High speed all optical Nyquist signal generation and full-band coherent detection

Spectrum efficient data transmission is of key interest for high capacity optical communication systems considering the limited available bandwidth. Transmission of the high speed signal with higher-order modulation formats within the Nyquist bandwidth using coherent detection brings attractive performance advantages. However, high speed Nyquist signal generation with high order modulation formats is challenging. Electrical Nyquist pulse generation is restricted by the limited sampling rate and processor capacities of digital-to-analog convertor devices, while the optical Nyquist signals can provide a much higher symbol rate using time domain multiplexing method. However, most optical Nyquist signals are based on direct detection with simple modulation formats. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of high speed all optical Nyquist signal generation based on Sinc-shaped pulse generation and time-division multiplexing with high level modulation format and full-band coherent detection. Our experiments demonstrate a highly flexible and compatible all optical high speed Nyquist signal generation and detection scheme for future fiber communication systems.