ASimpleHalf-DuplexOpticalLinkUsingTwoIdentical.PDFVIP

Bidirectional Optical Link at 1.55 µm Wavelength 65 A Simple Half-Duplex Optical Link Using Two Identical Fabry–P´erot Lasers at 1.55 µm Wavelength Philipp Gerlach We report on a simple bidirectional optical link using two InP-based Fabry–P´erot (FP) lasers operating at 1.55 µm wavelength as optical transmitter and receiver. Since the emit- ted light of one FP laser is absorbed by the other when it is reverse biased, no additional photodiode is required. The optoelectronic devices are butt-coupled to single-mode fibers (SMFs). With this configuration, up to 100 Mbit/s operation over a 50 km-long standard SMF is demonstrated. The optical link length is limited by fiber attenuation and coupling losses. In addition, we suggest a simple electrical driver circuit which acts as an interface between a RS 232 computer port and the FP laser. It enables half-duplex operation. A combined transimpedance receiver circuit improves the sensitivity of the optical system and allows successful bidirectional communication of two personal computers (PCs) over 100 km of SMF. 1. Introduction LD PD LD LD LD LD λ1 λ2 λ1 λ2 PD LD PD PD PD PD 2 SMFs λ2 1 SMF λ1 λ2 1 MMF λ1 (a) Two unidirectional (b) One bidirectional SMF (c) One MMF with narrow SMFs with fiber couplers spaced LD and PD Fig. 1: Schematics of some basic approaches of bidirectional optical links. Bidirectional optical links have been established in different configurations. The