Monitoring and Controlling Power of C Band Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)

CE 2.1 Project Information
Name of the project: Monitoring and Controlling power of C Band Erbium Doped
Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)
Location of the project: Please fill
Project Duration: Please fill
Organization: Please fill
Role and Designation during the time: Project Developer
CE 2.2 Project Background
CE 2.2.1 Characteristics of the project
The EDFA or the erbium doped fiber amplifier is the specific device, which could
subsequently amplify the several optical signals and is used for boosting the input optical
signals through a fiber optic communications system. During this project, I had to monitor
and control the power of EDFA for the purpose of allowing easy control of power. I noted
that the most significant point about this EDFA is its high gain and noise figure. Generally,
there are several designs of EDFA, however, I selected Gain Control in C band EDFAs. I
have used Arduino microcontroller to control my EDFA and also ensure that the signal is of
high gain. This was one of the most important projects in electronics engineering career, as I
had to control the power by changing the laser diode power. I limited the range of C band in
EDFA between 1530nm to 1560nm. For configuring this EDFA, I undertook wavelength
combinations of 980/1550nm for coupling the signal optical and pump power.

CE 2.2.2 Objectives developed for the project
The optical amplifiers amplify the signals directly and convert electrical signals to
light energy by a laser diode. I had to monitor as well as control the power of C band in
EDFA. I wanted to provide a better optical communication by understanding the operation
and applications of microcontroller to control the operations of fiber optic amplifier. For
completing this project, I developed the following objectives:
 To monitor as well as control the total power of C band erbium doped fiber amplifier.
 To utilize the Arduino microcontroller for controlling the EDFA and providing
efficiency.
 To identify the existing flaws or faults within the erbium doped fiber amplifier and try
to eradicate them.
 To obtain signal with high gain.
 To compare the obtained results with the theoretical value to note whether the
obtained results are accurate or not.
 To use OptiSystem 12.0 simulating program for simulating the project.
CE 2.2.3 My area of work
As an electronics and communication engineer by profession, I was appointed as the
project developer in this project by my project supervisor. This is mainly because I had
worked in several significant electronics projects in my career and had the ability of
executing a project alone. During my education, I had keen interest in power control, circuit
designing as well as power generation. These three were highly required in this project and
thus I was the project developer, for not only monitoring the power of EDFA but also
assisting my project supervisor. I was selected as I had knowledge to use OptiSystem 12.0
simulating program to simulate the project.

Head of the
Department
Project Supervisor
Project Developer (Me)
CE 2.2.4 Project Group
Figure 1: People involved in the project
CE 2.2.5 My responsibilities throughout the project
While executing this project I had the major responsibility of monitoring and
controlling the respective power of an EDFA. For this purpose, I had to understand the entire
working procedure of erbium doped fiber amplifier. I selected the C band EDFA for this
project and I noted that the gain coefficient for erbium atoms is high in this region and hence
I opted for the range of 1530nm to 1560nm. I even executed the amplification of EDFA with
optical pumping. My next role in this project was to select wavelength selective coupler of
accurate combination; hence I chose 980/1550nm WSC. Moreover, I also measured the noise
figure in this project of EDFA power control. Being the electronics and communication
engineer, I even had to check the attenuation within optical fiber.