Y. C. Chung

Performance comparisons of chromatic dispersion-monitoring techniques using pilot tones

We report on the performance comparisons of the chromatic dispersion-monitoring techniques using pilot tones. The results show that the monitoring technique using phase-modulated pilot tones provides superior performances compared with the technique using amplitude-modulated pilot tones.

25.78-Gb/s Operation of RSOA for Next-Generation Optical Access Networks

We report the 25.78-Gb/s operation of the reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) for the next-generation optical access network. For this purpose, we develop a butterfly-packaged RSOA and minimize the electrical parasitics. As a result, the modulation bandwidth of RSOA is improved from 2.2 to 3.2 GHz (which is the fundamental limit imposed by the carrier lifetime). In addition, the slope of the RSOAs frequency response curve is enhanced from -40 to -20 dB/decade. Using this butterfly-packaged RSOA, we have demonstrated the 25.78-Gb/s operation. The receiver sensitivity is measured to be -11 dBm with the help of the electronic equalization and forward-error-correction (FEC) techniques. To evaluate the possibility of implementing the 100-Gb/s passive optical network (PON) by using this RSOA and the coarse wavelength-division-multiplexing (CWDM) technique, we evaluate the BER performance at four different wavelengths in the C-band. The results show that the error-free transmission can be achieved in the wavelength range of 20 nm with a penalty less than 2 dB. Thus, we can realize the 100-Gb/s PON cost-effectively by utilizing the directly modulated RSOAs operating at 25 Gb/s.

Effects of Reflection in RSOA-Based WDM PON Utilizing Remodulation Technique

We investigate the effects of the discrete reflection on the performances of upstream and downstream signals in the wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network (WDM PON) implemented in a single-fiber loopback configuration using the reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs). We first analyze the optical beat interference (OBI) noise caused by the discrete reflection, and clarify the relation between the reflection tolerance and the networks operating conditions such as the RSOA gain, the link loss, and the location of the reflection point, etc. The results show that the impact of the reflection can be expressed by using the effective crosstalk level. We then measured the reflection tolerance of the RSOA-based WDM PON, in which the downstream signal operating at 1.25 Gb/s is remodulated by the RSOA at the subscribers site for the transmission of 155-Mb/s upstream signal. The reflection tolerances are measured to be in the range of -42 to - 35 dB for the downstream signals and -29 to -19 dB for the upstream signals, depending on the RSOA gain. These small reflection tolerances are caused by the fact that the reflected light is re-amplified by the RSOA. We also show that the dependence of the reflection tolerance on the RSOA gain can be explained by using the effective crosstalk level. These results are used to evaluate the impacts of the unwanted discrete reflections on the RSOA-based WDM PON.

Long-Reach Coherent WDM PON Employing Self-Polarization-Stabilization Technique

We propose a simple self-polarization-stabilization technique for the wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network implemented with reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) and self-homodyne coherent receivers. By placing a 45° Faraday rotator in front of the RSOA in the optical network unit, the state-of-polarization of the upstream signal becomes orthogonal to that of the linearly polarized seed light at the input of the coherent receiver regardless of the birefringence in the transmission link. Thus, we can achieve the polarization stability of the upstream signal at the input of the coherent receiver. We first implement a self-homodyne receiver by using the proposed self-polarization-stabilization technique and measure its sensitivity by using 2.5-Gb/s binary phase-shift keying signals in the laboratory. The result shows an excellent receiver sensitivity of -46.4 dBm. We also confirm the efficacy of the proposed technique in the transmission experiment over 68-km long link partially composed of installed (buried and aerial) fibers. No significant degradation in the receiver sensitivity is observed during the 10-h experiment despite the large polarization fluctuations occurred in these installed fibers.

A novel optical signal-to-noise ratio monitoring technique for WDM networks

We propose and demonstrate a novel optical signal-to-noise (OSNR) monitoring technique based on receiver noise analysis. The results show that the accuracy of the proposed technique is better than 1 dB when the OSNR was 16-28 dB.

Transmission of 1.25-Gb/s PSK signal generated by using RSOA in 110-km coherent WDM PON

We generate the phase-modulated signal by utilizing the chirp characteristics of the directly-modulated reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) for the cost-effective realization of a long-reach wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network (WDM PON). We first investigate the relation between the amplitude and phase modulation indices in a directly-modulated RSOA and optimize these modulation indices to maximize the symbol distance on the constellation diagram. The results show that, by operating the RSOA under this optimum condition, we can achieve the excellent receiver sensitivity of -49.8 dBm at 1.25 Gb/s. We implement a long-reach WDM PON by using the phase-modulated RSOAs and self-homodyne receivers, and demonstrate the error-free transmission of 1.25-Gb/s signal over a 110-km long link without using any optical amplifiers.

Enhanced Operating Range of WDM PON Implemented by Using Uncooled RSOAs

We report on the operable ranges of temperature and wavelength for a 1.25-Gb/s wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network (WDM PON) implemented by using uncooled reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs). Both the gain and modulation bandwidth of the RSOA are substantially reduced at high temperatures. As a result, it is difficult to achieve the error- free operation at temperatures above 40degC. In order to mitigate this limitation, we implement a simple bias-control circuit, in which the bias current is controlled stepwise according to the operating temperature of the RSOA. Using this circuit, we extend the operable wavelength range of the RSOA-based WDM PON to ~55 nm in the temperature range of -20degC to 60degC.

Design of a LiNbO 3 ribbon waveguide for efficient difference-frequency generation of terahertz wave in the collinear configuration

We propose and investigate a ribbon waveguide for difference-frequency generation of terahertz (THz) wave from infrared light sources. The proposed ribbon waveguide is composed of a nonlinear optic crystal and has a thickness less than the wavelength of the THz wave to support the surface-wave mode in the THz region. By utilizing the waveguide dispersion of the surface-wave mode, the phase matching condition between infrared pump, idler and THz waves can be realized in the collinear configuration. Owing to the weak mode confinement of the THz wave, the absorption coefficient can also be reduced. We design the ribbon waveguide which uses LiNbO(3) crystal and discuss the phase-matching condition for DFG of THz wave. Highly efficient THz-wave generation is confirmed by numerical simulations.

Performance of Forward-Error Correction Code in 10-Gb/s RSOA-Based WDM PON

We investigate the performance of the forward-error correction (FEC) code for the 10-Gb/s wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network (WDM PON) implemented by using reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) with extremely limited modulation bandwidth and the electronic equalizers to compensate for the degradations resulting from the use of such RSOAs. We show that the error occurrences in this network strongly depend on the bit pattern and the burst errors are likely to occur. Thus, it is important to use the FEC code capable of correcting the burst errors such as Reed-Solomon (RS) code. In addition, since a significant penalty can be induced by the increased line rate resulting from the use of the FEC code, it is necessary to find the optimum redundancy required to minimize the bit-error rate. We also evaluate the tolerance to the chromatic dispersion of the proposed 10-Gb/s WDM PON implemented by using the RS code with the optimum redundancy.

Chromatic dispersion monitoring technique in WDM network

We demonstrated a simple technique that can be used to monitor the chromatic dispersion accurately in WDM networks. This technique could monitor the chromatic dispersion of each channel with accuracy better than 60 ps/nm after 640-km transmission over nonzero dispersion shifted fibre (NZDSF). We believe that this technique could be used for the efficient chromatic dispersion compensation in WDM networks.