Abstract

There is much recent interest in using low-cost, volume-manufactured short-wavelength emitter and detector technology for medium distance multimode fiber-optic links, particularly for industry-standard ATM and fibre channel type links. Concerns can arise over the potential for modal noise to result in significant power penalties, significantly reducing the overall power budget. This paper will show that when the laser and link are properly modelled, it is possible to simulate and accurately predict the effects of modal noise and show that robust link designs can be achieved with minor penalties included for modal noise.

© 1996 Optical Society of America