Abstract

A thermodynamic analysis of energy flow in different elements of an optical fiber communication system is presented. The analysis depends on a previously introduced entropy approach that postulated the flow of electric charges as a flow of electromagnetic waves. Such a postulate is introduced here to find a plausible explanation of the electro-optic Kerr effect. Following the same approach, the transmitter and receivers of the optical communication-systems are explained according to measurement results as converters of electric waves into light waves or converters of light waves into electric waves. Similarly, pumping of optical energy or electrical energy into the elements of a communication system is found equivalent to pumping of entropy. Such results are introduced to derive energy equations that model the flow of energy and different processes in an optical communication-system. The introduced approach that depends on the postulated definition of electric current is compared to a classical approach in an analysis of energy flow into 80 MHz fiber laser.

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