Self-homodyne Coherent Detection Research Articles

Thin-film lithium niobate-based electro-optic comb cloning for self-homodyne coherent communication.

As the optical communication industry advances, metropolitan area networks (MANs) and radio access networks (RANs) are extensively deployed on a large scale, demanding energy-efficient integrated light sources and simplified digital signal processing (DSP) technologies. The emergence of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) has given rise to high-performance, energy-efficient on-chip modulators, making on-chip optical frequency comb (OFC) more appealing. Owing to the phase uniformity and stability of this chip-scale device, it has been possible to eliminate the carrier frequency phase estimation (CPE) in DSP stacks using comb-clone-enabled self-homodyne detection. Here we report the first use, to our knowledge, of a TFLN on-chip electro-optic (EO) frequency comb to realize comb cloning and self-homodyne coherent detection. We transmit three optical pilot tones and eight data channels encoded with 20 Gbaud polarization-multiplexed 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-16-QAM) over 10 km and 80 km standard single-mode fibers. The bit error ratios (BERs) of the eight channels reach below 10-3, a result made possible by our on-chip comb. The scalability and mass producibility of on-chip EO combs, combined with the simplified DSP, show potential in our proposed fifth-generation (5G) RAN and MAN transmission scheme.

Self-Homodyne Coherent Detection Transmission Through a (1+8) Multicore Fiber With One Polarization-Maintaining Core

Self-Homodyne Coherent Detection Transmission Through a (1+8) Multicore Fiber With One Polarization-Maintaining Core

Endogenous BOTDA in the self-homodyne coherent detection transmission system for communication-integrated datacenter temperature monitoring.

This Letter demonstrates the high compatibility of the self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) transmission system with the Brillouin optical time-domain analyzer (BOTDA). By fully utilizing the remote delivered local oscillator (LO) light of the transmission system, the first, to the best of our knowledge, endogenously integrated BOTDA subsystem is achieved. The remote delivery of the homologous laser source in the SHCD system ensures the frequency match between the probe light and the pump light of the BOTDA. Furthermore, an injection-locked distributed feedback (DFB) laser is employed to amplify the LO and eliminate the impact induced by the Brillouin gain. The experiment demonstrates that a 16-km distributed temperature sensing based on BOTDA can be insensibly emerged into a 50-Gbaud DP-16QAM SHCD transmission system (400 Gbps/λ/core), achieving a spatial resolution of 3 meters and a temperature accuracy of 1°C. Remarkably, the auxiliary sensing module has negligible impact on the transmission.

1.57 Tb/s PDM-layered 80QAM-OFDM in super-channel transmission based on self-homodyne comb

In this paper, polarization division multiplexing-layered 80-ary quadrature amplitude modulation-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (PDM-layered 80QAM-OFDM) is proposed and demonstrated in super-channel system based on self-homodyne comb. The composition of the super-channel is derived from the optical comb generated by a single laser-driven dual polarized Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) modulated by odd sideband suppression. Since the optical comb generated by the transmitter is used as a local oscillator (LO) signal for self-homodyne coherent detection. This scheme effectively reduces the system cost and alleviates the performance constraints caused by phase noise. Moreover, the bit error rate (BER) and generalized mutual information (GMI) of layered 24QAM/48QAM/80QAM-OFDM are evaluated to obtain the highest transmission rate and the laser linewidth tolerance of the system. The results show that in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel, layered QAM signal realized by low-complexity constellation layering technique can significantly improve the BER performance at a small entropy cost compared with ordinary QAM signals. Meanwhile, the layered 80QAM can achieve a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain of 2.7 dB. In addition, after 40 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) transmission, the total data rate of the system can reach 1.57 Tbit/s and the corresponding spectral efficiency (SE) is 12 bit/s/Hz when the BER of the super-channel system meets soft decision-forward error correction (SD-FEC) threshold.

Bi-Directional Self-Homodyne Transmission With MIMO-Free DSP for Next-Generation Data Center Interconnects

We propose and demonstrate bi-directional (BiDi) self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) system experimentally, in which the multiple input multiple output free (MIMO-free) digital signal processing (DSP) is achieved with the help of BiDi-operated adaptive polarization controller (APC). Since the polarization wandering of the local oscillator (LO) is relevant to that of the counter-propagating signal within the same fiber, the APC can realize the polarization tracking and compensation for LO and the counter-propagating signal simultaneously. The power-consuming 2x2 MIMO DSP, can be eliminated in our proposed BiDi SHCD system. The frequency offset compensation (FOC), carrier phase recovery (CPR) are also omitted thanks to the SHCD. Besides, the dedicated chromatic dispersion compensation (CDC) is no longer needed due to short-reach transmission of data center interconnect (DCI). We validate in experiment the proposed system using 23GBaud DP-32QAM signal delivering 230Gb/s over 2 km of single mode fibers (SMFs) with the laser-linewidth tolerance of 1MHz. The parameters of polarization tracking algorithm are optimized to attain the polarization rotation tolerance up to 850 rad/s under the FEC threshold of 2x10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−2</sup> . The proposed BiDi SHCD system achieves the coherent-lite DSP without MIMO, FOC, CPR and dedicated CDC algorithm in dynamic state of polarization (SOP) rotation while maintaining the full spectral efficiency (SE) of traditional coherent system.

Simultaneously precise frequency response and IQ skew calibration in a self-homodyne coherent optical transmission system.

The self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) system is becoming more popular in intra-data center applications nowadays. However, for a high-speed SHCD system, the device imperfection such as transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) side in-phase (I)/quadrature-phase (Q) time skew and bandwidth limitation will greatly restrict the transmission performance. The current mainstream calibration methods for traditional optical transceivers rely on the effect of frequency offset and phase noise to separate the Tx and Rx imperfection, which is not compatible with the SHCD system. In this paper, we have proposed and demonstrated a highly precise calibration method that can be applied in dual-polarization (DP) SHCD system. Based on the specially designed multi-tone signals, the amplitude/phase frequency response (AFR/PFR) of the transceiver and the Tx/Rx IQ skew can be obtained by just one measurement even after long-distance fiber transmission. By using a 4 MHz linewidth distributed feedback (DFB) laser, a DP SHCD transmission system combined with a 20 GHz optical transceiver and two 10 km standard single-mode fibers is experimentally constructed. The test results indicate that the measurement error of the AFR/PFR and Tx/Rx skew are within ±1dB/±0.15rad and ±0.3ps respectively, and the dynamic range for IQ skew calibration can reach dozens of picoseconds. The measured bit error rate value of 46GBaud DP-16QAM signals/35GBaud DP-64QAM signals are improved from 2.30e-2 to 2.18e-3/9.59e-2 to 2.20e-2 with the help of the proposed calibration method.

Smart Self-Coherent Optical Communication for Short Distances

We proposed and investigated a high-performance, energy-efficient, and low-cost self-homodyne coherent detection transmission (SHCDT) system for the 5G access network segment assuring high capacity and light digital signal processing (DSP) at the same time, avoiding the local oscillator for detection. The system implementation is based on a code-based spectral shaping at the transmitter and carrier extractor at the receiver. In the self-homodyne coherent system, a continuous wave carrier is transmitted together with the modulated signal. After transmission, at the receiver, the carrier is extracted and used as a local oscillator (LO) to prevent frequency offset with respect to the transmitted signal and phase noise, resulting in a decrease in the digital signal processing (DSP) complexity. Transmission results indicate that even a low portion of the residual local oscillator (LO) on the transmitted signal at the receiver side can lead to an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalty. Consequently, applying a proper technique to separate the unmodulated carrier and the modulated signal is the key to the system’s performance. We evaluated the self-homodyne coherent system performance through numerical analysis and experimental validation. The performance of the proposed self-coherent system, using a narrow bandwidth Fabry–Perot filter for optical carrier extraction, is evaluated experimentally on a 28 Gbaud dual-polarization 16QAM transmission system considering different code block lengths for signal spectral shaping through bit-error-rate (BER) measurements.

Capacity expansion of chaotic secure transmission system based on coherent optical detection and space division multiplexing over multi-core fiber.

We propose and experimentally study a coherent optical chaotic secure transmission system through a multi-core fiber (MCF). The messages are encrypted by the chaotic carrier and transmitted through the outer cores of the MCF, whereas the chaotic carrier signal is concealed by transmitting through the center core. The MCF provides large transmission capacity expansion and security enhancement against eavesdroppers due to its physical structure. In addition, the designed optical chaos self-homodyne coherent detection strategy has high detection sensitivity and simple physical structure. Due to the prevalence of devices and digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms used in this system, it can be well compatible with a commercial coherent optical communication system. Error free 40 Gb/s/core encrypted 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal transmission over 10 km 7-core fiber is achieved, and 20 Gb/s quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signal transmission over a 100 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) is demonstrated to verify the long-distance transmission capability. The sensitivity to the secret key is also studied.

All-optical polarization split of the signal and LO for a bi-directional self-homodyne coherent system.

In this Letter, we propose a cost-efficient bi-directional (BiDi) polarization-multiplexed self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) system, in which only one fiber link and one adaptive polarization controller (APC) are required. By employing the correlation of the state of polarization (SOP) between the upstream and downstream light, one APC is capable of stabilizing SOPs of the counterpropagating waves at the same time. The signal and local oscillator (LO) can be optically split by a polarization beam splitter (PBS), relaxing pressure of the digital signal processing (DSP) and simplifying the coherent receiver. The impact induced by polarization cross talk and delay mismatch is collectively investigated by theoretical analysis and simulation. Finally, the proposed scheme is experimentally verified through 120 Gbit/s 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) transmission, achieving a satisfying laser-linewidth tolerance of 10 MHz and a polarization rotation tolerance of up to 45 rad/s.

Demonstration of terabit coherent on-chip optical interconnects employing mode-division multiplexing.

We experimentally demonstrate a net capacity per wavelength of 1.23 Tb/s with 30 GBaud 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) mode-division multiplexing (MDM) signals over a single silicon-on-insulator (SOI) multimode waveguide for optical interconnects employing $11 \times 11$ multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) digital signal processing. In order to simplify the receiver architecture for coherent optical interconnects, we further propose and evaluate an on-chip self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) scheme. In the experiment, 30 Gbaud quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signals carried by 10 waveguide modes are successfully recovered with bit error rates (BERs) below 7% forward error correction (FEC) threshold using the pilot tone delivered by ${{\rm TE}_0}$ mode as a local oscillator. Around 10% penalty on error vector magnitude (EVM) is observed due to modal cross talk compared to homodyne detection.

Role of modulation bandwidth in narrow spectral linewidth semiconductor lasers under optical negative feedback

We investigated the FM noise characteristics of a distributed feedback laser under optical negative feedback from a Fabry–Perot optical filter using delayed self-homodyne coherent detection with a high-frequency range of 1 × 105–2 × 1010 Hz. The measured FM noise power spectral densities of the laser under the optical negative feedback strongly depend on the modulation responses of the laser. These results were reproduced in calculations based on a transfer function model. Our findings suggest that wide bandwidth semiconductor lasers are suitable for reducing FM noise in a wide frequency range and enhancing the feedback loop gain (FM noise reduction ratio) under a sufficient phase margin in optical negative feedback.

Multi-core fiber based coherent transceiver utilizing self-homodyne detection and ICA based channel equalization for optical intra-datacenter interconnects

We have proposed a cost-effective full-duplex datacenter inter-(or intra-) connection transmission scheme based on self-homodyne coherent detection and multi-core fiber. Independent component analysis (ICA) based channel equalization is applied to remove the requirement of training symbols (TSs) for enhancement of spectral efficiency. We validate in a proof-of-concept experiment using polarization division multiplexing (PDM-) 16QAM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) format over 10-km 7-core fiber in full-duplex way. The results show that the performances can below the forward error correction (FEC) threshold of 3.8 × 10−3. In addition, we investigate the effects of several parameters in the proposed scheme, including laser linewidth and distance mismatch. Finally, we experimentally compared the performance of the proposed scheme to that of employing the TSs for channel compensation to quantify the performance penalty resulting from the TSs removal.

Experimental Demonstration of Ultra-Dense WDM-PON With Seven-Core MCF-Enabled Self-Homodyne Coherent Detection

We demonstrate an ultra-dense wavelength-division-multiplexing (UDWDM) passive optical network (PON) in a spatial-division-multiplexing system utilizing our home-made seven-core multicore fiber (MCF) with a self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) scheme. In the SHCD system, we transmit 12 channels of 40-Gb/s UDWDM-PON signals using polarization-division-multiplexing quadrature phase-shift keying (PDM-QPSK) with a 12-GHz grid through the six outer cores of the seven-core MCF with the central core used to transmit the pilot tone. An optical frequency comb generator is employed to supply the multi-carriers for cost saving. After 37-km low-crosstalk seven-core MCF long-reach transmission with compact fan-in/fan-out multiplexers, a large transmission capacity of 2.88 Tb/s and a power budget of 26 dB are obtained. At the optical network unit side, a narrow linewidth local oscillator laser is no longer necessary since SHCD is adopted in our system. The complexity of the digital signal processing procedure at the coherent receiver is also greatly reduced as the carrier phase recovery and carrier frequency offset estimation are not needed.

Ultra-high capacity WDM-SDM optical access network with self-homodyne detection downstream and 32QAM-FBMC upstream.

Towards 100G beyond large-capacity optical access networks, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques incorporating with space division multiplexing (SDM) and affordable spectrally efficient advanced modulation formats are indispensable. In this paper, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a cost-efficient multicore fiber (MCF) based hybrid WDM-SDM optical access network with self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) based downstream (DS) and direct detection optical filter bank multi carrier (DDO-FBMC) based upstream (US). In the DS experiments, the inner core of the 7-core fiber is used as a dedicated channel to deliver the local oscillator (LO) lights while the other 6 outer cores are used to transmit 4 channels of wavelength multiplexed 200-Gb/s PDM-16QAM-OFDM signals. For US transmission, 4 wavelengths with channel spacing of 100 GHz are intensity modulated with 30 Gb/s 32-QAM-FBMC and directly detected by a ~7 GHz bandwidth receiver after transmission along one of the outer core. The results show that a 4 × 6 × 200-Gb/s DS transmission can be realized over 37 km 7-core fiber without carrier frequency offset (CFO) and phase noise (PN) compensation even using 10 MHz linewidth DFB lasers. The SHCD based on MCF provides a compromise and cost efficient scheme between conventional intradyne coherent detection and intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) schemes. Both US and DS have acceptable BER performance and high spectral efficiency.

Optical-Beat-Induced Multi-User-Interference Reduction in Single Wavelength OFDMA PON Upstream Multiple Access Systems With Self-Homodyne Coherent Detection

We propose a novel technique for mitigating the optical-beat-induced multi-user-interference (MUI) between the upstream multiple access signals in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) passive optical network (PON). To provide upstream multiple access on a single-wavelength orthogonal frequency division multiplexing optical access network, optical beating interference and polarization diverseness are critical issues that severely degrade system performance. By using the proposed total intensity aggregation with self-homodyne coherent detection, we experimentally demonstrated stable transmission performance by reducing MUI in OFDMA PON upstream multiple access transmission.

OSNR Penalty of Self-Homodyne Coherent Detection in Spatial-Division-Multiplexing Systems

This letter presents a general model for the performance of spatial-division-multiplexing systems using self-homodyne detection. The model is applicable to single and dual polarization square M-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals, assuming arbitrary signal and pilot tone optical signal-to-noise ratios. Its validity is demonstrated using a seven-core multicore fiber link with quadrature phase shift keying and 16-QAM signals, comparing the performance of self-homodyne detection with intradyne detection.

Investigating self-homodyne coherent detection in a 19 channel space-division-multiplexed transmission link

We investigate the performance of a self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) system using a 19 core multi-core fiber (MCF) and 16 wavelength-division-multiplexed channels. We show that SHCD, with the pilot-tone transmitted on a single MCF core and information carrying signals on the remaining cores, is compatible with space-division-multiplexed transmission, potentially relaxing laser linewidth and digital signal processing requirements due to phase noise cancellation. However, inter-core crosstalk can have an impact on performance and core selection.

Novel real-time homodyne coherent receiver using a feed-forward based carrier extraction scheme for phase modulated signals

We report a novel real-time homodyne coherent receiver based on a DPSK optical-electrical-optical (OEO) regenerator used to extract a carrier from carrier-less phase modulated signals based on feed-forward based modulation stripping. The performance of this non-DSP based coherent receiver was evaluated for 10.66 Gbit/s BPSK signals. Self-homodyne coherent detection and homodyne detection with an injection-locked local oscillator laser was demonstrated. The performance was evaluated by measuring the electrical signal-to-noise (SNR) and recording the eye diagrams. Using injection-locking for the LO improves the performance and enables homodyne detection with optical injection-locking to operate with carrier-less BPSK signals without the need for polarization multiplexed pilot-tones.

A surface-micromachined optical self-homodyne polarimetric sensor for noninvasive glucose monitoring

A surface micromachined, highly sensitive optical polarimetric sensor using a self-homodyne coherent detection method has been demonstrated. By detecting the small polarization rotation of polarized laser light passing through a glucose-containing fluid, this sensor is suitable for noninvasive glucose monitoring for diabetes patients. A resolution glucose level of 75 mg/dl has been obtained, with a 0.9956 correlation coefficient between the reference and the measured values. This polarimeter has the advantages of full system integration and compatibility with silicon processing industry, which makes an integrated, low-cost noninvasive glucose sensor feasible.