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CMOS Optical Preamplifier Design Using Graphical Circuit Analysis

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CHAPTER<br />

1<br />

1.1 OVERVIEW<br />

Introduction<br />

<strong>Optical</strong> communications is one of the cornerstones of today’s revolution in<br />

information technology. Vast distances of optical fiber span the globe, connecting<br />

the world together in an intricate communications infrastructure. With the drive<br />

towards portable and multimedia communications, we are increasingly faced with<br />

the challenge of bringing the capacity of our communications infrastructure directly<br />

to the user, providing seamless access to vast quantities of information, anywhere<br />

and anytime. Whether it is the transfer of an image from a digital camera to a laptop<br />

computer or the communication of data within a massively parallel computer, there<br />

is an urgent need to develop new methods of high speed data communications.<br />

Light offers many advantages as a medium for communication. Whether travel-<br />

ling through free space or through optical fiber, light enjoys unequalled channel<br />

bandwidth, and is capable of data rates in the terabits per second. This immense<br />

capacity is due to the nature of the photons that constitute an optical signal. Unlike<br />

electrons, photons react weakly to their environment and to one another. As such,<br />

optical signals neither generate nor are sensitive to electromagnetic interference<br />

(EMI), parasitic coupling, and other problems faced by electrical signals [Mon-<br />

trose,1996].<br />

Given their advantages, optical links are rapidly expanding into application<br />

areas beyond traditional fiber-optic links [Woodward,1999]. Three sample applica-<br />

tions of so-called “carrier” applications that are concerned with transporting infor-<br />

mation across the greatest possible distance are free-space intersatellite links<br />

[Thompson, 1991], [Begley,1994], [Alexander,1997], fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)<br />

[Faulkner,1989], [Kwok,1995], and terrestrial free-space links for inter-building<br />

communications [Jolt], [AirFiber], [Terabeam], [CableFree], [Eardley,1996].<br />

1

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