Orientador: Hugo Luis Fragnito / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T21:00:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marconi_JorgeDiego_D.pdf: 6438397 bytes, checksum: df80d0a6babab0366b1839d4344573fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Esta tese apresenta um estudo teórico e experimental sobre Amplificadores Paramétricos a Fibra Óptica. Mostramos primeiramente a potencialidade do amplificador em termos de largura de banda plana, necessária para aplicações em sistemas WDM. Foram desenvolvidas equações do ripple para os diferentes tipos de espectro de alto ganho possíveis. Usando fibras de dispersão deslocada e fibras altamente não-lineares curtas, construímos amplificadores de dois bombeios com uma banda plana de amplificação de 52 nm e 84 nm, respectivamente. Em ambos os casos, a banda obtida foi comparável à obtida com outras tecnologias como Érbio ou Raman. Pesquisamos também o crosstalk entre canais em amplificadores paramétricos. Mostramos como as variações de ë 0 ao longo da fibra aumentam o crosstalk, pois se incrementam os processos de mistura de quatro ondas espúrios. Em amplificadores de dois bombeios, obtivemos os melhores resultados para aplicações WDM com fibras curtas (L ~ 0.8 km). Finalmente, a partir da análise da penalidade do fator de mérito Q do sinal, estudamos como os efeitos da modulação de fase do/s laser/s de bombeio, necessária para suprimir o espalhamento Brillouin estimulado, são prejudiciais para a performance destes amplificadores. Com base nesse resultado, procuramos eliminar o espalhamento Brillouin com um método alternativo que consiste na aplicação de distribuições de deformação mecânica ao longo da fibra. Obtivemos um aumento de 10.7 dB em 285 m de fibra altamente não-linear, o que é da ordem dos valores obtidos modulando a fase do/s bombeio/s. Aplicamos a técnica em dispositivos paramétricos obtendo um conversor de comprimento de onda com um sinal convertido de largura de banda estreito, sintonizável ao longo de 70 nm de comprimento de onda do sinal de entrada / Abstract: This thesis presents a theoretical and experimental study on fiber optics parametric amplifiers. For the double-pumped case, we show the performance of the amplifier in terms of spectral bandwidth and gain uniformity, both fundamental properties for WDM applications. By using short dispersion shifted fibers and highly non-linear fibers, we made parametric amplifiers with 52 and 84 nm of flat bandwidth, respectively. In both cases, the bandwidth is similar to the one obtained with optical amplifiers based on other technologies such as doped fibers, Raman gain or semiconductors. We also deduced equations of the gain ripple for all the possible types of high gain spectra. We also investigated the inter-channel crosstalk in parametric amplifiers. We showed that the variations of the zero dispersion wavelength along the fiber increase the crosstalk because those variations enhances the spurious four wave mixing tones. Finally, the degradation of the signal quality factor (Q) was studied for both, single and double-pumped parametric amplifiers. We showed that the phase modulation applied to the pump lasers to suppress the stimulated Brillouin backscattering can strongly degrade the performance of the amplifier. One alternative technique that we developed was based on applying different mechanical stress distributions along the fiber length. We experimentally demonstrated, using 285 m of highly non-linear fibers, that the backscattering threshold can be increased by 10.7 dB. This value is similar to that obtained using the phase modulation schema. The method was successfully applied to parametric devices. In particular we made a narrow linewidth wavelength converter with 70 nm of signal tuning band / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

Orientador: Luiz Carlos Barbosa / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T19:58:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Osorio_SergioPauloAmaral_D.pdf: 8946065 bytes, checksum: 9771cf8636d67bee8eb1b92d030d0d13 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Neste trabalho três tipos de vidro telurito são estudados, fabricados e caracterizados, tendo em vista a fabricação de fibras ópticas de cristal fotônico. Basicamente, dois processos de fabricação de fibras de cristal fotônico foram considerados: 1) Empilhamento e puxamento, e 2) Extrusão. Os vidros teluritos fabricados são: 0,77TeO2¿0,23WO3; 0,75TeO2¿0,20Li2O¿0,05TiO2 e 0,68TeO2¿0,155ZnO¿0,05Li2CO3¿0,015Bi2O3¿0,095CsCl (mol%), dos tipos binário, ternário e quinqüenário, respectivamente, os quais foram dopados com Er2O3. As caracterizações efetuadas foram: a) Medida do índice de refração, 2) Fotoluminescência, 3) Absorbância, 4) Tempo de vida dos íons de Érbio, 5) Análise Térmica Diferencial, 6) Análise termogravimétrica e, 7) Viscosidade. Como dito anteriormente, pode-se fabricar fibras microestruturadas de telurito por extrusão, ou pelo método de empilhamento e puxamento. A extrusora disponível no laboratório de materiais vítreos foi feita para extrudar materiais polímeros. Nossa tentativa de utilizá-la para vidros telurito não foi bem sucedida. Porém, pudemos tirar algum proveito desta experiência para futuros projetos. Os tubos de vidro telurito utilizados no método de empilhamento e puxamento foram fabricados tanto por sucção vertical do vidro fundido, quanto por rotação horizontal dos tubos em chama. No primeiro método, o diâmetro interno dos tubos de revestimento diminuiu de baixo para cima, devido ao efeito da gravidade, fazendo com que o preenchimento dos mesmos com tubos capilares fosse inadequado, ou seja, a secção transversal da fibra apresentou espaços vazios não preenchidos pelos capilares. No segundo método, o diâmetro interno dos tubos de revestimento não apresentou variação significativa ao longo de seu comprimento, possibilitando, assim, um melhor preenchimento dos mesmos por tubos capilares. Embora as fibras fabricadas com tubos feitos por rotação horizontal em chama apresentem boa geometria de secção transversal, a contaminação do vidro pela chama acarreta um aumento nas perdas de potência óptica dos modos guiados. Este efeito foi eliminado pela utilização de centrifugação em um forno radiante. Verificamos, também, que as fibras microestruturadas com somente um anel de capilares ao redor do núcleo apresentam grandes perdas por confinamento. / Abstract: In this work, three types of tellurite glasses are synthesized and characterized, aiming the manufacturing of photonic crystal fibers or microstructured fibers. Basically, two types of manufacturing processes are considered: 1) Stacking and draw, and 2) Extrusion. The tellurite glasses are: 0,77TeO 2¿0,23WO3; 0,75TeO2¿0,20Li2O¿0,05TiO2 e 0,68TeO2¿ 0,155ZnO¿0,05Li2C3¿0,015Bi2O3¿0,095CsCl (mol%), composed by two, three and five types of oxides, respectively, and Erbium oxide. The glasses were characterized by: a) index of refraction, 2) photoluminescence, 3) absorbance, 4) Erbium ions lifetime, 5) Differential Thermal Analysis, 6) Thermo gravimetric Analysis, and 7) Viscosity. The extrusion machine of the laboratory was devised for polymers. Nevertheless, we tried with telluride glass but without success. The tellurite glass tubes used for the stack and draw process were manufactured by vertical suction of the melted glass as well as by horizontal rotation of the tubes in flame. For the vertical suction method, the tellurite tube inner diameter shows a taper feature from the bottom to the top of the tube, due to the gravity effect, that makes the jacket tube unsuitable for capillary filling, that is, the fiber transversal section shows empty spaces that could not be filled with capillaries. For the second method, the telluride jacket tube inner diameter do not shows a significant variation with length, so it was possible to better fill it with the capillaries. Although the fibers made with tubes manufactured by horizontal rotation in flame shows good transversal geometry, the contamination of the glass by the flame gases brought about great losses for optical guided modes. The burner was replaced by a radiant oven. We verified, also, that micro structured fibers with only one ring of capillaries around the nucleus shows great confinement loss arising from the leaky nature of the modes / Doutorado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Doutor em Física

Les micro-résonateurs optiques comptent parmi les dispositifs les plus importants en photonique. Les résonateurs WGM sont assez particuliers. Il s'agit de composant présentant une symétrie circulaire comme c'est le cas des sphères, des anneaux, des disques et des tores. Les résonateurs WGM présentent un facteur de qualité exceptionnel et un volume modal très faible. Ces appareils peuvent être utilisés dans plusieurs domaines, notamment la télédétection, le filtrage optique et l'optique non linéaire. D'autres applications sont possibles en biologie, médecine, spectroscopie moléculaire, surveillance environnementale, astronomie et astrophysique grâce à l'exploitation du rayonnement moyen infrarouge. Les micro-résonateurs optiques comportent un grand nombre de transitions vibrationnelles qui agissent comme des «empreintes» pour de nombreuses molécules organiques permettant le développement d'applications spectroscopiques innovantes et de nouveaux capteurs. Il convient de noter que l'atmosphère de la terre est transparente au niveau des deux fenêtres de transmission atmosphérique. La première est comprise entre 3 et 5 μm et la seconde entre 8 et 13 μm, ce qui rend possible des applications telles que la détection d'explosifs à distance ainsi que le brouillage de communication confidentielles. La large fenêtre de transparence en verres de chalcogénures dans le domaine spectral infrarouge rend envisageable le développement de nombreuses applications. Les verres de chalcogénure sont caractérisés par une bonne résistance mécanique et une durabilité chimique suffisante dans l'eau et l'atmosphère. Par ailleurs, l'indice de réfraction élevé, le rendement quantique élevé, l'énergie de phonon faible et la solubilité importante des terres rares permettent des émissions dans le domaine spectral du moyen IR. Dans cette thèse, la conception de dispositifs innovants en chalcogénure pour des applications utilisant le moyen infrarouge est étudiée en utilisant un code d'ordinateur personnel formé de façon aléatoire. Les appareils reposent sur des trois types de micro-résonateurs : les microsphères, les micro-disques et les microbulles. Les résonateurs WGM sont efficacement excités à l'aide de fibres nervurées et de guides d'ondes optiques de forme conique. Le nouveau procédé de conception est développé en utilisant la méthode d'optimisation par essaims particulaires (PSO). Elle permet de maximiser le gain d'un amplificateur reposant sur une microsphère d'émission laser dopée à l'erbium à 4,5 μm. Une technique innovante permettant de caractériser les propriétés spectroscopiques de la terre rare intégrant la recherche électromagnétique en mode WGM grâce à l'algorithme PSO a été développée. Les valeurs récupérées sont entachées d’une erreur inférieure à celle prévue par les instruments de mesure ayant un coût élevé. Des applications intéressantes peuvent être obtenues en excitant le micro-résonateur avec une fibre conique présentant deux LPG identiques sur les côtés. En effet, les FLP peuvent sélectionner le couplage de modes de fibre avec le résonateur WGM. En utilisant différentes paires de FLP identiques, opérant dans différentes bandes de longueurs d'onde, il est possible de coupler de façon sélective différents résonateurs à l'aide de la même fibre optique. Un code informatique aléatoire a été développé et validé. Il a démontré la faisabilité d'un capteur de microbulles de glucose. Un microdisque en terre rare dopé est étudié pour obtenir une source de lumière compacte et économique dans l'infrarouge moyen. Un code informatique est développé afin de simuler un micro-disque de terre rare dopé et associé à deux guides d'ondes nervurés, un pour le signal et l'autre pour la pompe. Le modèle est validé à l'aide d'un micro-disque dopée à l'erbium émettant à 4,5 μm. Ce dispositif très prometteur pour des applications dans le moyen infrarouge est obtenu en utilisant un micro-disque de praséodyme dopé émettant à 4,7 μm. / Optical micro-resonators represent one of the most important devices in photonics. A special kind is constituted by the WGM resonators, i.e. devices with circular symmetry such as spheres, rings, disks and toroids. They are characterized by very small dimensions, exceptionally quality factor and very low modal volume becoming a valuable alternative to the traditional optical micro-resonators, such as Fabry-Pérot cavities. These devices allow applications in several fields, such as sensing, optical filtering and nonlinear optics. In particular, different applications in biology and medicine, molecular spectroscopy, environmental monitoring, astronomy and astrophysics are feasible in Mid-Infrared wavelength range. For example, it includes a lot of strong vibrational transitions that act as “fingerprints” of many bio-molecules and organic species allowing the develop of innovative spectroscopic applications and novel sensors. In addition, the earth's atmosphere is transparent in two atmospheric transmission windows at 3–5 μm and 8–13 μm and then applications such as remote explosive detection, e.g. in airports and for border control, and covert communication systems are feasible. The wide transparency window of chalcogenide glasses in Mid-Infrared makes possible the development of several devices. Chalcogenide glasses are characterized by good mechanical strength and chemically durability in water and atmosphere. Furthermore, the high refractive index, high quantum efficiency, the low phonon energy and high rare-earth solubility enables the emissions at long wavelengths.In this thesis, the design of innovative chalcogenide devices for applications in Mid-Infrared is investigated using an ad-hoc home-made computer code. The devices are based on three kinds of micro-resonators: microspheres, micro-disks and microbubbles. The WGM resonators are efficiently excited by using tapered fiber and ridge waveguides. A novel design procedure is developed using the particle swarm optimization approach (PSO). It allows to maximize the gain of an amplifier based on an erbium-doped microsphere lasing at 2.7 μm.An innovative technique in order to characterize the spectroscopic properties of rare-earth is developed integrating the WGM electromagnetic investigation with PSO algorithm. The method is based on two subsequent steps: in the first one, the geometrical parameters are recovered, in the second one, the spectroscopic parameters. The recovered values are affected by an error less than that provided by high-cost measurement instruments. Furthermore, the procedure is very versatile and could be applied to develop innovative sensing systems.Interesting applications could be obtained exciting the micro-resonator by a tapered fiber with two identical LPGs on the sides. Indeed the LPGs can select the fiber modes coupling with the WGM resonator. Using different pairs of identical LPGs operating in different wavelength bands, it is possible to selective couple different micro-resonators by using the same optical fiber. An ad-hoc computer code is developed and validated and it demonstrated the feasibility of a microbubble glucose sensor.In order to obtain a compact and cost-saving light source in Mid-Infrared, rare-earth doped micro-disk are investigated. A computer code is developed in order to simulate a rare-earth doped micro-disk coupled to two ridge waveguide, one at signal wavelength and the other one at pump wavelength. The model is validated using an erbium-doped micro-disk emitting at 4.5 μm. A very promising device for application in Mid-Infrared is obtained using a praseodymium-doped micro-disk emitting at 4.7 μm.

<p>Ultrafast laser-based diagnostic techniques are powerful tools for the detailed understanding of highly dynamic combustion chemistry and physics. The ultrashort pulses provide unprecedented temporal resolution along with high peak power for broad spectral range−ideal for nonlinear signal generation at high repetition rate−with applications including next-generation combustors for gas turbines, plasma-assisted combustion, hypersonic flows and rotating detonation engines. The current work focuses on advancing (i) femtosecond (fs) two-photon laser-induced fluorescence, and (ii) hybrid femtosecond/picosecond vibrational and rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (fs/ps RCARS and VCARS) to higher pressures for the first time. </p><p>Quantitative single-laser-shot kHz-rate concentration measurements of key atomic (O-atom) and molecular (CO) species is presented using femtosecond two-photon laser-induced fluorescence (TP-LIF) for a range of equivalence ratios and pressures in diffusion flames. A multitude of signal-interfering sources and loss mechanisms−relevant to high-pressure fs TP-LIF applications−are also quantified up to 20 atm to ensure high accuracy. The pressure scaling of interferences take into account degradation, attenuation and wave-front distortion of the excitation laser pulse; collisional quenching and pressure dependent transition line-broadening and shifting; photolytic interferences; multi-photon ionization; stimulated emission; and radiation trapping. </p><p>Hybrid fs/ps VCARS of N₂ is reported for interference-free temperature measurement at 1300-2300 K in high-pressure, laminar diffusion flames up to 10 atm. A time asymmetric probe pulse allowed for detection of spectrally resolved CARS signals at probe delays as early as ~200-300 fs while being independent of collisions for the full range of pressures and temperatures. Limits of collisional independence, accuracy and precision of the measurement is explored at various probe-pulse delays, pressures and temperatures. </p><p> </p><p>Additionally, a novel all diode-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier design is presented for generation of time-synchronized ps-probe pulses for hybrid fs/ps RCARS of N₂. High-energy, nearly transform-limited, single-mode, chirp-free ps probe-pulses are generated at variable pulsewidths. The detailed architecture and characterization of the laser is presented. kHz-rate RCARS thermometry is presented up to 2400 K. Excellent spatial, spectral, and temporal beam quality allowed for fitting the theoretical spectra with a simple Gaussian model for the probe pulse with temperature accuracies of 1-2%. </p> <p><br></p>

In the context of genome research, the method of gene expression analysis has been used for several years. Related microarray experiments are conducted all over the world, and consequently, a vast amount of microarray data sets are produced. Having access to this variety of repositories, researchers would like to incorporate this data in their analyses processes to increase the statistical significance of their results. Such analyses processes are typical examples of data-intensive processes. In general, data-intensive processes are characterized by (i) a sequence of functional operations processing large amount of data and (ii) the transportation and transformation of huge data sets between the functional operations. To support data-intensive processes, an efficient and scalable environment is required, since the performance is a key factor today. The service-oriented architecture (SOA) is beneficial in this area according to process orchestration and execution. However, the current realization of SOA with Web services and BPEL includes some drawbacks with regard to the performance of the data propagation between Web services. Therefore, we present in this paper our data-aware service-oriented approach to efficiently support such data-intensive processes.

Το ερευνητικό αντικείμενο της παρούσας διατριβής υπάγεται στον «Έλεγχο Σφαλμάτων» (Error Control), έναν επιστημονικό χώρο με καθοριστικής σημασίας συνεισφορά στην εξέλιξη των ψηφιακών τηλεπικοινωνιών. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η παρούσα διατριβή πραγματεύεται την εφαρμογή του «ελέγχου σφαλμάτων» στην οπτική μετάδοση. Κατά τη διάρκεια της τελευταίας δεκαπενταετίας (‘93-‘08), τρεις γενιές «άμεσης διόρθωσης σφαλμάτων» (FEC) έχουν διαδεχθεί η μία την άλλη, σε ανταπόκριση προς τις ολοένα απαιτητικότερες προδιαγραφές των οπτικών ζεύξεων (υψηλότεροι ρυθμοί μετάδοσης και πυκνότερα οπτικά πλέγματα). Κατά κανόνα, οι μέθοδοι FEC κωδικοποιούν τα δεδομένα εισόδου χωρίς να έχουν γνώση γι’ αυτά (π.χ. δομή, πρωτόκολλο) και χωρίς να επεμβαίνουν σ’ αυτά. Η προσέγγιση αυτή καλείται «κωδικοποίηση εκτός ζώνης» (Out-Band Coding – OBC) και συνεπάγεται αύξηση του ρυθμού μετάδοσης στο οπτικό κανάλι σε σχέση με το ρυθμό των δεδομένων εισόδου, ανάλογα με το ποσοστό πλεονασμού του κώδικα. Ωστόσο, ο τελικός ρυθμός μετάδοσης στο κανάλι μπορεί να διατηρηθεί αμετάβλητος, αν το πρωτόκολλο μετάδοσης προβλέπει την ύπαρξη πλεονάσματος και μέρος αυτού μπορεί να διατεθεί για κωδικοποίηση FEC. Η εναλλακτική αυτή προσέγγιση καλείται «κωδικοποίηση εντός ζώνης» (In-Band Coding – IBC). Η «σύγχρονη ψηφιακή ιεραρχία» (SDH) και το «σύγχρονο οπτικό δίκτυο» (SONET) είναι τα πρότυπα, που σήμερα κυριαρχούν στις οπτικές τηλεπικοινωνίες. Με αφθονία πλεονάσματος στα πλαίσια μετάδοσης, τα παραπάνω σύγχρονα δίκτυα προσφέρονται για την IBC. Στα πλαίσια της παρούσας διατριβής, τα SDH & SONET αναλύθηκαν από κοινού για την εύρεση της βέλτιστης μεθόδου IBC με βάση έναν αριθμό από κριτήρια. Καταρχήν εξετάστηκε διεξοδικά το πλεόνασμα μετάδοσης για να εντοπιστούν τα διαθέσιμα bytes και να αιτιολογηθεί η δέσμευσή τους για την IBC. Στη συνέχεια, αναζητήθηκε ο βέλτιστος κώδικας FEC για τα δεδομένα πλαίσια μετάδοσης και με το δεδομένο πλεόνασμα (για την αποθήκευση των bits ισοτιμίας του κώδικα). Η βελτιστοποίηση κάλυψε όλους τους γραμμικούς και συστηματικούς κώδικες ανά κατηγορίες – ο χωρισμός τους σε κατηγορίες έγινε με βάση τις εξής βασικές ιδιότητες: α) την αλφάβητο: «δυαδικοί» έναντι «μη-δυαδικών», και β) τη διορθωτική ικανότητα: κώδικες κατάλληλοι για «τυχαία» (μεμονωμένα) σφάλματα έναντι κατάλληλων για «ομοβροντίες» (ριπές) σφαλμάτων. iii Από την παραπάνω διαδικασία βελτιστοποίησης προέκυψε μία μέθοδος IBC, που βασίζεται στο συρρικνωμένο Reed-Solomon κώδικα RS(240,236,9). Πρόκειται για μία εντελώς νέα μέθοδο και δικαιολογεί τη διάκρισή της ως βέλτιστη, έχοντας σαφή πλεονεκτήματα έναντι των μεθόδων, που είχαν προταθεί στο παρελθόν. Στα πλαίσια της παρούσας διατριβής, η παραπάνω βέλτιστη μέθοδος προτείνεται με το όνομα «FOCUS» για την κωδικοποίηση IBC στα δίκτυα SDH/SONET. Με στόχο την ακριβή πειραματική αξιολόγηση της προτεινόμενης μεθόδου FOCUS, υλοποιήθηκε κατόπιν ένας αριθμός από πρωτότυπα συστήματα, χρησιμοποιώντας τις διαθέσιμες μικροκυματικές κάρτες «10g-Tester». Αναλυτικότερα, η μοντελοποίηση έγινε στη γλώσσα περιγραφής υλικού VHDL και η υλοποίηση με προγραμματιζόμενη λογική (Xilinx® XC2V3000-4 FPGA). Τέλος, η πειραματική αξιολόγηση της προτεινόμενης μεθόδου FOCUS πραγματοποιήθηκε σε δύο διαδοχικές φάσεις: Στην πρώτη φάση, το σύστημα FOCUS αξιολογήθηκε ως μία «ανεξάρτητη» μέθοδος κωδικοποίησης FEC (stand-alone IBC evaluation). Η αξιολόγηση έγινε με ρυθμό μετάδοσης STM-64 σε κατάλληλα διαμορφωμένη, πειραματική οπτική ζεύξη «από-σημείο σε-σημείο» (point-to-point optical link), συνολικού μήκους ~88 χμ. Στην παραπάνω ζεύξη μετρήθηκαν οι επιδόσεις του FOCUS κατά την αντιστάθμιση των κυριότερων ατελειών της οπτικής μετάδοσης: α) της χρωματικής διασποράς (CD), β) της «παρασιτικής» ενίσχυσης του θορύβου από οπτικούς ενισχυτές (ASE) και γ) της μη-γραμμικής συμπεριφοράς (WDM -NL). Στη δεύτερη φάση, το σύστημα FOCUS αξιολογήθηκε ως μία «αναβάθμιση» για οπτικές ζεύξεις, οι οποίες διαθέτουν ήδη κωδικοποίηση OBC (evaluation of IBC and OBC in concatenation). Πιο συγκεκριμένα, το σύστημα FOCUS συνδέθηκε σε σειρά (ως εξωτερικός κώδικας) με το κατά ITU-T G.975 (2000) πρότυπο σύστημα κωδικοποίησης (OBC). Σε αυτή τη συνδεσμολογία, το σύστημα FOCUS αποτελεί τη δικλείδα ασφαλείας, που επεμβαίνει όταν ο εσωτερικός αποκωδικοποιητής (G.975) υπερχειλίζεται από τα σφάλματα του καναλιού. Η αξιολόγηση της υβριδικής αυτής μεθόδου κωδικοποίησης έγινε με ρυθμό μετάδοσης 10.66 Gb/s (SDH STM-64 x 15/14) σε μία καθαρά οπτική διάταξη μετατροπής μήκους κύματος, που αποτελείται από δύο οπτικούς ενισχυτές πυριτίου (SOA-based MZI). Ειδικότερα, μετρήθηκαν: α) η μείωση της ευαισθησίας της οπτικής διάταξης στις (τυχαίες) μεταβολές φάσης των δύο σημάτων εισόδου και β) η καθαρή συνεισφορά του συστήματος FOCUS, όταν αυτό επεμβαίνει ως δικλείδα ασφαλείας. Το FOCUS συγκεντρώνει σημαντική καινοτομία, τόσο στην επινόηση όσο και στην υλοποίηση. Όλα τα συμπεράσματα της αξιολόγησης έχουν δημοσιευτεί σε έγκυρα διεθνή περιοδικά και συνέδρια. / This Ph.D. thesis falls into “Error Control”, a scientific field with key contribution to the evolution of digital telecommunications. In specific, this thesis treats optical transmission in terms of “Error Control”. Noteworthy is the fact that during the last fifteen years (‘93-‘08), three generations of “Forward Error Correction” (FEC) methods for optical transmission have succeeded one another, in response to the increasingly demanding optical link specifications (higher transmission rates, denser wavelength mesh). In general, FEC-methods assume no prior knowledge of the input data (e.g. structure, protocol); in addition, input data are not modified at all (i.e. under normal channel conditions, output-data will be identical to the input data). This approach is called “Out-Band Coding” (OBC) and incurs an increase of the optical channel data-rate relatively to the input data-rate, inversely proportional to the coding-rate. Notwithstanding, the rate of the optical-channel can be kept unchanged, on condition that the transmission protocol provides “overhead” and part of this “overhead” can be allocated for parity-information. This alternative approach is called “In-Band Coding” (IBC). The “Synchronous Digital Hierarchy” (SDH) and the “Synchronous Optical Network” (SONET) are currently the dominant standards in optical communications. The abundance of overhead in transmission-frames renders these synchronous networks suitable for IBC. In this thesis, SDH and SONET were analyzed together to determine the optimum IBC method with respect to a number of criteria. Firstly, SDH/SONET transmission-overhead was scrutinized in order to identify available bytes and justify their commitment to implement IBC. Next, the optimum FEC-code was sought, given the size of the transmission-frames and the availability of overhead (to allocate the parity bits). Optimization spanned all linear and systematic codes. The codes were divided in groups according to the following fundamental properties: a) the underlying alphabet: “binary” versus “non-binary” codes, and b) the corrective power: codes, appropriate for “random” (isolated) errors versus codes, appropriate for “burst-form” errors. Optimization resulted in an IBC-method, which relies on the shortened Reed-Solomon code RS(240,236,9). This IBC-method is completely novel and its optimality can be verified by the clear advantages, it presents over methods that were proposed in the past. In this thesis, the above IBC-method is given the name “FOCUS” and proposed for IBC in SDH/SONET networks. In order to accurately measure the performance of the proposed method “FOCUS”, a number of prototypes were implemented by making use of microwave cards, called “10gv Tester”. More specifically, “FOCUS” was modelled in the “VHDL” hardware description language and its prototypes were implemented by means of a Xilinx® “XC2V3000-4” FPGA. The experimental evaluation of the proposed method was conducted in two successive phases: During the first phase, “FOCUS” was evaluated as an independent (stand-alone) FEC method. This evaluation took place at an STM-64 transmission-rate in a suitable experimental “point-to-point” optical link, whose length was ~88 km. In the above link, the performance of “FOCUS” was measured, in compensating the principal impairments of optical transmission: a) the chromatic dispersion (CD), b) the parasitic amplification of noise by optical amplifiers (ASE), and c) the non-linear behavior (WDM-NL). During the second phase, “FOCUS” was evaluated as an “upgrade” for optical links, which have already been equipped with OBC (evaluation of IBC and OBC in concatenation). Specifically, “FOCUS” was concatenated with the OBC-method, which has been proposed in rec. G.975 (ITU-T, 2000) with “FOCUS” as the outer- and “G.975” as the inner-code. In this arrangement, “FOCUS” plays the role of the “safety-valve”, which prevents the inner decoder (G.975) from deteriorating the error-rate of the optical link, when it is overwhelmed by severe channel-conditions. The evaluation of this hybrid coding-method took place at a transmissionrate of 10.66 Gb/s (SDH STM-64 x 15/14) in a purely optical wavelength conversion device, which consists of two silicon optical amplifiers (SOA-based MZI). In the above wavelengthconversion device, the following measurements were obtained: a) the reduction of sensitivity of the optical wavelength converter to the (random) phase-changes of the two input signals, and b) the net contribution of “FOCUS”, when acting as a “safety valve”. “FOCUS” has many innovative aspects, both in its conception and the implementation of its prototypes. All conclusions of the above two-phased experimental evaluation have been published in international journals and conferences.