Coherent Passive Optical Network Research Articles

Investigation of laser phase noise tolerance in simplified coherent PON with subcarrier multiplexing

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the laser phase noise tolerance for a 100 Gb/s/λ coherent passive optical network (PON) with simplified optical network units (ONUs) transceivers when distributed feedback (DFB) laser is used as the local oscillator (LO). In the proposed scheme, the digitally subcarrier-multiplexed (DSCM) signals are generated in the coherent transmitter at the optical line terminal (OLT) side based on Alamouti encoding in two polarizations and received by a single-polarization heterodyne receiver at the ONU side. The experimental results show that the power budget can achieve 34.2 dB and 33.9 dB after a 25 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) link when external cavity laser (ECL) and DFB lasers are used as the LOs at the ONU side. Polarization and carrier phase tracking schemes for the DSCM systems based on frequency domain pilot tones were used in digital signal process (DSP). At the same time, the frequency offset estimation and phase noise compensation algorithms are conducted using residual carriers. By choosing an appropriate width for the low-pass filter, the optimal performance for the phase noise compensation can be achieved. The pre-equalization operation at the OLT side is also verified for the subcarrier-multiplexed signals to provide better and flatter performances.

(OFC 2024) Coherent passive optical network: applications, technologies, and specification development

(OFC 2024) Coherent passive optical network: applications, technologies, and specification development

Real-time demonstration of 64 × 200 Gbps UDWDM-PON downstream transmission based on silicon photonic integrated transceiver

Coherent detection, high-order modulation, and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technologies provide solutions for increasing bandwidth demand of future access networks. We experimentally demonstrate a real-time 64 × 200-Gb/s coherent ultra-dense wavelength-division (UDWDM) coherent passive optical networks (PONs) at 75-GHz channel spacing. The demonstrated downlink transmission is realized with the dual-polarization QPSK (DP-QPSK) modulation scheme. The cost is reduced by using silicon photonic integrated coherent transceiver modules and wider grid AWGs. The power budget is evaluated when all 200 channels are launched at C band. The power budget is 26 dB after 20-km G.652D standard single mode fiber (SSMF) transmission without amplifier at the receiver side under soft-decision FEC (SD-FEC) threshold of 1 × 10−2, and can achieve 32.5 dB with pre-amplified semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) used at the receiver side.

Digital pre-equalization for performance improvement in coherent PON

As high-speed optical access networks continue to evolve, reducing the computational complexity at the optical network unit (ONU) side remains a significant challenge in coherent passive optical network (PON). This paper presents a pre-equalization scheme that integrates digital pre-distortion (DPD) and pre-emphasis techniques in 200 Gb/s coherent PON. The focus is on three modulation formats: 50 Gbaud polarization multiplexing-quadrature phase shift keying (PM-QPSK), 50 Gbaud Alamouti-coded polarization multiplexing-16 quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-16QAM), and 25 Gbaud PM-16QAM, using intradyne or heterodyne detection schemes. Through comprehensive numerical simulations and experimental evaluations, we demonstrate significant improvements in receiver sensitivity and power budget in 200 Gb/s coherent PON. When the number of digital filtering taps is small, the proposed scheme achieves power budget enhancements of 3 dB for 50 Gbaud PM-QPSK, 7 dB for 50 Gbaud Alamouti-coded PM-16QAM, and 2.1 dB for 25 Gbaud PM-16QAM in the downlink. These findings highlight the potential of pre-equalization techniques in enhancing the performance of next-generation coherent PON with low computational complexity at the ONU side.

Bidirectional TFDM 200 G coherent PON with a simplified receiver at the ONU side.

Time and frequency division multiplexing (TFDM) coherent passive optical networks (PONs) are considered as a promising candidate for future optical access networks due to the advantage of high sensitivity, high spectral efficiency, and flexibility. We propose a novel, to our knowledge, bidirectional TFDM 200-Gb/s coherent PON architecture based on the digital subcarrier multiplexing (DSCM) technology. A polarization-insensitive simplified coherent receiver is achieved at the ONU side by Alamouti coding and heterodyne detection. We experimentally demonstrate this bidirectional coherent PON with a 50-Gbaud Alamouti 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal transmitted downstream and a 25-Gbaud dual polarization (DP)-16QAM signal transmitted upstream. By using a single sideband modulated transmitter, only one laser source is required at the optical network unit (ONU) side. The power budgets can reach 30 and 33 dB for the downstream and upstream, respectively, after the 20-km transmission over a standard single-mode fiber (SSMF).

IQ-channel multiplexed DP-4ASK signal using power loading for downlink coherent PON system with access-span length difference

This study explores the integration of dual-polarized (DP) four-level amplitude shift keying (4ASK) signals within an intensity and quadrature division multiplexing framework, mainly focusing on coherent passive optical network (PON) systems. The primary objective is to address the challenges associated with distance disparities in downstream transmissions, which are prevalent in coherent PON architectures. We introduce a novel approach that significantly reduces the power consumption of digital-to-analog converters by implementing power loading strategies tailored explicitly for IQ channel division multiplexing (IQDM)-DP-4ASK signals. Our simulations confirm that ASK standard frequency offset compensation is adaptable to these signals, providing a robust method for managing frequency offsets in a dynamic network environment. Moreover, we propose and empirically validate an energy-efficient adaptive downlink solution capable of supporting 128 Gb/s per optical network unit (ONU), utilizing IQ-imbalanced DP-4ASK signals. This solution is particularly advantageous for systems where the transmission conditions include a 10 km variance in access span lengths between ONUs. Results from our experimental setup demonstrate that reducing the digital-to-analog converter output current for the Q channel by 137 mA is feasible without compromising signal integrity or system performance. Additionally, the research verifies the effectiveness of the automatic bias controller on the transmitter side, ensuring stable operation across varying conditions. Equally, the receiver-side digital signal processing effectively handles polarization separation, illustrating the system's capability to maintain high data integrity and reliability under diverse operational scenarios. These findings highlight the technical feasibility and operational benefits of using IQDM-DP-4ASK signals in coherent PON systems and underscore the potential for significant power savings and enhanced system efficiency in optical networks. The study paves the way for future research into scalable, energy-efficient solutions suitable for high-capacity optical access networks striving for increased sustainability and reduced operational costs.

Upgraded architecture of TWDM-PON with type B protection for capacity and budget improvement

The next-generation mobile fronthaul system based on technologies beyond 5G requires optical access networks with excellent disaster resistance. For passive optical networks (PONs), also known as economical optical access networks, the Type B protection method that considers disaster resistance is a practical conventional approach to address transceiver and link failure. However, the transmission capacity upgrade and effective utilization of optical power of time wavelength division multiplexing (TWDM)-based-PON with Type B protection have not been extensively studied. In this study, we intend to upgrade the architecture by applying Type B protection to a 40 Gbit/s-class TWDM-PON that uses the uplink C band/downlink L band specified by NG-PON2. To improve the downlink capacity, we have considered a bidirectional asymmetric modulation transmission system to introduce a dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying system for the downlink C band. The downlink coherent signal is transmitted by selecting either the primary or secondary link using the optical switch. There are no major drawbacks with either the primary or secondary link. Moreover, we have numerically and experimentally clarified the impact of improving the reception power by receiving a burst single-input multi-output in the uplink under the condition of no link failure. Additionally, we describe the bidirectional transmission feasibility of C-band asymmetric modulation under link failure and reflection. We have found that bidirectional transmission at the same wavelength is possible by allowing a specific penalty even for asymmetric symbol rate/polarization/modulation formats. A principle verification experiment revealed that SIMO reception could be improved by a 1.5 dB budget on the uplink. The method of upgrading the TWDM-PON system can be changed while effectively using NG-PON2 technology until the future coherent PON method is completely introduced.

Experimental demonstration of flexible information rate PON beyond 100 Gb/s with rate-compatible LDPC codes

The applications of rate-compatible low-density parity-check (RC-LDPC) codes are investigated for a 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) signal and coherent detection system. With rate-compatible signals, we can provide the flexible net data rate between 135.5 Gb/s and 169.7 Gb/s in a passive optical network (PON) link. Based on the LDPC codes defined in the IEEE 802.3ca standard, we construct two sets of RC-LDPC codes with a fixed and variable information bit length. Since the puncturing operation may degrade the performance of LDPC codes, we apply the protograph-based extrinsic information transfer (PEXIT) technique to optimize the puncturing positions to mitigate the degradation. Additionally, we explore four low-complexity LDPC decoding algorithms (min sum, offset min sum, variable weight min sum, and relaxed min sum with 2 nd min emulation) to investigate the relationship between the computational complexity and decoding performance. Simulation results indicate that the constructed codewords exhibit good performance in the waterfall region across a range of code rates. Finally, we conduct an experimental setup in a dual-polarization 25 GBaud 16QAM coherent PON to verify the effectiveness of the constructed LDPC codes with four decoding algorithms. The experimental results show maximal 4.8 dB receiver sensitivity differences, which demonstrate the feasibility of the method for constructing RC-LDPC codes in future high-speed flexible coherent PON.

Beyond 100G three-dimensional flexible coherent PON with time, frequency, and power resource-allocation capabilities

Emerging services such as 8K/16K high-quality video streaming, virtual reality/augmented reality, beyond-5G mobile Internet, and edge computing are driving the need for even higher speed, capacity, and flexibility in optical access networks. Coherent passive optical networks (CPONs) have garnered significant attention in recent years due to their superior receiver sensitivity and high flexibility for 100G speeds and beyond. Research interest has surged in flexible, multi-dimensional multiplexing schemes that go beyond traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM). To further leverage the flexibility offered by CPONs, this paper proposes and experimentally demonstrates what we believe to be a novel three-dimensional flexible coherent PON (3D FLCS-CPON) for downstream applications. This system offers resource-allocation capabilities in the time, frequency, and power domains. By utilizing digital subcarrier multiplexing and power allocation in both the time and frequency domains, we achieve more flexible and adaptable access rates compared to traditional TDM and frequency-division multiplexing (FDM). We present in detail the operating principles of 3D FLCS-CPON in the downstream, along with steps for power calibration between subcarriers. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the feasibility of 3D FLCS-CPON in the downstream using four subcarriers, achieving a peak data rate of 250Gb/s/λ over a 20-km fiber.

End-to-end deep learning for a flexible coherent PON with user-specific constellation optimization

A flexible coherent passive optical network (FLCS-CPON) is a promising solution for the future access network. By offering increased speed, sensitivity, and flexibility, it enables more efficient utilization of network resources and allows for serving a larger number of users. However, the past studies often overlook the flexibility of channel equalization. In the FLCS-CPON, customized rate optimization has been achieved to cater to users in different channel conditions. However, in addition to rate optimization, further performance improvement can be achieved by providing customized equalization methods. In this work, we proposed and demonstrated an end-to-end (E2E)-optimization-based FLCS-CPON in a 50 km fiber transmission. It enables tailored signal constellation shaping and equalization, maximizing system efficiency and performance. Finally, we achieved a FLCS-CPON with the net data rate (NDR) varied from 124 to 210 Gbps and the power budget of 40 and 42.4 dB in upstream and downstream, respectively; 3.7 and 2.9 dB power budgets are improved by E2E optimization. In burst-mode, the dynamic range of probabilistic shaping 32 quadrature amplitude modulation (PS-32QAM) at a line rate of 250 Gbps improved by 6.1 to 16.8 dB. Additionally, a dynamic range and net-rate product (DRNRP) of 5779 dB · Gbps is achieved.

Non-integer-oversampling digital signal processing for coherent passive optical networks

Beyond 100G passive optical networks (PONs) will be required to meet the ever-increasing traffic demand in the future. Coherent optical technologies are the competitive solutions for the future beyond 100G PON but also face challenges such as the high computational complexity of digital signal processing (DSP). A high oversampling rate in coherent optical technologies results in the high computational complexity of DSP. Therefore, DSP running in a non-integer-oversampling below 2 samples-per-symbol (sps) is preferred, which can not only reduce computational complexity but also obviously lower the requirement for the analog-to-digital converter. In this paper, we propose non-integer-oversampling DSP for meeting the requirements of coherent PON. Complexities of complex-valued multiplication of the proposed DSP working at 9/8-sps and 5/4-sps oversampling rates can be reduced by 44.04% and 40.78% compared to that working at the 2-sps oversampling rate, respectively. A 400-Gb/s-net-rate coherent PON based on digital subcarrier multiplexing was demonstrated to verify the feasibility of non-integer-oversampling DSP. There is almost no penalty on the receiver sensitivity when non-integer-oversampling DSP is adopted. In conclusion, non-integer-oversampling DSP shows great potential in the future coherent PON.

Demonstration of an 800G CDM-SDM coherent PON utilizing weakly coupled multicore fibers with CDM tributary manipulation

In this Letter, we present an experimental demonstration of downstream signaling in a 16 × 50 Gbit/s coherent passive optical network (CPON) using the code and space division multiplexing (CDM-SDM) approach. We realize optical SDM through the utilization of a 4-core weakly coupled multicore fiber (WC-MCF), enhancing the total available optical launch power at the optical line terminal (OLT). This enhancement significantly improves the power budget for CPONs that connect with a large number of optical network units (ONUs). At the second stage of the CPON, four CDM-assigned ONUs are connected to individual cores of the WC-MCF, thereby supporting the connectivity of up to 16 ONUs. Through experiments, we have noted substantial disparities in the downstream signaling performance among individual CDM-assigned ONUs, particularly as the capacity is increased to 800 Gbit/s. To address this issue, we have employed an innovative approach by leveraging space–time coding techniques to manipulate the CDM tributaries, to achieve a balanced reception performance for all ONUs within the CPON. We believe that the proposed CDM-SDM CPON scheme, complemented by the advanced DSP flow chart, holds significant promise for future PON systems characterized by substantial capacity and extensive connectivity.

Principle and strategy of using probabilistic shaping in a flexible coherent passive optical network without optical amplifiers

The coherent passive optical network (CPON) has received a great deal of attention in recent years due to its superior receiver sensitivity and extended power budget for 100G and beyond. In order to fully utilize the channel capacity and achieve adaptive rate adjustment in a flexible coherent passive optical network (FLCS-CPON), constellation-shaping techniques, such as probabilistic shaping (PS), have been introduced. Unlike long-distance transmission networks, which are subject to average power constraint when optical amplifiers are utilized, commercial passive optical network systems are generally subject to peak power constraint, as no optical amplifiers are used. This difference makes the classical probabilistic-shaping (CPS) technology less efficient in CPON systems without optical amplifiers. In this study, the use cases of PS in a flexible coherent access network, including nonlinear-penalty-dominant and noise-dominated regions, are thoroughly explored. By fixing the modulation order and utilizing CPS and reversed probabilistic shaping with a fixed modulation format, a hybrid PS-based FLCS-CPON without optical amplifiers is demonstrated, achieving a peak rate of 200G and a high dynamic range boost of up to 72% from 16 to 27.5 dB in upstream burst-mode-based PS-16 quadrature amplitude modulation. Over the entire dynamic range, the net data rate varies from 168 to 85 Gbps with a power budget of 37 dB, and a dynamic range and net-rate product improvement of 55% is achieved.

Fast-Convergence Digital Signal Processing for Coherent PON Using Digital SCM

It is foreseeable that the 100 Gb/s/ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda$</tex-math></inline-formula> and beyond passive optical network (PON) will be required in future optical access networks to meet the explosive growth of data traffic. The coherent optical systems could be a promising solution for the future beyond 100G PON. Coherent PON using digital subcarrier multiplexing (DSCM) can provide flexible bandwidth allocation to a large number of access subscribers by dividing subcarriers of the DSCM signal into time slots for time-and-frequency division multiple access. When the optical network unit is allocated a new subcarrier, digital signal processing (DSP) should converge fast in the allocated time slot to ensure a low handoff latency for real-time bandwidth allocation. However, the traditional coherent DSP is hard to realize fast convergence due to blind and complex algorithms. In this paper, we design a specific training sequence (TS) structure and propose data-aided DSP to achieve fast convergence for coherent PON. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is experimentally verified in an 8 Gbaud/SC×8 SCs 400 Gb/s-net-rate coherent PON using DSCM with 16 quadrature amplitude modulation. The experimental results show that fast convergence is jointly realized by the proposed TS structure and data-aided DSP using a 416-symbol TS with a 52 ns duration. The receiver sensitivity at the 20% soft-decision forward error correction limit is approximately -27 dBm and an optical power budget of about 35.5 dB is achieved with a booster amplifier.

Demonstration of continuous multiple access with homodyne and image-rejection heterodyne coherent receivers using directly modulated laser transmitters

This work presents a comprehensive set of experiments for the multipoint-to-point coherent passive optical network (PON), where the wavelength locking between the optical network unit (ONU) and optical line termination lasers is critical, especially if operating in burst mode. Here, we test the performance of continuous multiple access in a splitter-based PON with both an ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing and RF-subcarrier multiplexing configuration, with simple distributed feedback (DFB) lasers along non-return to zero and pulse amplitude modulation of four levels. Most interestingly, we test a spectrally efficient heterodyne receiver with image-frequency rejection and polarization independence based on the 3×3 optical front-end. Two users at the same intermediate frequency are detected simultaneously avoiding image frequency interference while minimizing complexity, with transmissions of 2.5 Gb/s. We provide comparison with an asynchronous homodyne receiver. The achieved results demonstrate the feasibility of continuous multiple access using thermally controlled ONUs with conventional DFBs as an enhanced alternative to commercial time division multiplexing access.

400-Gbps/80-km Rate-Flexible PCS-64-QAM WDM-CPON With Pseudo-m-QAM Chaotic Physical Layer Encryption

For next-generation high-capacity, rate-flexible, and secure 400-G passive optical network (PON), a scheme joint wavelength division-multiplexed (WDM), entropy-regulated probabilistic constellation shaping-64-quadrature amplitude modulation (PCS-64-QAM) and chaotic encryption mapping, is proposed and demonstrated. For the first time, chaotic encryption is realized over the PCS-based PON with the architecture from one optical line terminal (OLT) to multiple optical network units (ONUs). Chaotic encryption with an initial-value-sensitive feature can generate a large amount of parallel encrypted sequences which provide a key pair corresponding with every possible entropy/rate. A novel mapping from PCS-64-QAM with various entropies to pseudo- <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</i> -QAM is designed, which erases the entropy information of the link and encrypted the original information of the sequence. The encryption transmission is demonstrated over a real-time dual-polarized coherent optical platform with an 80-km link and typically one-to-many PON configuration, and a net 211.80∼348.12-Gb/s rate result within the hard-decision forward error correction (FEC) threshold is achieved for 6λ × 2 ONUs group. The rate of each polarization state can be tuned in a minimum 3.408-Gbps step in the demonstration. Expanding from the basis of the original WDM-CPON, this work prepares an adapted chaotic encryption scheme for large-scale access. Overall, our proposed scheme can provide an abundant system loss budget, a large rate tunable range, and basic physical layer security for next-generation rate-flexible coherent PON (FLCS-CPON).

Demonstration of PS-QAM Based Flexible Coherent PON in Burst-Mode With 300G Peak Rate and Ultra-Wide Dynamic Range

Coherent passive optical network (PON) has been proposed to support the next generation high-speed optical access network owing to the superior receiver sensitivity and thereby the extended power budget for 100 G-and-beyond. In addition, PON's flexibility and adaptability are gaining increasing interest. Flexible PON is believed to be a powerful solution in optimizing the overall capacity based on the available channel conditions, i.e., the optical path loss (OPL) and the associated signal-to-noise ratio and nonlinearity impairments of the different groups of optical network units. In this study, we demonstrate the rate-flexible coherent TDM-PON in burst-mode based on probabilistic-shaping (PS) QAM modulations and local oscillator (LO) power adjustment technology, achieving a 300G peak rate and ultra-wide dynamic range. The principle, the burst-mode frame generation as well as the burst-mode signal processing are discussed in detail. To indicate the overall performance of achievable capacity and flexibility, a new metric, namely, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dynamic-range and net-rate product</i> ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DRNRP</i> ) is introduced as the indicator to show the optimized throughput. Finally, we experimentally demonstrated a flexible coherent TDM-PON in burst-mode based on 25-GBaud PS-QAMs with the dynamic range of >35-dB in back-to-back. A record <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DRNRP</i> up to 7,104 dB·Gbps was achieved in the current system with net data rate varying from 255-Gbits/s to 85-Gbits/s as the OPL varies over 20-km fiber transmission.

Photonic Integrated Circuits for Passive Optical Networks: Outlook and Case Study of Integrated Quasi-Coherent Receiver

Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) are taking a major role in the telecommunications and datacenter markets. The increased complexity of coexisting and fast evolving standards for Passive Optical Networks (PONs) suggests the introduction of PICs will be the next step in PON related optoelectronics. The PICs ecosystem has greatly matured in the past years, becoming a solution that can cope with the requirements of industry and academia, and presenting the flexibility of combining multiple platforms available towards viable commercial solutions. In this review, the evolution of PONs and PICs is presented, with a focus on the optoelectronic integration of PICs for PONs and coherent PONs. To demonstrate the potential of PICs and their combination with electronics, a quasi-coherent receiver based on co-hosted PIC and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is presented and characterized.

Novel Wide-Range Frequency Offset Estimation and Compensation for Burst-mode CPFSK Upstream Signaling in TDM-Based Digital Coherent PON

The burst-mode continuous phase frequency shift-keying (CPFSK) transmitter that combines a directly modulated laser diode, an electro absorption modulator and a semiconductor optical amplifier is attractive as a cost-effective transmitter for phase modulation formats for digital signal processing (DSP)-based coherent passive optical network (PON) upstream signaling. However, since highly accurate wavelength controllers for the transmitters in optical network units (ONUs) create excessive cost burdens, large carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) must be expected. Thus, a CFO compensation method with wide compensation range is required. This paper proposes a novel CFO estimation and compensation method for burst-mode CPFSK signals in upstream PON signaling. The proposed method is based on a simple blind algorithm and does not require any training symbols. We demonstrate wide CFO compensation range, from −12 to 14 GHz, with high receiver sensitivity, less than −42.5 dBm for 10 Gbit/s binary CPFSK signals. This range far exceeds that of the conventional CFO compensation method using a blind algorithm. Moreover, the proposed method can enhance the convergence of finite impulse response (FIR) filters. The feasibility of the proposed CFO compensation technique is successfully demonstrated for burst-mode CPFSK signals.

400Gb/s real-time coherent PON based on a silicon photonic integrated transceiver.

We experimentally demonstrate the real-time 100/200/400 Gb/s/λ coherent passive optical networks (PONs) based on silicon photonic integrated transceiver. We investigate different configuration schemes of coherent PONs including: (1) using a Erbium doped optical fiber amplifier (EDFA) as a booster at the transmitter side; (2) using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as a booster at the transmitter side; (3) using EDFA at the transmitter side and a pre-amplified SOA at receiver side; (4) using an SOA at the transmitter side and an SOA at the receiver side. The performance of these schemes for different data rates of downstream transmission is evaluated, and the appropriate choices under different circumstances are analyzed. The real-time experimental results indicate that the EDFA can be replaced by SOA as a booster at the transmitter side in 100/200 Gb/s/λ coherent PON based on the dual-polarization QPSK (DP-QPSK) scheme with a small performance penalty. In dual-polarization a 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (DP-16QAM) 400 G/s/λ PON system, EDFA booster is preferred because an SOA introduces more nonlinearity for the 16QAM scheme. The power budget of 32.5 dB is achieved for 400 Gb/s/λ coherent PON after the 20 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) transmission under the soft-decision feedforward error correction (SD-FEC) threshold.