Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, 1998. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-104). Also available online.

Thesis (DTech (Electrical Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-199). Also available online.

Multimode fibers (MMF) are generally used in short and medium haul optical networks owing to the availability of low cost devices and inexpensive packaging solutions. However, the performance of conventional multimode fibers is limited primarily by the presence of high modal dispersion owing to large core diameters. While electronic dispersion compensation methods improve the bandwidth-distance product of MMFs, they do not utilize the fundamental diversity present in the different modes of the multimode fiber. This thesis draws from developments in wireless communication theory and signal processing to motivate the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and signal processing techniques in MMF links. MIMO techniques that utilize the diversity of modes present in the fiber increase data rates and link reliability. Theoretical models for propagation effects in MMF systems are used to analyze and design the geometry of laser and detector arrays for MIMO-MMF links, and study how the design of these arrays impacts link performance. These models are also used to develop and evaluate low-complexity algorithms that efficiently utilize dense detector arrays, with "greedy subset selection" based on submodular optimization. Experimental evaluation of 1 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3 and 4 × 4 MIMO systems have been conducted over various MMF media, including 100 m - 3 km silica MMF with externally modulated distributed feedback lasers and directly modulated vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), as well as with Fabry Perot lasers over 10 m - 100 m plastic MMF. The use of off-the-shelf components as well as the role of axial offset coupling in enhancing modal diversity has been experimentally quantified. The experimental techniques discussed in this thesis have enabled an increase of over 25× in the bandwidth-distance product of the MMF link, when compared to currently deployed MMF systems, such as 10GBASE-SR. / text

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A wide band linearly chirped erbium-doped fiber laser has been developed. The erbium-doped fiber laser using a rotating mirror/grating combination as one of the reflectors in a Fabry-Perot laser cavity has been tuned over a 46 nm spectral range. Linearization of the chirp rate has been achieved using feedback from a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) to adjust the voltage ramp which drives the rotating mirror. In a demonstration of monitoring an array of two fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, a wavelength resolution of 1.7 pm has been achieved. The linearly chirped fiber laser has been used in measuring the optical path difference (OPD) of interferometric fiber optic sensors by performing a Fourier transform of the optical signal. Multiplexing of an array of three FFPI sensors of different lengths has been demonstrated, with an OPD resolution ranging from 3.6 nm to 6.3 nm. Temperature was measured with one of the sensors over the range from 20°C to 610°C with a resolution of 0.02°C. Short FBGs are used to form the two mirrors of a fiber Bragg grating pair interferometer (FBGPI) sensor, so that the mirror reflectances change gradually as a function of temperature. Modulating the drive current of a DFB laser produces chirping of the laser frequency to scan over ~2.5 fringes of the FBGPI reflectance spectrum. Because the fringes are distinguished due to the FBG reflectance change, the ambient temperature can be determined over the range from 24 oC to 367 oC with a resolution of 0.004 oC. Multiplexing of FBGPI sensors of different lengths with a linearly chirped fiber laser has demonstrated improved sensitivity and multiplexing capacity over a conventional FBG WDM system. The FBG spectral peak position and the phase shift of an FBGPI are determined through the convolution of the sensor reflected signal with an appropriately matched reference waveform, even though the reflectance spectra for the FBGs from different sensors overlap over a wide temperature range. A spectral resolution for the FBG reflectance peak of 0.045 GHz (0.36 pm), corresponding to a temperature resolution of 0.035 oC, has been achieved.

The past decade has seen an increased interest in multiwavelength optical sources. Various methods and technologies exist for developing multiwavelength lasers with varying features and characteristics. A particular category that has gained much interest, are multiwavelength fiber lasers that combine nonlinear gain from stimulated Brillouin scattering with linear gain from erbium doped fibers. / This thesis demonstrates experimentally a Brillouin semiconductor multiwavelength fiber laser that utilizes semiconductor optical amplifiers as the linear gain medium. This novel technique allows for multiwavelength Brillouin fiber lasers to operate in any wavelength band for which SOAs are available. We begin by demonstrating a ring cavity configuration with a single wavelength output in the C/L bands. This configuration is enhanced for multiwavelength generation by the addition of a feedback path. The setup is then implemented in the O-band to demonste that the Brillouin fiber laser can be made to operate at any wavelength. Finally, several linear cavity configurations are explored and shown to improve the performance of the multiwavelength output in the O- and C/L- bands.

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