Science Academy

Publisher
International Journal of Research and Reviews in Signal Acquisition and Processing
Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2011
Copyright Science Academy Publisher, United Kingdom
www.sciacademypublisher.com





QoS Improvement in OCDMA Systems using Optical
Normalizer
Sunil S. Chavan
1
, P. H. Joshi
2
and D.D. Shah
3

1
L.T. College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai, India
2
Fiber Optic Services, Kandivali, Mumbai, India
3
G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Pune, India
Correspondence should be addressed to chavan_s_s@hotmail.com, phj@foservice.com, dilipdshah@gmail.com
Abstract Optical CDMA (OCDMA) technology provides best solution for multiuser communication system with the help
of appropriate codes. However, for multiuser system, Multiple Access Interference (MAI) increases as the number of users
increase. It is very much essential to limit MAI. Use of Optical Hard Limiter (OHL) is one of the popular techniques to
reduce MAI. But, use of OHL to reduce MAI has certain drawbacks like its incapability to handle random signals
effectively. Hence, in this paper, we proposed a technique using Optical Normalizer (in Non Uniform Mode) for dynamic
thresholding. This technique is proved to be much effective to handle random signals. Results indicate significant
improvement in term Quality of Service (QoS). In our analysis, we have used Pseudo Orthogonal (PSO) codes. The
simulations are carried out using OptSim (RSOFT).
Keywords MAI, OCDMA, OHL, OOC, PSO, QoS, VOA


1. Introduction
Optical fiber communication is on its peak development
in current era. The major strengths in this type of
communication being the security, capacity (number of users
in the channel), data rate and the efficiency in overall
performance which makes it one of the strongest and widest
used form of communication even in broadband applications.
One of the techniques which are currently the part of interest
of many researchers in the optical fiber networks is the
OCDMA technique [1]. A typical OCDMA communication
system is best represented by an information data source,
followed by a laser when the information is in electrical
signal form, and an optical encoder that maps information bit
from different users into appropriate codes, that is then
coupled into the single-mode fiber channel. At the receiver
end of the OCDMA system, the appropriate code would be
compared to a stored replica of itself (correlation process)
and to a threshold level at the comparator for the data
recovery. In case of multiple users, there are N transmitters
and receivers pairs which are connected in a star
configuration as modeled in Figure 1.
From the recent findings, author gets to know that
OCDMA systems have evolved more with more research
being done on it over the past few years. More work on the
system is being continuously done on the type of coding
technique used and various thresholding techniques [3]. We
have found advanced OOC algorithms [3], On-Off keying
(OOK) [3], Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) [3],
Wavelength/ Time (W/T) matrix codes [6] for optical CDMA
to be used more extensively throughout the applications in
this system.


Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of an Optical Code Division Multiple Access
Communication System with Optical Encoder and Decoder in
configuration[1]

In the OCDMA systems, the major drawback which limits
the QoS of the system is the MAI due to the other interfering
users. Author has also studied the MAI cancellation
techniques using Optical Parallel Interference Cancellation
(OPIC) [9]. In this technique, interference is cancelled but at
the receivers side in electrical domain. Also, delay produced
due to conversion of optical domain into electrical domain
has been taken into account. In this paper, we have designed
system which does not need optical to electrical conversion
because we are doing dynamic thresholding in optical domain
itself. Also with the use of dynamic thresholding using

Data
Source
Data
Recovery
Optic
al
Opt. to Elect.

Elect. to Opt.
1

Optic
al
Encod
er
Star
Coupler
N
1

N

Optic
al
Encod
er
Optical
Decod
er
Optical
Decod
er
CDMA CDM
A
International Journal of Research and Reviews in Signal Acquisition and Processing 2
Optical Normalizer, we can even deal with randomization of
incoming data. As a result, MAI is considerably reduced.

2. Literature survey
In OCDMA with N users, an error occurs when the
desired user transmits a binary 0 that corresponds to
sending no sequence for on-off keying, and the interference
due to the other N - 1 users signals (multiple access
interference) cause a false detection. If the total number of
interfering signals, i.e., N - 1, is less than the weight K of
their corresponding codes (with X = l), then one can choose a
threshold level Th greater than N - 1 so that the error
associated with the multiple access interference is zero.
The effect of the Nth users signal on the first receiver is
denoted by ln(1). Hence, Z1, the output of the first users
correlator at time T, can be written as [2]:

()

()

1
0
) 1 (
I K b + = (1)
where 0
) 1 (
b is the Zeroth data of the first user that can use
two values namely 0 or 1 with equal probability and
K
is the
desired term and the second term I1 is the undesired term.
The above effect of false detection due to N-1 users i.e. MAI
can be reduced with the help of OHL at the front end of the
optical receiver of the OCDMA system [2]. OHL sets an
optical threshold element before the correlator which can be
defined as:
{
1
1 0
1
0
) (
>
< s
=
x
x
x g (2)
Therefore, if an optical light intensity (x) is bigger than or
equal to one, the hard-limiter would clip the intensity back to
one, and if the optical light intensity is smaller than one, the
response of the optical hard-limiter would be zero. This ideal
nonlinear process would enhance the systems performance
because it would exclude some combinations of interference
patterns from causing errors as in the soft-limiter case, i.e.,
the patterns that caused errors by analog summation of light
intensity rather than by exact reproduction of the particular
pattern with no analog effect. The received signal r(t) is
passed through an optical hard-limiter (Figure. 2) before it is
correlated with the desired receivers optical correlator.
Hence, the interference I at the output of the desired
correlator (first user) can be expressed as:
j
t
F
j
t
T
A V
dt t DP t I g
Tc
I
) (
1
0
1
) (
1
0
) ( )) ( (
1

=
=
=
(3)

Figure 2. A typical optical receiver with an ideal optical hard-limiter [2]
Optical hard-limiter helps in improving the BER of the
system and mathematically almost five fold increase in
number of users(Figure 3).

Figure 3. Bit error rate performance versus threshold with and without
optical hard-limiter. Dotted line shows with optical hard-limiter [2]

But as a serious drawback for receivers incorporating
optical hard-limiter, such devices though mathematically
straight forward, are rather far from being practical. They
suffer from non-ideal transition range and show hysteresis
[3]. Also due to the random nature of the incoming bits
coupled with the masking noises and jitters, the optimum
threshold voltage cannot be prefixed to a stable constant
level, and therefore dynamic threshold adjustments are
required [4,5] So in next part we shall look for dynamic
thresholding at receiver of OCDMA.

3. Proposed technique using optical normaliser for
Dynamic thresholding
Due to random nature of incoming signal coupled with
noise, fixing optimum threshold will lead to discrepancies.
Hence, nonlinear dynamic thresholding system appears to be
right solution to tackle random bits. Moreover, providing
threshold in electrical domain at receiver adds noise and
delay while performing opticalelectrical conversion by
photodiode. So, the best part will be to provide the dynamic
threshold at optical domain only thus providing double
advantage. At optical domain we must be able to compare,
process, correlate and attenuate the optical intensity or optical
power of the signal. Thus our proposed system comes with
solution of using variable optical attenuator (VOA) at the
receiver as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Variable optical attenuator (VOA) based system for dynamic
threshold

The Variable Optical Attenuator is used to optimize the
optical power of signals at key points in optical
communication networks. Generally, optical power levels are
regulated over wide ranges based on configuration of optical
International Journal of Research and Reviews in Signal Acquisition and Processing 3
communication system. It reduces the excessive optical
power above the allowed level at receivers end with the help
of add/drop function to equalize the optical power of
channels of OCDMA. The proposed OCDMA system has a
dynamic threshold device which is Variable Optical
Attenuator and has overcome the disadvantages of fixed
threshold techniques (as OHL in previous case). The other
advantage of it is that, it causes the light intensity to be
within the dynamic range of photosensitive device, it also
provides the safety to the devices from damage due to high
light intensity.

4. Simulation of ocdma system for three users
4.1. Without Optical Normalizer (VOA)
The OCDMA system is modeled and simulated using
OPTSIM (RSOFT) software. The layout for which is
illustrated in Figure. 5. The schematic is shown for 3 users
with PRBS data generator for all the three users and the
codes used are Pseudo Orthogonal (PSO) matrix codes [8]
which are popular for OCDMA applications primarily
because they retain the correlation advantages of PSO linear
sequences while reducing the need for bandwidth expansion.
The system uses four mode-locked lasers to create dense
WDM multi-frequency light sources.


Figure 5. OCDMA system for 3 users using PSO codes without Optical
Normalizer

In this example, an extensive time-slot reuse sequence is
used for User 1
( ) 0 ; ; 0 ;
4 2 3 1

. There are four time slots
used without any guard-band giving the chip period of 100
ps. Figure. 6 shows modulated data while as Figure. 7
illustrates corresponding spectrum at encoding stage.

Figure 6. Modulated data before encoder of User 1


Figure 7. Signal spectrum before encoder of User 1.

In this system, we placed encoders for all 3 users. The
encoded data from all users are multiplexed and then passed
through a 60-km span of standard single mode fiber (SMF)
followed by a loss compensating optical amplifier.
Amplifiers can also be used to compensate for the insertion
losses due to encoders, multiplexers, de-multiplexers and
decoders if needed. The output signal from a fiber span is
then passed through splitter/de-multiplexer and routed to the
users decoder. The decoded signal finally arrives at optical
receiver.

Figure 8. Single user without Normalizer


Figure 9. Two users without Normalizer

International Journal of Research and Reviews in Signal Acquisition and Processing 4

Figure 10. Three users without Normalizer

Figure 8, 9, 10 shows the Eye diagram, BER and Q
Factor for Single user, two user, three users without Optical
Normalizer respectively. Our main purpose of analysis is to
show superiority of proposed dynamic thresholding technique
over OHL. The focus of our analysis is not on number of
multiple users. Hence, the analysis was restricted only up to
three users. There is sufficient scope to extend this analysis
for more number of concurrent users.
4.2. With Optical Normalizer
In this paper, the Optical Normalizer is used in Non-
uniform mode which acts as Variable Optical attenuator
(VOA) as it is best suited for reducing the MAI.
The use of Optical Normalizer in the OCDMA can be
shown in the form of a schematic with the help of the layout
made in Optsim software. The model is as shown in Figure.
11. The expanded view of Decoder 1 is shown in Figure 12.


Figure 11. OCDMA system for three user using PSO codes with Optical
Normalizer












Where 1=> Splitter
2=> Filter
3=> Shifter
4=> Normalizer
5=> Combiner
6=> Receiver
7=> Eye Diagram Analyser
8=> BER Tester
9=> Signal Analyser
10=> Multipot
Figure 12. Expanded View of Decoder 1 from Figure. 11


Figure 13. General Properties of Optical Normalizer in Non-uniform mode

Optical Normalizer model normalizes the optical signal
power by attenuating the input optical signal(s) to the
specified average output power level. This model is most
often used to control the input optical power at the receiver
when preparing a BER vs. received optical power curve plot.
In Non-uniform mode, it attenuates all input optical signals
by different amounts such that each output optical signal has
the specified average output power. It indicates the advantage
of tackling random signals.
As shown in Figure 11, to analyze the MAI for 3 users
we consider Optical Normalizer in Non-uniform attenuation
type.

Figure 14. Single user with Normalizer


Figure 15. Two users with Normalizer

2
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
4 5 6
7
8
9
10
International Journal of Research and Reviews in Signal Acquisition and Processing 5

Figure 16. Three users with Normalizer

Figure 14, 15 and 16 show the Eye diagram, BER and Q
Factor for Single user, two users, three users with Optical
Normalizer respectively. However, the results can be
obtained for more number of users using the same simulation
software.
Table 1. Performance Study of Ocdma Systems
(a) Without Optical Normalizer
BER Q Factor MAI
Single User 2.18 e-31 2.12 e1 Less
Two Users 5.50 e -25 2.02 e1 High
Three Users 3.48 e-17 1.84 e1 Very High

(b) With Optical Normalizer

BER Q Factor MAI
Single User 1.26e-56 2.3e1 Very Less
Two Users 2.05 e-44 2.5 e1 Less
Three Users 6.5 e-41 2.25 e1 Less

5. Conclusion
We discussed the use of OCDMA in optical
communications for increasing the number of users.
Although, the multiple access interference effect was also
seen at the optical receiver end due to false detection which
degraded the efficiency of system by increasing bit error rate.
To overcome this effect, OHL was studied with a fixed
threshold limit. Use of OHL reduced the MAI as seen in the
bit error rate performance using OHL, but was not very
effective as it has some demerits which we have discussed
earlier. We have also studied the use of Optical Normalizer
and seen that, the overall MAI is reduced which further
enhances the QoS. Also, we have proposed a new optical
receiver design which has replaced the OHL with dynamic
thresholding. The proposed model is shown in the receiver
structure above, which overcomes some of the major
demerits of OHL and makes the OCDMA system more
adaptive and has enhanced the performance of the system in
terms of reduction in MAI and improvement in Q Factor.
The proposed model has the key benefit of low time delay as
it is processed in optical domain and dynamic thresholding
provides capacity to handle the random bits at its input more
efficiently than OHL.

Acknowledgment
We are thankful to Prof. S. N. Kadam and Amol Madane
for guiding and directing us towards successful completion of
this paper.

References
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Sunil S. Chavan is PhD Scholar in PCEA, Nagpur. His
area of interest includes Fiber Optic Communication,
Digital Communication, and Computer Communication
networks. He has published one research paper in
International Conference and seven research papers in
National Conferences.



P.H. Joshi is Director at Fiber Optic services (FOS),
Mumbai. FOS is prompting RSoft photonics and
optical network tools in South Asia and Middle East
region since last 10 years. P. H. Joshi has also worked
13 years in optical fiber manufacturing industries prior
to promoting FOS. He holds Master of Technology in
Optical Communication from Indian Institute of
Technology, New Delhi


D.D. Shah is Professor in Electronics and
Telecommunication and principal at G. H. Raisoni
College of Engineering, Pune, India. He has completed
his Doctoral Research from IIT, Bombay. Since last 25
years, he is in academics. His area of interest includes
Fiber Optics, Signal Processing and Communication. He
has published 35 research papers in referred conferences
and journals.