Funds are requested to purchase an Agilent serial BERT in order to significantly improve the educational and research capabilities of the Communications and Photonics laboratories at Sonoma State University.
Intellectual Merit of the Acquisition and Use of Requested Instrument - Optical fiber communications have enjoyed an explosive growth in recent years thanks to the excellent fiber characteristics-low loss and high bandwidth. Recently, 3.7 Tbit/s (3700 Gbit/s) transmission over transoceanic distances over a single fiber have been demonstrated. Nevertheless, migration to ultra-high bit rate (beyond 10 Gbit/s) single channel or ultra-high capacity multi-channel transmission systems is shown to be challenging. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the required signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver. The energy that is carried in a bit decreases linearly as the bit-rate increases. Fiber nonlinearity limits the maximum optical power that can be launched into the fiber. At the same time, both electrical and optical components of the receiver noise increase with the signal bandwidth. Therefore, the signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver degrades quickly as the capacity increases. In this project, we investigate the optical noise characteristics of a high capacity transmission system, and explore techniques to reduce the noise contribution in bit-error-rate. We will revisit the realistic.asymmetric and non-stationary.characteristics of the optical noisewhich have been so far overlooked. The result of this investigation potentially will have a profound effect on noise management in optical systems and enable much higher data transmission over the fiber.
The Photonics and the Communications laboratories at Sonoma State University provide a unique environment to study optical noise characteristics at ultra-high bit rates. Due to its proximity to many large photonics and telecommunications corporations, SSU has been fortunate to receive significant amount (over two million dollars) of support and donations from the industry. Although our current system allows us to transmit data at 10 Gbit/s, the labs lack the fundamental equipment to drive the transmitters and to measure the signal quality and system performance at the receivers. Agilent N4901A is a newly designed bit-error-rate tester that provides an accurate measurement of the crucial parameters of the transmission system. Without this equipment, a considerable portion of our lab will be underutilized and significant research opportunities will be missed.
Broader Impacts of the Acquisition and Use of Requested Instrument - Agilent N4901A would also be an invaluable educational instrument for our undergraduate and graduate programs. Most of the optical fiber degrading effects, including chromatic dispersion, PMD and fiber nonlinearities, are only detectable at high bit rates. The graduate-level classes including "Optical Fiber Communications" and "Advanced Photonics Devices" as well as undergraduate classes will significantly benefit from the acquisition of this equipment. Moreover, female students who represent ~70% of the student body at Sonoma State University can take advantage of the research opportunities to become competitive on a national level. By conducting research that is of special interest to the local industry, acquisition of this instrument paves the way to enhance our relationship with the industry, and improve the career prospects of the students.
