Fiber Optic Channel Design for Dynamic Reconfiguration in SRAM-Based FPGA Satellite Payloads

This thesis focuses on simulating and analysing the effects on signals transmitted through a fiber optic channel. It begins with an introduction to optical fiber technology and its role in communication systems. It goes deep in the working process of the optical transmitter, the optical receiver and the optical channel. After this initial and theoretical introduction, it analyses the practical steps to generate signals that will enter the optical channel. The generation of pulse signals is done in VHDL. These pulses are sent into a simulated optical channel, implemented in MATLAB. This optical channel replicates chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion to model real-world effects through two different functions. Once the channel simulation is established, the signal distortion is analysed by comparing input and output signals for both vertical and horizontal polarizations. Additionally, the Bit Error Rate (BER) is examined by comparing the simulated BER with theoretical values to gain insight into the signal degradation. Further analysis considers potential errors that might affect the signal before entering the channel, so right after the transmitter side. A simulation randomly assigns errors to signals to understand how often and in what ways errors occur. Sensitivity and repeatability factor graphs are created to support this study. To mitigate signal distortion, especially on the transmitter side, an LMS (Least Mean Squares) filter is designed and implemented in MATLAB through a specific function. This filter effectively minimizes errors before the signals enter the channel, enhancing signal quality through the transmission process.