Abstract

According to different transmission distances, application scenarios of a data center mainly include intra- and inter-data center optical interconnects. The intra-data center optical interconnect is considered as a few kilometers optical interconnect between servers and racks inside a data center, which accounts for nearly 80% of data traffic of a data center. The other one, inter-data center optical interconnect, is mainly applied in tens of kilometers data transmission among different data centers. Since data exchange in data centers generally occurs between many servers and racks, and a lot of transmitter and receiver components are required, optical interconnects become highly sensitive to component costs. In this paper, we firstly review the development and applications of mainstream transmitter components (e.g., VCSEL, DML, EML, MZM, and monolithic integrated transmitter) and receiver components (e.g., single-end photodetector, Kramers-Kronig receiver, Stokes vector receiver, and monolithic integrated receiver), which have been widely applied in short-reach transmission systems. Then, two types of integrated solutions including simplified detection scheme and transceiver integration scheme are presented in detail. Finally, we summarize and discuss the technological and component options for different transmission distances. We believe that monolithic integrated components, especially transceiver integration, will become a powerful solution for next-generation high-speed short-reach transmission systems.

Highlights

  • In recent years, with the applications of various multimedia and data services (e.g., Internet of Things, cloud computing, remote surgery, the construction of 5G, and beyond 5G networks), global network traffic has presented explosive growth over the past decade [1]

  • We review the mainstream transmitter components (e.g., vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)/directly modulated laser (DML)/ electro-absorption modulated laser (EML)/Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM)/monolithic integrated transmitter) and receiver components

  • A simplified detection scheme and two transceiver integration schemes under direct and coherent detection have been presented in detail

Read more

Summary

Introduction

With the applications of various multimedia and data services (e.g., Internet of Things, cloud computing, remote surgery, the construction of 5G, and beyond 5G networks), global network traffic has presented explosive growth over the past decade [1]. In addition to the digital coherent technology and the traditional IM/DD technology, some advanced direct detection technologies such as Kramers-Kronig receiver [17,18] and Stokes vector receiver [19,20,21] have been proposed and studied extensively Since these techniques can reconstruct the complex domain of the signal, rate-distance product can be further improved by combing impairments compensation algorithms and advanced modulation technology. An effective solution, a transceiver integration scheme based on the digital coherent technology [26,27], has been reported and shows the potential to reduce cost and footprint size of the transmitter and receiver components dramatically.

Transmitter for Short-Reach Transmission Systems
Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser
Directly Modulated Laser
LiNbO3 Mach-Zehnder Modulator
Electro-Absorption Modulated Laser
Monolithic Integrated Transmitter
Receiver for Short-Reach Transmission Systems
Single-End Photodetector under Direct Detection
Single-End Photodetector under Kramers-Kronig Direct Detection
Transceiver Integration Scheme Based on Coherent Detection
Findings
Discussion
Conclusions

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.