VPIphotonics updates Transmission & Component Design Suite

June 18, 2015

Design software vendor VPIphotonics now offers Version 9.5 of its Transmission & Component Design Suite. Upgrades in Version 9.5 cover a wide range of areas, including modeling enhancements and usability improvements related to the simulation of multimode fiber based transmission systems, including support for spatial division multiplexing (SDM) applications and short-reach applications for data centers.

Lightwave Staff

VPItransmissionMaker Optical Systems
VPIlabExpert
VPIcomponentMaker Fiber Optics
VPIcomponentMaker Photonic Circuits
VPIplayer.

The enhancement related to multimode fiber include a new means for detailed multimode fiber modeling that considers not only linear dispersive effects, but also self-phase and inter-/intramodal cross-phase modulation caused by the Kerr nonlinearity. Meanwhile, a new macro can apply directly the typical parameter values of OM1, OM2, OM3, or OM4 fibers according to the ISO/ IEC 11801 standard. Finally the suite now supports binary Zemax beam files (.zbf) to describe an optical beam and calculate the coupling coefficients between this beam and a multimode fiber or waveguide.

Elsewhere, the VPItransmissionMaker Optical Systems and VPIlabExpert Version 9.5 are compatible with the new Version 2.0 of VPItoolkit DSP Library, a pluggable toolkit that provides access to lab-proven digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms developed by the Photonic Networks and Systems department at Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institute (HHI). The new version of the DSP Library provides such functionality upgrades as support of data-aided frequency domain equalization using, for example, CAZAC sequences, and a means for off-line processing of experimental data.

Additional new features include:

A new transmitter for polarization-multiplexed optical signals with arbitrary quadrature modulation performing normalization and predistortion, analog pulse shaping, and emulation of imperfect D/A converter responses
New DSP algorithms for coherent systems including de-skewing, digital back propagation, and a stability-improved time-domain equalization multiple-input multiple-output (TDE-MIMO) algorithm
Estimation of the effective number of bits (ENoB) of an A/D converter in presence of distortions such as jitter and differential nonlinearities
An enhanced lab equipment module, Tek_AWG_70002A, to support not only sockets for communication with the device, but also the VXI-11 protocol
Increased abilities for parameter and user interface scripting using Python.

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