Pulse Amplitude Modulation Research Articles

Light exposure induces phenotypic plasticity of the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea sp. and its endosymbiotic dinoflagellates

The upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea, is an increasingly popular model organism gaining prominence for both its endosymbiotic dinoflagellates from the family Symbiodiniaceae and its behavioral changes of bell pulsations associated with environmental cues. Pulsation provides a unique window into the host's response to environmental conditions, a typically difficult to access component of other symbiotic cnidarians. Pulsation has also been hypothesized to play a regulatory role on the endosymbiotic assemblage, but the magnitude of this regulatory effect is not well understood. Here, we used two light-acclimation experiments to help disentangle the complex phenotypic responses of the cnidarian host and its endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. The first experiment examined the phenotypic plasticity (size, behavior, color) of Cassiopea sp. in response to repeated ambient light acclimation trials to determine the rate and magnitude of phenotypic plasticity. The second experiment compared the acclimation response of jellyfish across three experimental groups to test whether a variable environment and resulting short acclimation times destabilized the host-endosymbiont relationship. Our goal was to identify covarying host-endosymbiont phenotypes to gain new insights into the dynamics of this relationship. We employed flow cytometric phenotypic profiling for high-throughput phenotypic characterization of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates in addition to pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry to characterize photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/fm). Host phenotypes responded predictably to light-dark cycles and stabilized after nine to twelve days of exposure to consistent light conditions. However, disruption of this acclimation period affected the holobiont's phenotypic profile. We also found evidence that phenotypic responses of the host and endosymbionts were generally decoupled, indicating a stronger regulatory response of light conditions on phenotypes than possible host-regulatory strategies on the endosymbiotic assemblage. This study provides unique insights into the acclimation strategies of upside-down jellyfish, an emerging model for the study of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

Dual-wavelength sub-Nyquist sampling scheme for clipping-avoidance photonic ADC

We propose a dual-wavelength scheme for a clipping-avoidance photonic analog-to-digital converter (PADC) operating at the sub-Nyquist sampling rate. The scheme utilizes two characteristics, the phase-wrapping feature of a PADC and the wavelength-sensitive feature of a phase modulator, equivalently performing a dual-modulus (DM) modulo operation to avoid clipping. Coupled with an unwrapping algorithm based on the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT), the proposed scheme enables signal reconstruction from the processed signals independent of the sampling rate. We demonstrated proof-of-concept experiments on a PADC chip fabricated on an LNOI platform. Experimental results show that 1G/2G/4G-baud 10-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-10) waveforms were successfully reconstructed at the sub-Nyquist sampling rate of 1/2/4Gs/s, respectively. Our work provides a potential solution to achieve on-chip clipping-avoidance PADCs operating at the sub-Nyquist sampling.

Kalman filtering-based decision threshold dynamic optimization in photonics-aided millimeter-wave systems

We propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, decision threshold dynamic optimization (DTDO) method based on Kalman filtering to mitigate the nonlinear effect impacts of the time-domain jitter and saturation distortion on a bit error rate (BER) performance. This dynamic optimization method was validated in a photonics-aided W-band millimeter-wave system. Compared to nonlinear algorithms and clustering classification methods, DTDO offers lower complexity and superior dynamic tracking capabilities when optimizing the BER performance in photonics-aided systems. The four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal, after being transmitted over a 50-m W-band link, was equalized using a low-complexity filter, maintaining an exceptionally low BER. This approach effectively leverages the inherent low-complexity advantages of single-carrier transmission over the link.

Real-time DSP-Free 40 Gbit/s PAM4 transmission over 10 km fiber enabled by optical injection locking of directly modulated laser

AbstractWe present a comprehensive performance analysis of injection-locked directly modulated laser (DML) for optical communication systems, focusing on both non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal transmission. We demonstrate real-time PAM4 40 Gbit/s transmission over 10 km of single-mode fiber enabled by optical injection locking without pre-emphasis or post-equalization, achieving a bit error rate (BER) below $${10^{-6}}$$ 10 - 6 , and doubling capacity compared to unlocked transmission with the same laser. Our study investigates the dependence of system performance on the injected power and frequency offset of the master laser. Results indicate that lower injection powers while maintaining a stable locking regime, yield better performance in terms of extinction ratio and BER. Optimized parameters lead to enhanced transmission performance, providing valuable insights into the design and optimization of injection-locked DML systems for optical communication applications employing direct modulation.

Sub-volt forward-biased silicon microring modulator at 210 Gb/s.

Low-voltage and efficient optical modulators in the silicon photonic (SiPh) platform are highly desired for realizing high-speed connectivity in chip level interconnects, data center interconnects, and high-performance computing (HPC). With the modulator operating at CMOS compatible voltages, high-voltage modulator drivers are no longer needed, thus reducing driver design complexity and power consumption. We demonstrate a silicon microring modulator (MRM) operating at a driving voltage of 0.8 Vpp. We achieve high modulation efficiency by using a small forward bias of 0.2 V: the forward bias voltage allows the modulator to have an enhanced optical modulation amplitude (OMA) by operating near injection mode, modulating 180 Gb/s (180 Gbaud) non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and 210 Gb/s (105 Gbaud) 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) free of electrical or optical amplification. We also demonstrate the operation at zero bias and achieve up to 200 Gb/s. Error-free operation was observed at 130 Gb/s (NRZ). The absence of an external biasing voltage can further improve energy efficiency and simplifies device integration.

Point-to-multipoint beam-steering terahertz communications using a photonics-based leaky-wave transmit antenna

Abstract We report on the successful implementation of a photonic-based beam steering approach for point-to-multipoint terahertz (THz) communications. The frequency-agile radiation properties of a THz leaky-wave antenna connected to a photodiode are utilized in the remote transmitter for generating multiple individually steerable THz beams. The approach benefits from the ultra-wide frequency tunability of optical heterodyne systems for frequency-agile THz beam steering. Moreover, the approach allows to exploit high performance and mature optical modulation techniques for generating THz beams with a high data capacity. In the THz receiver, a carrier frequency insensitive envelope THz detector based upon a single Schottky-barrier diode is used. In detail, THz communications in the 300 GHz band (WR3.4) with a maximum steering angle up to 90° is reported. Experimentally, for single steerable THz beam operation, a record high data rate of 35 Gbit/s at a wireless distance of 30 cm is achieved using two-level pulse amplitude modulation. Also, longer wireless distances up to 110 cm with 5 Gbit/s are demonstrated. Furthermore, point-to-multipoint THz communications is reported using two individually steerable THz beams carrying 10 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s over 70 cm and 50 cm, respectively.

Impact of Receiver Bandwidth on the Performance of Nonlinear Volterra Equalizer in IM/DD Systems

Nonlinear electrical equalization is an effective means to compensate for nonlinear waveform distortions in short-haul intensity-modulation (IM)/direct-detection (DD) optical transmission systems. Nonlinear distortions contain broader spectral components than the original signal. Thus, a wide receiver bandwidth and high sampling rate are beneficial to effective compensation of nonlinear distortions. However, this leads to poor signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver. In this paper, we investigate the impact of receiver bandwidth on the performance of 2nd-order nonlinear Volterra equalizer in IM/DD transmission systems. Through the computer simulation and the experimental verification performed with 4-ary pulse amplitude modulation signals, we show that an optimum receiver bandwidth for bit-error ratio performance increases with the amount of nonlinear distortions in IM/DD systems. We also show that the sampling rate should also be increased to avoid the aliasing of the nonlinear distortion components. The cost of the receiver increased by the wider receiver bandwidth and higher sampling rate could be offset in part by the non-integer fractionally sampled nonlinear Volterra equalizer.

Ultra-low-complexity weight-sharing trigonometric nonlinear equalizer for beyond net-200-Gb/s/λ short-reach optical interconnects.

An ultra-low-complexity third-order weight-sharing trigonometric nonlinear equalizer (WS-TNLE) is proposed to eliminate nonlinear signal distortions in short-reach optical interconnects exceeding net 200 Gb/s/λ. By replacing the second- and third-order nonlinear terms in a third-order weight-sharing diagonally pruned Volterra nonlinear equalizer (WS-DP-VNLE) with cosine and sine terms, respectively, the required number of real-valued multiplications per symbol of the proposed third-order WS-TNLE is significantly reduced to the same value as the number of weight-sharing kernels. When transmitting probabilistically shaped 16-level pulse amplitude modulation (PS-PAM-16) signals at net rates ranging from 200.4 Gb/s to 300.4 Gb/s over a 1-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), the proposed third-order WS-TNLE requires the lowest number of real-valued multiplications per symbol, ranging from 10 to 44, which reduces the computational complexity by up to 96.2% and 52.4% compared to the third-order WS-DP-VNLE and WS-DP-absolute-term nonlinear equalizer (WS-DP-ATNLE), respectively.

Adaptive Measurement and Parameter Estimation for Low-SNR PRBC-PAM Signal Based on Adjusting Zero Value and Chaotic State Ratio

Accurately estimating the modulation parameters of pseudorandom binary code–pulse amplitude modulation (PRBC–PAM) signals damaged by strong noise poses a significant challenge in emitter identification and countermeasure. Traditionally, weak signal detection methods based on chaos theory can handle situations with low signal-to-noise ratio, but most of them are developed for simple sin/cos waveform and cannot face PRBC–PAM signals commonly used in ultra-low altitude performance equipment. To address the issue, this article proposes a novel adaptive detection and estimation method utilizing the in-depth analysis of the Duffing oscillator’s behaviour and output characteristics. Firstly, the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) is used for chaotic state identification and ternary processing. Then, two novel approaches are proposed, including the adjusting zero value (AZV) method and the chaotic state ratio (CSR) method. The proposed weak signal detection system exhibits unique capability to adaptively modify its internal periodic driving force frequency, thus altering the difference frequency to estimate the signal parameters effectively. Furthermore, the accuracy of the proposed method is substantiated in carrier frequency estimation under varying SNR conditions through extensive experiments, demonstrating that the method maintains high precision in carrier frequency estimation and a low bit error rate in both the pseudorandom sequence and carrier frequency, even at an SNR of −30 dB.

Highly Efficient Slow‐Light Mach–Zehnder Modulator Achieving 0.21 V cm Efficiency with Bandwidth Surpassing 110 GHz

AbstractHigh‐speed electro‐optic modulators are key components in modern communication networks and various applications that require chip‐scale modulation with large bandwidth, high modulation efficiency, and compact footprint. However, fundamental trade‐offs make it challenging to achieve these metrics simultaneously, and thus new methodologies must be explored. To this end, a Mach–Zehnder modulator harnessing slow‐light waveguides and capacitively loaded slow‐wave electrodes are presented on silicon‐nitride‐loaded lithium niobate on an insulator platform. The increased group index and reduced microwave loss significantly improve the modulation efficiency. With the 1‐mm‐length modulation section, a low half‐wave voltage length product Vπ·L of 0.21 V cm is obtained, which is one order of magnitude smaller than that of conventional thin film lithium niobate Mach–Zehnder modulators, and a modulation bandwidth of surpassing 110 GHz is achieved. The digital signal processor‐free non‐return‐to‐zero signal and eight‐level pulse amplitude modulation signal of up to 180 and 300 Gbps, respectively, are generated by the modulator, which provides ultra‐large bandwidth, ultra‐high efficiency, and a compact solution for next‐generation electro‐optic systems.

Differential photosynthetic yield across a wide range of temperatures for Northern and invasive Watermilfoils

Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) is one of the most challenging invasive aquatic plant species in Minnesota. Eurasian watermilfoil has hybridized with the native Northern watermilfoil (Myriophyllum sibiricum), creating a more complex issue when it comes to invasions. The hybridization of watermilfoil has increased difficulty for management and an underlying biological mechanism explaining this difficulty has yet to be determined. We compared the photosynthetic temperature response of the parental Northern and Eurasian parental genotypes to five hybrid watermilfoils using pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorometry to determine if there are intrinsic physiological differences in photosynthesis between genotypes. We examined both the ratio of variable to maximal fluorescence (Fv/Fm) and light-adapted quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) electron transfer (ΦPSII) every 5 °C from 0 to 45 °C representing sub- to supraoptimal water temperatures. On average, hybrids had 6% and 8% higher Fv/Fm and ΦPSII values respectively, than parental genotypes across all temperatures. In both parental and hybrid genotypes Fv/Fm values were consistent from 0 to 35 °C and declined 36% as water temperature approached 45 °C. Optimal water temperature for ΦPSII was between 25-35 °C and hybrids had 17% higher values for suboptimal temperatures between 5-15 °C. Our findings indicate that although the many strains of watermilfoil are morphologically similar, they differ in their photosynthetic capacity and may indicate heterosis. Innate differences between parental strains and hybrids could impact overall primary productivity, life history characteristics, and overall invasiveness. These factors could also be contributing to the documented management failures seen in field populations.

Photophysiological response of glacier ice algae to abiotic stressors

The glacier ice algae Ancylonema alaskanum and Ancylonema nordenskiöldii grow in harsh dynamic environments on bare ice surfaces. In these environments, they contribute to the continuous darkening of the ice surface, which in turn accelerates the ice melt. However, investigation into their adaptation and resilience in these environments is necessary in order to understand their robustness and potential for increasing the intensity of blooms. In this study, it was examined how variations in environmental parameters such as pH, salinity, light and temperature impacted the photophysiology of the glacier ice algae during a bloom in Greenland. Through in situ incubations and pulse-amplitude-modulation (PAM) fluorometric measurements, the photophysiological responses of algal cells were assessed. Results suggest that light intensity significantly influences glacier ice algae photophysiology, with cells exhibiting better performance (in terms of a higher theoretical maximum light coefficient and maximum quantum efficiency) under lower light intensity. Moreover, while light emerges as the primary driver of photophysiology, glacier ice algae demonstrate tolerance to a broad range of pH and temperatures four times higher than those experienced during Greenland’s summer.

Chlorophyll Fluorescence in Wheat Breeding for Heat and Drought Tolerance

The constantly growing need to increase the production of agricultural products in changing climatic conditions makes it necessary to accelerate the development of new cultivars that meet the modern demands of agronomists. Currently, the breeding process includes the stages of genotyping and phenotyping to optimize the selection of promising genotypes. One of the most popular phenotypic methods is the pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry, due to its non-invasiveness and high information content. In this review, we focused on the opportunities of using chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) parameters recorded using PAM fluorometry to assess the state of plants in drought and heat stress conditions and predict the economically significant traits of wheat, as one of the most important agricultural crops, and also analyzed the relationship between the ChlF parameters and genetic markers.

In silico modeling of reservoir-based predictive coding in biological neuronal networks on microelectrode arrays

Reservoir computing and predictive coding together yield a computational model for exploring how neuronal dynamics in the mammalian cortex underpin temporal signal processing. Here, we construct an in-silico model of biological neuronal networks grown on microelectrode arrays and explore their computing capabilities through a sine wave prediction task in a reservoir-based predictive coding framework. Our results show that the time interval between stimulation pulses is a critical determinant of task performance. Additionally, under a fixed feedback latency, pulse amplitude modulation is a favorable encoding scheme for input signals. These findings provide practical guidelines for future implementation of the model in biological experiments.

Bias-aided DD-LMS equalizer for optical multipath-interference-impaired high-speed PAM4 transmission systems

Multipath interference (MPI) noise induces drastic fluctuations in high-speed 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) intensity modulation direct detection (IMDD) systems, severely degrading the transmission performance. Here, we propose a bias-aided decision-directed least mean square (DD-LMS) equalizer to eliminate the MPI noise. In the simulation, the proposed bias-aided DD-LMS equalizer could adeptly track and compensate the MPI-impaired PAM4 signal, markedly improving the bit error rate (BER) performance under different MPI levels and laser linewidths. Within a 112 Gbps PAM4 transmission system, the proposed equalizer achieves a MPI tolerance over 4 dB at the KP4-forward error correction (FEC) threshold (2.4 × 10−4), outperforming existing MPI suppression techniques.

A 28/56 Gb/s NRZ/PAM-4 Dual-Mode Transmitter with Eye-Opening Enhancement in 28 nm CMOS

This paper presents a non-return-to-zero (NRZ)/4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) dual-mode wireline transmitter with an eye-opening enhancement technique to improve horizontal eye-opening. With the eye-enhancement pulse generator and the auxiliary pull-up device in the tail-less current-mode driver, the worst-case horizontal eye-opening increased by 30% in the PAM-4 eye diagram. The power efficiency of the NRZ mode was also improved by completely turning off the LSB path in the differential data path, resulting in only a 31% power efficiency degradation, which is far lower than that of the prior dual-mode transmitters. Fabricated in 28 nm CMOS, the transmitter achieves power efficiency of 1.4 pJ/bit at 56 Gb/s in PAM-4 mode and 1.84 pJ/bit at 28 Gb/s in NRZ mode, respectively.

A portable multi-taxa phenotyping device to retrieve physiological performance traits

Organismal phenotyping to identify fitness traits is transforming our understanding of adaptive responses and ecological interactions of species within changing environments. Here we present a portable Multi-Taxa Phenotyping (MTP) system that can retrieve a suite of metabolic and photophysiological parameter across light, temperature, and/or chemical gradients, using real time bio-optical (oxygen and chlorophyll a fluorescence) measurements. The MTP system integrates three well-established technologies for the first time: an imaging Pulse Amplitude Modulated (PAM) chlorophyll a fluorometer, custom-designed well plates equipped with optical oxygen sensors, and a thermocycler. We demonstrate the ability of the MTP system to distinguish phenotypic performance characteristics of diverse aquatic taxa spanning corals, mangroves and algae based on metabolic parameters and Photosystem II dynamics, in a high-throughput capacity and accounting for interactions of different environmental gradients on performance. Extracted metrics from the MTP system can not only provide information on the performance of aquatic taxa exposed to differing environmental gradients, but also provide predicted phenotypic responses of key aquatic organisms to environmental change. Further work validating how rapid phenotyping tools such as the MTP system predict phenotypic responses to long term environmental changes in situ are urgently required to best inform how these tools can support management efforts.

Ecotoxicological effects of suspended sediments on marine microalgae using flow cytometry and pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry

Microalgal bioassays were conducted to evaluate the ecotoxicological effects of suspended sediments (SS) collected from coastal environments. Growth inhibition was assessed for six microalgal species, and multiple endpoints were measured using flow cytometry (FCM) and pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry for three species (Dunaliella tertiolecta, Isochrysis galbana, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum). Among these, the EC50 for growth inhibition of D. tertiolecta (6700 mg L−1) was notably lower compared to the other species, and among several endpoints, esterase activity was the most inhibited. Species-specific responses to SS exposure were identified, with D. tertiolecta exhibiting greater susceptibility across most endpoints. Meanwhile, measurements of Fo', Fm', and Y(NPQ) in P. tricornutum using PAM fluorometry revealed greater sensitivity. Based on the results of this study and review, the tentative predicted no-effect concentration was calculated as 12.1 mg L−1. Overall, this study provides novel insights into SS ecotoxicity, establishing a crucial baseline for future investigations.

Bidirectional wavelength-division-multiplexing fibre-free-space optical communications using polarisation multiplexing technique and tunable optical vestigial sideband filter

To address the growing demand from emerging applications, high transmission capacity is essential for both fibre backbones and last-mile communications. This can be achieved by integrating optical fibre with optical wireless technologies, facilitating the development of fibre-free-space optical communications. Here we report a bidirectional wavelength-division-multiplexing fibre-free-space optical communication employing polarisation multiplexing technique and tunable optical vestigial sideband filter. The transmission capacity is considerably increased by integrating the polarisation multiplexing technique with the wavelength-division-multiplexing scheme. The transmission performance is extensively enhanced by using a tunable optical vestigial sideband filter and vestigial sideband-four-level pulse amplitude modulation. Moreover, the optical wireless link is substantially extended through the operation of triplet lenses. Low bit error rates and clear vestigial sideband-four-level pulse amplitude modulation eye diagrams are attained with a high aggregate transmission capacity of 480 Gb/s for downstream/upstream transmission. This capability of bidirectional fibre-free-space optical communications holds substantial potential for enhancing advanced wired-wireless communications.

Low-complexity adaptive multipath interference and channel noise mitigation scheme based on optimized detection for bandwidth-limited IM/DD systems.

In this Letter, we propose a low-complexity adaptive multipath interference (MPI) and channel noise mitigation (AMCM) scheme in the receiver digital signal processing (DSP) for bandwidth-limited intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) transmission systems. Following channel equalization, MPI and channel noise are distributed in the low- and high-frequency parts, respectively, and exhibit the characteristics of bandstop filtering. The proposed AMCM is designed based on optimized detection, which incorporates an adaptive bandpass filter (BPF) and a log-maximum a posteriori estimation with a lookup table-based fixed number of surviving states (LUT-based FS-MAP) decoder. The adaptive BPF is capable of mitigating the MPI and channel noise based on spectral distribution. Moreover, the LUT-based FS-MAP decoder can eliminate intersymbol interference (ISI) introduced by the BPF. The proposed AMCM is implemented in an O-band 56-Gbaud IM/DD optical 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) system with a 10.7-GHz bandwidth over a 10-km standard single-mode fiber with different linewidths. The results demonstrate that the proposed AMCM scheme can enhance signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) tolerance to 11 dB with only three real-valued multiplications per symbol, achieving a 7% hard-decision forward error correction threshold. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time, this represents the inaugural instance of optimized detection being employed for MPI mitigation.