Fiber Optic Bi-Directional Amplifying Repeater

Telecommunication 850 nm band is an attractive choice for the physical layer and has been used for the vast majority of the optical local area networks (LANs) by taking advantage of comparatively low-cost silicon P-I-N technology for optical receivers as well as high power GaAIAs semiconductor lasers for both the signal sources and the amplifier pumps. For a fiber optic link to connect the aircraft network to an external pod through a pylon, a fiber optic repeater with amplification is needed to compensate the loss of the link caused by the power division by the multiplicity of directional couplers and the propagation loss of the transmission fiber. A fiber optic amplifying bi-directional repeater to boost optical (digital) signals bound for hardpoint pylons is thus highly demanded for optical power loss budget on military aircraft. We propose to develop compact fiber amplifiers in the 850 nm band satisfying the requirements of next generation LANs. New glasses and fibers will be developed for building amplifiers near 850nm.