Abstract
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) has a high peak-to-average ratio (PAR), which can result in low optical power efficiency when modulated through a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator. In addition, the nonlinear characteristic of the MZ can cause significant distortion on the OFDM signal, leading to in-band intermodulation products between subcarriers. We show that a quadrature MZ with digital predistortion and hard clipping is able to overcome the previous impairments. We consider quantization noise and compute the minimum number of bits required in the digital-to-analog converter (D/A). Finally, we discuss a dual-drive MZ as a simpler alternative for the OFDM modulator, but our results show that it requires a higher oversampling ratio to achieve the same performance as the quadrature MZ.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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
