This thesis presents research into ultra-low noise photonic microwave synthesis and the development of a novel, frequency comb-based, fibre optic time transfer technique. The focus in the first area is on reducing the noise introduced in the optical-to- electrical conversion process using balanced optical-microwave phase detectors. Two mainly free-space and two mainly fibre-based devices were built and their performance was characterised. The phase noise of the optical-to-electrical conversion of the free-space device was -119 dBc Hz⁻¹ at 1 Hz and -143 dBc Hz⁻¹ at 20 kHz from an 8 GHz carrier which is the best performance reported for a free-space balanced-optical microwave phase detector. The improved fibre-based set-ups demonstrated a state-of-the-art amplitude-to-phase noise suppression of 60 dB and a phase noise of the optical-to-electrical conversion of -131 dBc Hz⁻¹ at 1 Hz and 148 dBc Hz⁻¹ at 20 kHz from an 8 GHz carrier. The novel time transfer technique developed in the second part superimposes timing information onto the optical pulse train of an ITU-channel-filtered frequency comb using an intensity modulation scheme. Time transfer over a 50 km long, delay-stabilised fibre spool produced a state-of-the-art time deviation of 300 fs and an accuracy of approximately 0.01 ns which is close to the best performance achieved using amplitude modulated cw lasers. Using this technique on a 159 km long installed fibre link between NPL and Reading, the same time deviation was achieved and an accuracy of approximately 0.08 ns was obtained, limited by uncertainty of the time interval counter. Using the same fibre link, microwave frequency transfer of the ITU-channel-filtered comb was demonstrated with a fractional frequency instability of 2x10⁻¹⁷ at 5000 s which is approximately at the same level as the best previously reported results which were obtained with a 30 nm wide optical frequency comb.

Optical fibre networks play an increasingly prominent role in communications. As networks grow in size and complexity, the probability and impact of failures increase. In this dissertation, different optical network concepts, survivability and resilience methods are considered. Link and Path failures are discussed and Static Path Protection (SPP), Shared Backup Path Protection (SBPP), as well as Path Restoration (PR) are investigated. A Shared Backup Path Protection model and simulation tool is designed and implemented. This implementation is compared with other studies. Dual-link failures are considered under specific network topologies. Shortest Path algorithms are used to reprovision optimal routes for backup protection. Results and conclusions are discussed in detail, giving valuable insight into resilience methods. Availability and protectability are discussed and evaluated as measures of resilience and network survivability. Results vary between compromising little availability and bringing a significant improvement in availability. It is concluded that the implementation of SBPP is a necessity in highly-meshed networks with high availability needs, but doesn’t necessarily provide the best solution for sparsely-connected networks. The additional cost involved in the implementation needs to be considered carefully. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

The need to exploit the large fibre bandwidth and increase the reach has seen the application of the Raman fibre amplifier (RFA) become indispensable in modern light wave systems. The success and resilience of RFAs in optical communication is deeply rooted in their unique optical properties and new technologies which have allowed the amplifier to come of age. However, the full potential of RFAs in optical communication and other applications are yet to be realized. More so are its polarization properties which still remain largely unexploited and have not been fully understood. In this work, fundamental issues regarding distributed RFA have been investigated with the aim of acquiring a better understanding of the amplifier polarization characteristics which have potential applications. In particular the effects of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization dependent loss (PDL) have been demonstrated both by simulation and experiment. The possibility of Raman polarization pulling in single mode fibres (SMFs) has also been addressed. Polarization sensitivity of RFA has been known for a long time but the clear manifestation of it has become evident in the advent of modern low PMD fibre. Unlike EDFAs which make use of special doped fibre, RFAs require no special fibre for operation. Besides, RFA uses a very long length of fibre and as such the fibre polarization characteristics come into play during amplification. In the demonstrations presented in this thesis a fibre of PMD coefficient < 0.05 pskm-1/2 was regarded as low PMD fibre while one having coefficient ≥ 0.05 pskm-1/2 was categorized to have high PMD unless otherwise stated. Several experiments were performed to evaluate the RFA gain characteristics with respect to fibre PMD and the system performance in the presence of noise emanating from amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Analysis of Raman gain statistics was done for fibres of low and high PMD coefficients. The statistics of PDG and on-off gain were eventually used to demonstrate the extraction of PMD coefficients of fibres between 0.01- 0.1 pskm-1/2 using a forward pumping configuration. It was found that, at increasing pump power a linear relationship exists between forward and backward signal gain on a dB scale. The interaction of PDL and Raman PDG in the presence of PMD were observed at very fundamental level. It was found the presence of PDL serves to reduce the available on-off gain. It was also established that the presence of PMD mediates the interaction between PDG/PDL. When PMD is high it reduces PDG but the presence of PDL introduces a wavelength dependent gain tilting for WDM channels. Further analysis revealed that signal polarization is influenced by the pump SOP due to the pulling effect which is present even at moderate pump power.

Fiber optic sensors are designed to measure various parameters. The distributed fiber optics sensor has been a very promising candidate for the structural health monitoring. In this thesis, we characterized LEAF (Large Effective Area Fiber) fiber’s Brillouin scattering spectrum and investigated its potentiality for the distributed Brillouin temperature and strain sensor. Optical fibers with complex refractive index profiles are applied to improve the Brillouin threshold by varying the Brillouin linewidth. As LEAF fiber has a modified refractive index profile, we investigated its Brillouin linewidth’s dependence on the square of the pump light’s frequency. We verified the Brillouin frequency’s variation with input SOP experimentally for LEAF fiber in the spontaneous regime. This sets a limitation for the frequency resolution of distributed Brillouin sensors. We also realized a simultaneous temperature and strain sensor with LEAF fiber applying the Brillouin optical time domain analysis. Based on the direct detection of LEAF beat frequencies, a simultaneous strain and temperature sensor was demonstrated.

Femtosecond (fs) laser micromachining has been a useful technique either to modify and remove materials or to change the properties of a material, and can be applied to transparent and absorptive substances. Recently high-power fs laser radiation has drawn intensive attention for the induction of refractive index change to fabricate micro-structures in dielectric materials. This thesis studies the optical properties of a novel fiber random grating fabricated by fs laser micromachining technique and extends its applications from optical sensing to random fiber lasers and optical random bit generations. The thesis mainly consists of three parts. In the first part, the physical mechanism behind the fs laser micromachining technique and the fabrication of the fiber random grating are introduced. By employing a wavelength-division spectral cross-correlation algorithm, a novel multi-parameter fiber-optic sensor based on the fiber random grating is proposed and demonstrated to realize simultaneous measurements of temperature, axial strain, and surrounding refractive index. In the second part, Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) and Erbium-doped fiber random laser (EDFRL) are introduced, respectively. Firstly, we propose a novel Brillouin random fiber laser with a narrow linewidth of ~860 Hz based on the bi-directionally pumped stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a 10-km-long optical fiber. A random fiber Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator is built up through the pump depletion effects of SBS at both ends of the fiber. The novel laser is successfully applied for linewidth characterization beyond 860 Hz of light source under test. Secondly, the random grating-based FP resonator is introduced to build up a novel BRFL with narrow-linewidth of ~45.8Hz and reduced lasing threshold. The intensity and frequency noises of the proposed random laser are effectively suppressed due to the reduced resonating modes and mode competition. Finally, the fiber random grating is used as random distributed feedback in an EDFRL to achieve both static (temperature, strain) and dynamic (ultrasound) parameter sensing. Multiple lasing lines with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to 40dB are achieved, which gives an access for a high-fidelity multiple-static-parameter sensing application. By monitoring the wavelength shifts of each peak, temperature and strain have been simultaneously measured with small errors. The fiber random grating in the EDFRL is also able to sense the ultrasound waves. By achieving single mode lasing with the EDFRL, ultrasound waves with frequencies from 20kHz to 0.8MHz could be detected with higher sensitivity and SNR improvement up to 20dB compared with conventional piezoelectric acoustic sensors. In the third part, we demonstrate that a semiconductor laser perturbed by the distributed feedback from a fiber random grating can emit light chaotically without the time delay signature (TDS). A theoretical model is developed by modifying the Lang-Kobayashi model to numerically explore the chaotic dynamics of the laser diode subjected to the random distributed feedback. It is predicted that the random distributed feedback is superior to the single reflection feedback in suppressing the TDS. In experiments, The TDS with the maximum suppression is achieved with a value of 0.0088, which is the smallest to date.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the D.Tech.: Electrical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / The tremendous growth in the volume of telecommunication traffic has undoubtedly triggered an unprecedented information revolution. The emergence of high-speed and bandwidth-hungry applications and services such as high-definition television (HDTV), the internet and online interactive media has forced the telecommunication industry to come up with ingenious and innovative ideas to match the challenges. With the coming of age of purposeful advances in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology, it is inherently practicany possible to deploy ultra-high speed all-optical networks to meet the ever-increasing demand for modern telecommunication services. All-optical networks are capable of transmitting data signals entirely in the optical domain from source to destination, and thus eliminate the incorporation of the often bulky and high-energy consuming optical­ to-electrical-to-optical (OEO) converters at intermediate nodes. Predictably, all-optical networks consume appreciably low energy as compared to their opaque and translucent counterparts. This low energy consumption results in lower carbon footprint of these networks, and thus a significant reduction in the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission. In addition, transparent optical networks bring along other additional and favourable rewards such as high bit-rates and overall protocol transparency. Bearing in mind the aforementioned benefits of transparent optical networks, it is vital to point out that there are significant setbacks that accompany these otherwise glamourous rewards. Since OEO conversions are eliminated at intermediate nodes in all-optical networks, the quality of the transmitted signal from source to destination may be severely degraded mainly due to the cumulative effect of physical-layer impairments induced by the passage through the optical fibres and associated network components. It is therefore essential to come up with routing schemes that effectively take into consideration the signal degrading effects of physical -layer impairments so as to safeguard the integrity and health of transmitted signals, and eventually lower blocking probabilities. Furthermore, innovative approaches need to be put in place so as to strike a delicate balance between reduced energy consumption in transparent networks and the quality of transmitted signals. In addition, the incorporation of renewable energy sources in the powering of network devices appears to gain prominence in the design and operation of the next-generation optical networks. The work presented in this dissertation broadly focuses on physical-layer impairment aware routing and wavelength assignment algorithms (PLIA-RWA) that attempt to: (i) achieve a sufficiently high quality of transmission by lowering the blocking probability, and (ii) reduce the energy consumption in the optical networks. Our key contributions of this study may be summarized as follows: Design and development of a Q-factor estimation tool. Formulation, evaluation and validation of a QoT-based analytical model that computes blocking probabilities. Proposal and development of IA-RWA algorithms and comparison with established ones. Design and development of energy-efficient RWA schemes for dynamic optical networks. / D

No description available.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial ful lment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 2015 / Control of systems are important in most industrial sectors, they nd applications in electronics, machine design and navigation. These control systems often use sensors to work e ectively. One such sensor is an accelerometer, which is used to measure acceleration with one or more degrees of freedom. This research report investigates the modelling, system identi cation and controller design for an accelerometer, a Fibre Optic Accelerometer (FOA). Such a device may be applied in many applications such as anti-skid control, structural failure in buildings and bridges, as well as strategic missile guidance. This report presents a model of a FOA demonstrator which crudely models an industrially developed accelerometer, the demonstrator is made of a jig consisting of a guitar string and electromagnets. Such a model needs to account for a distributed parameter beam combined with a permanent magnet and four electromagnets. The guitar string is modelled using three beam models, namely a spring/damper model, an Assumed Modes Model (ASM) and a Transfer Function Model (TFM). The parameters for these beam models are identi ed using the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm and the least squares method. The electromagnets within the jig, are modelled using a mathematical model obtained through curve tting of experimental data. The overall FOA sensor is optimised using a lead-lag controller. Five cost functions where investigated, these cost functions are H1, Integral Square Error (ISE), Integral Absolute Error (IAE), Integral Time Square Error (ITSE) and Integral Absolute Time Error (IATE). It was found that the guitar string may be modelled using a single degree of freedom beam model. This is based on a number of reasons, such as the aperture size - through which the tip Light Emitting Diode (LED) projects, the tip mass (permanent magnet) - acting as a natural damper and the fact that Position Sensing Device (PSD) only measures the tip position. It was found that a single degree of freedom model in two orthogonal axes, with a single link beam spring/damper model was the most suitable representation of the guitar string. And the IAE lead-lag controller was found to be the most e ective in controlling a guitar string, this e ectiveness was due to least settling time. / MT2017

No description available.

The purpose of the project was to examine fiber optic sensors for the measurement of pressure, skin friction, temperature, and heat flux in high Reynolds number, supersonic flow. Using a standard fiber optic signal conditioning unit (specifically a broadband interferometric system using spectra), the work centered around determining under what conditions these sensors will work effectively and quantifying the total system limitations. An interferometric-based, fiber optic skin friction sensor was developed for the measurement of wall shear stress in complex, supersonic flows. This sensor type was tested successfully in laminar, incompressible flow, and supersonic flow up to Mach 1.92, Mach 2.4 and 3.0 flow, in which the sensor operated with varying success. A micromachined, fiber optic pressure sensor was also tested in these supersonic conditions, also with varying success. The accurate operation of these sensors was found to be tied to the flow conditions and the fiber optic, signal processing system. A correlation was found to exist between the energy of the flow, either through its dynamic pressure or through external disturbances such as shocks or separation, and the noise in the signals, expressed by the variance of the gap estimate, for the pressure and skin friction sensors in these flows. The energy of the flow couples with the mechanical properties of the sensor reducing the fringe contrast of the signal used by the optical signal processing system to determine a gap estimate. As the energy of the flow is increased and the sensor is excited, the fringe contrast is reduced. A practical limit of a normalized fringe contrast of 0.10 was found for producing accurate gap estimates in real flows. A consequence is that there is a limit to the dynamic pressure of the flow for the sensors to operate accurately, which is demonstrated by the varying success of the supersonic wind tunnel tests. This correlation is sensor specific, meaning that sensors can be designed to operate successfully in any flow. Also, the signal processing system, which forms the other end of the total system, could be improved to allow accurate measurements with the current sensors. / Ph. D.