GAIN AND NOISE FIGURE PERFORMANCE OF ERBIUM DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIERS (EDFA)

Fiber loss is a fundamental limitation in realising long haul point-to-point fiber optical communication links and optical networks. One of the advanced technologies achieved in recent years is the advent of erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) that has enabled the optical signals in an optical fiber to be amplified directly in high bit rate systems beyond Terabits. In this study, an EDFA simulation program has been written in Matlab to characterize Gain, Noise Figure and ASE power variations of a forward pumped EDFA operating in C band (1525-1565 nm) as functions of Er3+ fiber length, injected pump power, signal input power and Er3+ doping density. The program solves the rate and propagation equations numerically and shows the results graphically. Thus, Gain and Noise Figure performance of an EDFA given with its physical parameters can be graphically obtained or the required physical parameters of an EDFA with desired operating performance can easily be optimised.