Dispersion Compensation in Long Haul Optical Links and WDM Systems

Abstract

Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) has emerged as a highly preferable communication system, offering advantages such as high bandwidth, long-distance transmission capabilities, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. However, long-haul optical communication faces limitations such as attenuation, dispersion, fiber nonlinearities, amplification requirements, and deployment challenges. This thesis focuses on addressing the limitation of dispersion by investigating efficient dispersion compensation techniques for long-haul optical links and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems.The research begins with a comprehensive study of various dispersion compensation techniques, analyzing their benefits and drawbacks. Subsequently, the investigation delves into Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) and explores chirping and apodization techniques associated with them. These efforts aim to determine the most effective compensator module for single channel long-haul optical links. Additionally, Dispersion Compensating Fiber (DCF) modules are examined as individual dispersion compensators and in hybrid configurations to evaluate their suitability for dispersion compensation.Furthermore, the thesis investigates dispersion compensation techniques within the context of WDM systems, placing particular emphasis on the implementation of Chirped Fiber Bragg Gratings (CFBGs) as hybrid dispersion compensation units within DWDM optical networks. This implementation aims to enhance the performance of the DWDM network, facilitating longer transmission distances and/or higher bit-rates.n addition to addressing single channel long-haul optical links and WDM systems, the thesis tackles the challenges of ultra-long haul optical networks. Multiple spans of dispersion compensation modules are explored as a means to achieve efficient ultra-long haultransmission while maintaining acceptable performance characteristics. The primary focus of this network design is to maximize the feasible transmission distance.