EDFA Testing

Abstract

Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), purely optical amplifiers, are well on the way to replacing opto-electronic regenerators in undersea and long-distance links.

So far, their high gain and output power has enabled longer links with fewer regenerators. Their simple design has achieved higher reliability.

In future, they will allow increased system capacity because they offer wavelength division multiplex (WDM) transmission and have virtually unlimited modulation bandwidth. With their high output power, EDFAs will be used to drive upcoming fiber distribution networks in cable television (CATV) applications. This paper gives an introduction to the field of EDFA testing. Since the technology is still very new, the test methods are under ongoing investigation and are constantly being improved. Therefore this paper deals with the current problems and solutions for testing optical amplifiers.

It begins with basic measurements and definitions like output power, gain and noise figure. Well established measurement methods are explained and a turnkey solution for EDFA testing presented. Finally, the paper provides an overview of future trends.