112.5 Gbit/s long reach passive optical network with over 31 dB power budget enabled by semiconductor optical...

Area of Science:

• Optical Communications
• Telecommunications Engineering

Background:

• Future passive optical networks (PONs) require higher data rates and longer reach.
• O-band transmission is crucial for next-generation optical networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate 112.5 Gbit/s downstream transmission in the O-band for long-reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs).
• To evaluate the performance of a commercial quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier (QW-SOA) in the remote node (RN) for extending transmission distances in 100G-class PONs.
• To analyze the amplification of various pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) signals, including probabilistically shaped (PS) PAM, and assess QW-SOA potential in upstream burst-mode operations.

Main Methods:

• Experimental demonstration of 112.5 Gbit/s PAM signal transmission over 50 km single-mode fiber.
• Utilizing a commercial quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier (QW-SOA) in the remote node (RN).
• Employing a truncated T-spaced Volterra nonlinear equalizer for signal processing.

Main Results:

• Achieved optical power budgets of 32.85 dB for PAM-4 and 31.3 dB for PS-PAM-8 signals.
• Satisfied the class N2 power budget requirement (31 dB) for PONs.
• Demonstrated the highest power budget reported for 100G-class LR-PON with 50 km reach using a commercial QW-SOA in the RN.

Conclusions:

• Commercial QW-SOAs are effective in extending transmission distances for 100G-class LR-PONs.
• The study confirms the feasibility of high-speed O-band transmission for future PONs.
• The achieved power budgets highlight the potential of QW-SOA amplified signals for long-reach optical access networks.