High-fidelity sub-petabit-per-second self-homodyne fronthaul using broadband electro-optic combs.

Area of Science:

• Optical communications
• Wireless networking
• Integrated photonics

Background:

• Fronthaul networks face increasing bandwidth demands due to data density and user growth.
• Optical links and devices present bandwidth and noise limitations, impacting cost-efficiency.
• Existing fronthaul solutions struggle to meet the escalating capacity requirements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a high-fidelity fronthaul system overcoming bandwidth and noise limitations.
• To achieve unprecedented aggregated wireless bandwidth and support high-order modulation formats.
• To explore cost-efficient solutions using integrated photonics for future fronthaul.

Main Methods:

• Development of self-homodyne digital-analog radio-over-fiber superchannels.
• Utilization of a broadband electro-optic comb and uncoupled multicore fiber.
• Implementation of carrier-recovery-free reception architecture.

Main Results:

• Achieved a record 15,000 GHz aggregated wireless bandwidth, equivalent to 0.879 Pb/s Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) data rate.
• Demonstrated higher-order modulation formats up to 1,048,576 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) at 100 Tb/s.
• Showcased a 100.5 Tb/s data rate using a packaged on-chip electro-optic comb with 1024-QAM.

Conclusions:

• The self-homodyne superchannel architecture boosts capacity and enables carrier-recovery-free reception.
• The system propels fronthaul into the Pb/s capacity era with high fidelity and cost-efficiency.
• Integrated photonics implementation shows significant potential for advancing fronthaul technology.