Daniel Fonseca

Highly Linear Integrated Optical Transmitter for Subcarrier Multiplexed Systems

A highly linear optical transmitter for radio-over-fiber subcarrier-multiplexed systems is presented. An integrated dual Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) is utilized to combine an optical carrier suppressed signal with an optical carrier. The proposed transmitter enables more than 10-dB improvement in the carrier-to-interference ratio compared to a quadrature biased MZM, and similar results to low biased MZM considering similar insertion loss. Negligible radio-frequency power dependence with temperature-induced bias drift is reported, while the low biased MZM is penalized by more than 12 dB for a 15% bias drift. The proposed transmitter reduces the minimum error vector magnitude from 4.2% to 3.5%, when compared to quadrature biased MZM, for a 54-Mb/s orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexed signal.

Planning fixed to flexgrid gradual migration: drivers and open issues

Flexgrid technology has recently been presented as the most promising option for upgrading the currently operating fixed grid optical networks and extending their capacity to be able to deal with the massive traffic volumes forecast for the next decade. Although the current traffic is successfully supported on fixed grid networks, flexgrid technology brings features that are not offered by the fixed grid networks, such as transporting optical connections with a capacity beyond 100 Gb/s and elasticity against time-varying traffic. In light of this, a gradual fixed grid to flexgrid migration is generally accepted in order to add these useful features to the network. In this article, we study the migration process where flexgrid is deployed in the network progressively, and review the main drivers and open issues induced by its deployment.

Design of Few-Mode Fibers With M-modes and Low Differential Mode Delay

In this paper, we investigate the design of few-mode fibers (FMFs) guiding 2 to 12 linearly polarized (LP) modes with low differential mode delay (DMD) over the C-band, suitable for long-haul transmission. Two different types of refractive index profile have been considered: a graded-core with a cladding trench (GCCT) profile and a multi-step-index (MSI) profile. The profiles parameters are optimized in order to achieve: the lowest possible DMD and macro-bend losses (MBL) lower than the ITU-T standard recommendation. The optimization results show that the MSI profiles present lower DMD than the minimum achieved with a GCCT profile. Moreover, it is shown that the optimum DMD and the MBL scale with the number of modes for both profiles. The optimum DMD obtained for 12 LP modes is lower than 3 ps/km using a GCCT profile and lower than 2.5 ps/km using a MSI profile. The optimization results reveal that the most preponderant parameter of the GCCT profile is the refractive index relative difference at the core center, Δnco. Reducing Δnco, the DMD is reduced at the expense of increasing the MBL. Regarding the MSI profiles, it is shown that 64 steps are required to obtain a DMD improvement considering 12 LP modes. Finally, the impact of the fabrication margins on the optimum DMD is analyzed. The probability of having a manufactured FMF with 12 LP modes and DMD lower than 12 ps/km is approximately 68% using a GCCT profile and 16% using a MSI profile.

Optical single-sideband transmitter for various electrical signaling formats

A simple high-speed data transmitter to generate optical single-sideband (OSSB) signals using different electrical signaling formats is presented. The OSSB signal is generated by combining the information signal with the Hilbert transform of that signal, obtained by means of electrical processing. A detailed mathematical model is introduced to evaluate the transmitter performance, considering the generation of OSSB signals with different electrical signaling formats. Two signaling formats are evaluated and compared: nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and alternate mark inversion. The optimum transmitter operation conditions, namely bias and drive voltages, are derived according to the signaling format used and confirmed experimentally. Transmission tests conducted using 10-Gb/s OSSB-NRZ signals to assess the improvement obtained by electrical dispersion compensation show a significant mitigation of the dispersion distortion.

All-Optical Burst-Mode Power Equalizer Based on Cascaded SOAs for 10-Gb/s EPONs

This letter proposes a new power equalization scheme based on cascaded semiconductor optical amplifiers, for 10-Gb/s ethernet passive optical networks with uneven topology. For networks with a large number of subscribers, the proposed equalization scheme enables a 16-dB reduction of the receiver dynamic range.

Design of Few-Mode Fibers With Arbitrary and Flattened Differential Mode Delay

This letter proposes the use of a refractive index profile with a graded core and a cladding trench for the design of few-mode fibers, aiming an arbitrary differential mode delay (DMD) flattened over the C+L band. By optimizing the core grading exponent and the dimensioning of the trench, a deviation lower than 0.01 ps/km from a target DMD is observed over the investigated wavelength range. Additionally, it is found that the dimensioning of the trench is almost independent of the target DMD, thereby enabling the use of a simple design rule that guarantees a maximum DMD deviation of 1.8 ps/km for a DMD target between -200 and 200 ps/km.

Adaptive optoelectronic filter for improved optical single sideband generation

An optoelectronic filter to generate optical single sideband (OSSB) signals from carrier-unsuppressed modulations is experimentally shown. Sideband suppression is achieved by applying a phase modulation to the optical input signal, resulting in null intensity distortion on the filtered signal and suppression of one of the sidebands. Additionally, the proposed filter ability to generate OSSB signals is wavelength independent. These properties are experimentally shown at 10 Gb/s. Sideband suppression above 18 dB is obtained at 5 GHz apart the optical carrier, with variations not exceeding 2 dB along a wavelength band of more than 25 nm. An eye opening penalty of 4 dB is obtained after transmission along 160 km of standard single-mode fiber.

On the use of electrical precompensation of dispersion in optical single-sideband transmission systems

The use of electrical predistortion in optical single-sideband (OSSB) transmission systems is proposed to extend the tolerance to fiber dispersion impairment. Due to the spectral properties of OSSB signals, a simple electrical dispersive line can be used to mitigate the fiber dispersion, reducing the complexity of electrical predistortion methods proposed recently for optical modulations other than OSSB. Carrier-suppressed and carrier-unsuppressed optical modulations can be compensated by such technique, extending the range compared to previously reported works on fiber dispersion mitigation after direct detection using OSSB signals, where only carrier-unsuppressed modulations can be effectively compensated. The use of electrical precompensation is investigated for three signaling formats: Nonreturn to zero, return to zero, and alternate mark inversion (AMI). Due to distortion occurring in the sideband suppression process, signaling formats with reduced duty cycles present improved performance as a consequence of enhanced tolerance to intersymbol interference. Using such formats with electrical predistortion, the reach limitation arises not from fiber dispersion but from nonlinear impairments and optical noise accumulation. Using AMI and ideal electrical predistortion, distances greater than 1200 km of standard single mode fiber are achieved at 10 Gb/s with bit error ratio (BER) lower than 10-12 , without using optical dispersion compensation. Introducing accurate models for the electrical dispersive lines, the transmission distance is reduced to 720 km for BER lower than 10-12

Reach Improvement of Mode Division Multiplexed Systems Using Fiber Splices

This letter proposes the introduction of discrete modal crosstalk (XT) through fiber splices for the improvement of the distance reach (DR) of mode division multiplexed (MDM) transmission systems over few mode fibers (FMFs). The proposed method increases the DR, reducing the time spread of the FMFs impulse response. The effectiveness of this method is assessed through simulation considering 3 × 136-Gbit/s MDM-coherently-detected polarization-multiplexed quadrature-phase-shift-keying ultralong haul transmission systems employing inherently low differential mode delay (DMD) FMFs or DMD compensated FMFs. A maximum DR increase factor of 1.9 is obtained for the optimum number of splices per span and optimum splice XT level.

Experimental study of coexistence of multi-band OFDM-UWB and OFDM-baseband signals in long-reach PONs using directly modulated lasers

Transmission of coexisting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-baseband (BB) and multi-band OFDM-ultra-wideband (UWB) signals along long-reach passive optical networks using directly modulated lasers (DML) is experimentally demonstrated.When optimized modulation indexes are used, bit error ratios not exceeding 5 × 10⁻⁴ can be achieved by all (OFDM-BB and three OFDM-UWB sub-bands) signals for a reach of 100 km of standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) and optical signal-to-noise ratios not lower than 25dB@0.1 nm. It is experimentally shown that, for the SSMF reach of 100km, the optimized performance of coexisting OFDM-BB and OFDM-UWB signals is mainly imposed by the combination of two effects: the SSMF dispersion-induced nonlinear distortion of the OFDM-UWB signals caused by the OFDM-BB and OFDM-UWB signals, and the further degradation of the OFDM-UWB signals with higher frequency, due to the reduced DML bandwidth.