47-km 1.25-Gbps transmission using a self-seeded transmitter with a modulation averaging reflector

Area of Science:

• Optical communications
• Fiber optics
• Telecommunications engineering

Background:

• Passive optical networks (PONs) are crucial for broadband access.
• Colorless WDM-PON systems offer scalability and cost-effectiveness.
• Reflective-semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) are key components in advanced optical transmitters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate an improved self-seeded transmitter design for WDM-PON.
• To enhance link margin and operational flexibility of RSOA-based transmitters.
• To validate the performance of the proposed transmitter in a long-reach system.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an extended-cavity transmitter with a 1-km round trip.
• Employed a reflective-semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) self-seeded by a spectrally-sliced passive modulation-averaging reflector.
• Integrated a 16-channel fully passive remote node for system demonstration.

Main Results:

• Achieved improved link margin and higher extinction ratios.
• Enabled a wider range of bias conditions for the RSOA by removing modulation in seeding light.
• Successfully demonstrated 47 km data transmission at 1.25 Gbps.

Conclusions:

• The developed transmitter is suitable for colorless WDM-PON applications.
• Modulation averaging reflectors significantly enhance self-seeded transmitter performance.
• This approach offers a viable solution for scalable and cost-effective optical access networks.