4-8 July 2016
Kramer Law building
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
<a href="http://events.saip.org.za/internalPage.py?pageId=10&confId=86">The Proceedings of SAIP2016</a> published on 24 December 2017

Power Budget Analysis of Passive Components along an Optical Fibre Link of a Frequency Dissemination System within the MeerKAT Telescope Array

5 Jul 2016, 10:00
20m
LT2 (Kramer Law building)

LT2

Kramer Law building

UCT Middle Campus Cape Town
Oral Presentation Track F - Applied Physics Applied Physics (1)

Speaker

Mr Shukree Wassin (NMMU)

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)<br><a href="http://events.saip.org.za/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=0&confId=34" target="_blank">Formatting &<br>Special chars</a>

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project aims to address the unsolved mysteries of fundamental astrophysics and physics. MeerKAT, the South African precursor to the SKA consisting of 64 interlinked receptors will be incorporated into SKA phase 1. A total of 170 km buried optical fibre will be used to aggregate large volumes of astrological data from each dish within the MeerKAT antenna array to the Karoo Array Processing Building (KAPB). The maximum length of fibre to be installed between the KAPB and an individual receptor is 12 km. Ultra high, precise time and frequency reference clock tones will be disseminated across the buried fibre to the digitizers located on each antenna, thereby providing phase coherence amongst the relevant MeerKAT telescopes. Temperature variations and external environmental conditions may have a detrimental effect on the phase stability of the optical signal transmitted along the fibre. This paper reports on a power budget analysis conducted of various passive components within the optical fibre link, of a phase noise compensation scheme using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) actuating system. Furthermore, -18.1 dBm and -25.7 dBm were measured at the receiver side of the one way (12 km) and round trip (24 km) optical fibre transmission links respectively. PIN and APD photodiodes, with receiver sensitivities of -18 dBm and -25 dBm, were found to be suitable for optical detection along the one way and round trip links respectively. Using an APD receiver rules out the possibility of incorporating an erbium doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) into phase noise compensation scheme thereby reducing the cost and complexity of the system.

Please indicate whether<br>this abstract may be<br>published online<br>(Yes / No)

Yes

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

Prof T.B. Gibbon
tim.gibbon@nmmu.ac.za
NMMU

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, N/A)?

PhD

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

yes

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

No

Primary author

Co-authors

Prof. Andrew Leitch (NMMU) Mr Duncan Boiyo (Centre for Broadband Communication, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) Mr George Isoe (Centre for Broadband Communication,Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) Dr Romeo Reginald Gunther Gamatham (NRF, Square Kilometre Array South Africa) Dr Timothy Gibbon (NMMU Physics Department)

Presentation Materials

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