Abstract
We investigated the application of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and an SOA electro-absorption modulator (SOA-EAM) as attractive, low-cost solutions in passive optical networks (PONs). The main characteristics of an SOA with optimal performance for phase and amplitude modulation were tested. Additionally, a 10 Gb/s bidirectional transmission with an optical network unit (ONU) transmitter integrated with a distributed feedback (DFB) laser, electro-absorption modulator (EAM), and SOA was designed. The upstream (US) and downstream (DS) receiver sensitivities at the forward error correction (FEC) level reached −29.5 dBm and −33.5 dBm for back-to-back (BtB) fiber and −28.9 dBm and −33.1 dBm for 20 km fiber. For multichannel transmission, the US receiver sensitivities reached −28.8 dBm and −28.2 dBm for BtB and 20 km fibers, and the DS receiver sensitivities reached −33 dBm and −32.6 dBm for BtB and 20 km fibers, respectively.
Highlights
The explosive growth of network data requires higher transmission capacity and flexibility from optical communication networks, which is accelerating the development of next-generation passive optical networks (PONs) [1,2]
Research on the application of passive devices is gradually advancing, including monolithically integrated reflective semiconductor amplifiers (RSOAs) [3], dual electro-absorption modulated lasers (DEMLs) [4], distributed feedback semiconductor optical amplifiers (DFB-SOAs) [5], dual-output-DEMLs [6], and electro-absorption modulated laser semiconductor optical amplifiers (EML-SOAs) [7], which have been applied to 1.25 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, or beyond for next-generation PON2s (NGPON2s) [8,9]
The amplitude shift keying (ASK) signal was generated with a peak-to-peak RF voltage of 2 V (VPP ) for the electro-absorption modulator (EAM) with a bias current of 80 mA (Ibias )
Summary
The explosive growth of network data requires higher transmission capacity and flexibility from optical communication networks, which is accelerating the development of next-generation passive optical networks (PONs) [1,2]. Research on the application of passive devices is gradually advancing, including monolithically integrated reflective semiconductor amplifiers (RSOAs) [3], dual electro-absorption modulated lasers (DEMLs) [4], distributed feedback semiconductor optical amplifiers (DFB-SOAs) [5], dual-output-DEMLs [6], and electro-absorption modulated laser semiconductor optical amplifiers (EML-SOAs) [7], which have been applied to 1.25 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, or beyond for next-generation PON2s (NGPON2s) [8,9] This means that in facing the needs of future users, it is imperative to deploy a small-footprint, large-capacity, low-budget, and dense network. Compared with an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) [11], an SOA is an integrated device with little volume, a long service life, low cost, and a mature manufacturing process
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