{sys}}},.Math.{}_f=\frac{\mathrm{nL}}{c_o}& \left(1\right)\end{array}$

[0028] Where, .sub.F is the time-of-flight of the light inside the fiber under test, , .sub.sys are the delays inside the whole cavity and inside the measurement system respectively, L is the length of the fiber under test, q is the oscillation mode number, f is the cavity fundamental oscillation frequency, c.sub.o: the speed of light in vacuum (299792458 m/s), n: the refractive index of the fiber under test which is 1.4682 at 1550 nm.

[0029] The chromatic dispersion coefficient (D) is defined as the change in the time-of-flight of the light inside the fiber under test (d.sub.F) as its wavelength changes by (d):

[00002]$\begin{array}{cc}D\left(\mathrm{ps}.Math.\text{/}.Math.\mathrm{nm}.Math.\mathrm{km}\right)=\frac{d.Math..Math.{}_F}{d.Math..Math..Math..Math.L}=\frac{q.Math..Math.{\mathrm{df}}_q\left(\mathrm{Hz}\right).Math..Math.\left({10}^{12}\right)}{d.Math..Math..Math..Math.\left(\mathrm{nm}\right).Math..Math.L\left(\mathrm{km}\right).Math..Math.f_q^2.Math..Math.\left({\mathrm{Hz}}^2\right)}& \left(2\right)\end{array}$

Therefore, by changing the wavelength of the tunable laser by (d) while measuring the change in the OEO oscillation frequency (df.sub.q), D can be calculated from equation (2).

[0030] Therefore, by changing the wavelength of the tunable laser while measuring the change in the oscillation frequency of the OEO, D can be calculated from equation (2).

[0031] The setup shown in FIG. 2 is constructed to measure chromatic dispersion and to compensate for temperature drifts using two simultaneously OEO. The chromatic dispersion measuring oscillator comprises of a tunable laser (TL) (9), a Mach-Zehnder Intensity modulator (MZI) (21), Photodetector (PD1) (18), an amplifier (AMP1) (19), bandpass filter (BPF1) (20), frequency counter (FC1) (15), fiber under test (25) and a wavemeter (WM) (10). A RF spectrum analyzer (SA) (16) is used to characterize the beat resulting from the oscillation. A computer (22) is used to control the sweeping of the tunable laser and take reading from the wavemeters and the frequency counters at each wavelength.

[0032] The second OEO, which is used to compensate the thermal drift of the fiber under test (25) during measurement, consists of a laser at 1310 nm (DFBL) (11) (or any different wavelength), another similar photodetector (PD2) (17), amplifier (AMP2) (13), bandpass filter (BPF2) (12) and frequency counter (FC2) (14).

[0033] The light from the tunable laser (9) is directed to the MZI (21). The light after the MZI (21) is sent through the fiber under test together with the light from the DFB laser (11) using a fiber combiner (24). The two beams are separated again using a 1310/1550 WDM multiplexer (23), so that the light from tunable laser falls on PD1 (18) while the light from the DFBL (11) falls on PD2 (17). Two RF filters (12, 20) are used to select the oscillating frequency. The RF amplifiers (AMP1, AMP2) (19, 13) are used to compensate the losses in the optical and electrical routs to maintain the oscillation. The frequencies are counted using the two frequency counters.

[0034] The RF spectrum analyzer (16) is used to characterize the oscillation beat and to measure the fundamental frequency by measuring the mode-spacing as shown in FIG. (3).

[0035] The exact wavelength of the tunable laser is measured continuously using an accurate wavemeter (10).

[0036] Since the wavelengths 1310 nm, 1550 nm have different sensitivity to temperature, a test can be made to find this ratio. A 10 km fiber is placed into temperature controlled champer and a temperature change of around 15 C. is made while measuring the OEO oscillation frequencies of both lasers. The measurement results are shown in FIG. 3. The ratio between the two fundamental frequencies is found to be

[00003]$\frac{f\left(1550\right)}{f\left(1310\right)}=0.9896.$

Therefore, it is possible to compensate the thermal effects on the oscillation frequency of the tunable laser by using the oscillation frequency of the 1310 nm laser multiplied by this ratio.

[0037] According to equation 2, the oscillation mode number has to be determined for each fiber under test (25). This number can be determined easily from the RF spectrum of the optoelectronic oscillation by dividing the oscillation frequency by the spacing between two consecutive peaks which represents the fundamental frequency, see FIG. 4.

[0038] The setup in FIG. 2 is verified for measuring the chromatic dispersion of 40 km of normal single mode fiber and 400 m of nonzero dispersion shifted fiber. The measurement is performed by sweeping the tunable laser over the wavelengths from 1500 nm to 1630 nm in steps of 5 nm, while measuring the oscillation frequency change using a frequency counter. The laser wavelength during sweeping is measured using accurate wavemeter. The chromatic dispersion is calculated from equation (2) and the measurement results are shown in FIG. 5 (40 km) and 400 m (FIG. 6).

[0039] For long fibers, the mode number q is large enough to resolve CD with precision as low as 0.005 ps/nm.km in step of 5 nm (0.018 ps/nm.km in step of 1 nm) with such relatively low oscillation frequency (56 MHz). However, for short fibers, higher oscillation frequencies are required to reach comparable mode number and consequently reach similar precision. For example, for 40 km fiber, q11000 at 56 MHz; on the other hand, for 1 km fiber, q285 at 56 MHz, while it is q4583 at 900 MHz. Therefore, in order to enhance the measurement precision for short fibers, higher frequencies is required. FIG. 7 shows a test measurement made on 1 km fiber at two oscillation frequencies, namely, 56 MHz and 900 MHz. The test shows that at oscillation frequency of 900 MHz the measurement precision is better than that of measurement at 56 MHz.

[0040] When comparing the proposed setup with the best available commercial measuring device currently available (ex. Agilent 86037C), optoelectronic oscillation setup is 3 times faster than Agilent since it measures chromatic dispersion from 1500 to 1630 nm in 5 nm steps in 20 seconds, while Agilent measures it in around 1 minute. The measurement resolution for Agilent system reported to be 0.1 ps/nm which is similar to the proposed setup herein which is 0.09 ps/nm (obtained from the 400 m nonzero dispersion shifted fiber measurement) for the low modulation frequency of 56 MHz. However, by increasing the oscillation frequency the resolution is expected to be much better depending on the frequency selected. The price of the OEO system should be much lower than the Agilent system, since the Agilent system employ a vector analyzer to measure the phase change which is more expensive than the component of the proposed setup herein. The proposed setup can be reduced to simple scheme (like the setup in FIG. 1) if the fiber is placed in a temperature controlled chamber or the measurement is made in relatively stable environment (which is not considered in any setup else). The spectrum analyzer is needed only once at manufacturing process to measure system frequency.