IEC 61290-3:2008

IEC 61290-3
Edition 2.0 2008-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical amplifiers – Test methods –
Part 3: Noise figure parameters

Amplificateurs optiques – Méthodes d’essais –
Partie 3: Paramètres du facteur de bruit

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IEC 61290-3
Edition 2.0 2008-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical amplifiers – Test methods –
Part 3: Noise figure parameters

Amplificateurs optiques – Méthodes d’essais –
Partie 3: Paramètres du facteur de bruit

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
L
CODE PRIX
ICS 33.180.30 ISBN 2-8318-9952-4
– 2 – 61290-3 © IEC:2008
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3
INTRODUCTION.5
1 Scope and object.6
2 Normative references .6
3 Acronyms and abbreviations.6
4 Noise figure generalities .7
5 Noise figure contributions .8
6 Noise figure test methods .9
Bibliography.11

Table 1 – Parameters measurable with each of the two methods of Clause 5.10

61290-3 © IEC:2008 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS –
TEST METHODS –
Part 3: Noise figure parameters

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
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9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 61290-3 has been prepared by subcommittee 86C: Fibre optic
systems and active devices, of IEC technical committee 86: Fibre optics.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 2000, and constitutes
a technical revision. It includes updates to specifically address additional types of optical
amplifiers and to highlight that the IEC 61290-3 series pertains to single-channel amplifiers.
References have been added to the documents pertaining to multichannel amplifiers.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
86C/842/FDIS 86C/854/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.

– 4 – 61290-3 © IEC:2008
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in
the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
61290-3 © IEC:2008 – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
This International Standard is devoted to the subject of optical amplifiers. The technology of
optical amplifiers is still evolving, hence amendments to and new editions of this standard can
be expected. Each abbreviation introduced in this standard is explained in the text at least the
first time it appears. However, for an easier understanding of the whole text, a list of all
abbreviations used in this standard is given in Clause 3.

– 6 – 61290-3 © IEC:2008
OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS –
TEST METHODS –
Part 3: Noise figure parameters

1 Scope and object
This International Standard applies to all commercially available optical amplifiers (OAs),
including OAs using optically pumped fibres (OFAs based on either rare-earth doped fibres or
on the Raman effect), semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and planar waveguide optical
amplifiers (PWOAs).
The object of this standard is to provide the general background for OA noise figure
parameters measurements and to indicate those IEC standard test methods for accurate and
reliable measurements of the following OA parameters, as defined in IEC 61291-1:
a) noise figure (NF);
b) noise factor (F);
c) multiple path interference (MPI) figure of merit;
d) signal-spontaneous noise figure;
e) (equivalent) spontaneous-spontaneous optical bandwidth (B );
sp-sp
f) forward amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) power level;
g) reverse ASE power level;
h) ASE bandwidth.
This standard addresses measurement of OAs that are to be used for amplifying single
channels, that is signals from a single transmitter. Testing of OAs for multichannel use
involves additional considerations, such as: the number, wavelengths and relative power of
the signals, the ability to measure signals simultaneously and to measure the ASE between
channels.
NOTE Methods for measurement of OAs for multichannel use are included in the IEC 61290-10 series.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 61290-3-1, Optical amplifiers – Test methods – Part 3-1: Noise figure parameters –
Optical spectrum analyzer method
IEC 61290-3-2, Optical amplifiers – Part 3-2: Test methods for noise figure parameters –
Electrical spectrum analyzer method
IEC 61291-1, Optical amplifiers – Part 1: Generic specification
3 Acronyms and abbreviations
ASE amplified spontaneous emission
B (equivalent) spontaneous-spontaneous optical bandwidth
sp-sp
61290-3 © IEC:2008 – 7 –
ESA electrical spectrum analyzer
F noise factor
FWHM full width half maximum
MPI multiple path interference
NF noise figure
OA optical amplifiers
OFA optical fibre amplifier
OSA optical spectrum analyzer
PWOA planar waveguide optical amplifiers
SOA semiconductor optical amplifiers
SNR signal-to-noise ratio
4 Noise figure generalities
The noise figure is one of the most important parameters of an OA. Following the definition in
IEC 61291-1, the noise factor, i.e. the linear form of the noise figure, can be expressed by:
SNR < i >
< i >
input signal in
noise out
F = = ×
2 2
SNR
output < i > < i >
noise in signal out
(1)
1 < i >
noise out
F =
2 2
G < i >
noise in
where
SNR denotes signal-to-noise ratios;
i denotes photocurren
...