Key Signal Processing Technologies for High-speed Passive Optical Networks

With emerging technologies such as high-definition video, virtual reality, and cloud computing, bandwidth demand in the access networks is ever-increasing. Passive optical network (PON) has become a promising architecture thanks to its low cost and easy management. IEEE and ITU-T standard organizations have been standardizing the next-generation PON, targeting on increasing the single-channel capacity from 10 Gb/s to 25, 50, and 100 Gb/s as the solution to address the dramatic increase of bandwidth demand. However, since the access network is extremely cost-sensitive, many research problems imposed in the physical layer of PON need to be addressed in a cost-efficient way, which is the primary focus of this thesis. Utilizing the low-cost 10G optics to build up high-speed PON systems is a promising approach, where signal processing techniques are key of importance. Two categories of signal processing techniques have been extensively investigated, namely optical signal processing (OSP) and digital signal processing (DSP). Dispersion-supported equalization (DSE) as a novel OSP scheme is proposed to achieve bit-rate enhancement from 10 Gb/s to 25 Gb/s based on 10G class of optics. Thanks to the bandwidth improved by DSE, the non-return-zero on-off keying which is the simplest modulation format is able to be adopted in the PON system without complex modulation or DSP. Meanwhile, OSP is also proposed to work together with DSP enabling 50G PON while simplifying the DSP complexity. Using both DSE and simple feed-forward equalizer is able to support 50 Gb/s PAM-4 transmission with 10G optics. For C-band 50 Gb/s transmission, injection locking techniques as another OSP approach is proposed to compress the directly modulated laser chirp and increase system bandwidth in the optical domain where a doubled capacity from 25 Gb/s to 50 Gb/s over 20 km fiber can be built on top of 10G optics. For DSP, we investigated the advantages of neural network (NN) on the mitigation of the time-varying nonlinear semiconductor optical amplifier pattern effect. In order to reduce the expense caused by the high computation complexity of NN, a pre- equalizer is introduced at the central office that allows cost sharing for all connected access users. In order to push the PON system line rate to 100 Gb/s, a joint nonlinear Tomlinson- Harashima precoding-Volterra algorithm is proposed to compensate for both linear and nonlinear distortions where 100 Gb/s PAM-4 transmission over 20 km fiber with 15 GHz system bandwidth can be achieved

Digital Signal Processing for Optical Communications and Coherent LiDAR

Internet data traffic within data centre, access and metro networks is experiencing unprecedented growth driven by many data-intensive applications. Significant efforts have been devoted to the design and implementation of low-complexity digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms that are suitable for these short-reach optical links. In this thesis, a novel low-complexity frequency-domain (FD) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) equaliser with momentum-based gradient descent algorithm is proposed, capable of mitigating both static and dynamic impairments arising from the optical fibre. The proposed frequency-domain equaliser (FDE) also improves the robustness of the adaptive equaliser against feedback latencies which is the main disadvantage of FD adaptive equalisers under rapid channel variations. The development and maturity of optical fibre communication techniques over the past few decades have also been beneficial to many other fields, especially coherent light detection and ranging (LiDAR) techniques. Many applications of coherent LiDAR are also cost-sensitive, e.g., autonomous vehicles (AVs). Therefore, in this thesis, a low-cost and low-complexity single-photodiode-based coherent LiDAR system is investigated. The receiver sensitivity performance of this receiver architecture is assessed through both simulations and experiments, using two ranging waveforms known as double-sideband (DSB) amplitude-modulated chirp signal and single-sideband (SSB) frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) signals. Besides, the impact of laser phase noise on the ranging precision when operating within and beyond the laser coherence length is studied. Achievable ranging precision beyond the laser coherence length is quantified

Digital Phase Noise Compensation for DSCM-Based Superchannel Transmission System With Quantum Dot Passive Mode-Locked Laser

We propose a simplified digital phase noise compensation technique for a Nyquist pulse-shaped digital subcarrier multiplexed (DSCM) coherent optical transmission system, employing an optical frequency comb based on Quantum dot passive mode-locked laser (QD-PMLL). Our results show that the impact of dominant common mode phase noise can be efficiently compensated at the receiver by digitally mixing the data sideband with the complex conjugate of the residual carrier component. This digital mixing technique resulted in better bit error rate performance compared to the conventional mth power Viterbi-Viterbi algorithm for QPSK and blind phase noise compensation for 16-quadratic-amplitude modulation formats, especially in the presence of large phase noise. To this end, exploiting the mutual coherence between the mode-locked comb lines of QD-PMLL, we numerically demonstrate its potential applicability as a transmission source for coherent optical superchannel transmission

Algorithms and Subsystems for Next Generation Optical Networks

This thesis investigates algorithms and subsystems for digital coherent optical networks to alleviate system requirements and enable spectrally efficient systems. Spectral shaping of individual channel is investigated to mitigate backreflections in bi-directional Passive Optical Network (PON) enabling more than 1000 users operating at 10 Gbit/s. It is then shown that temporal delay skews, caused by misalignment in the coherent receiver, induce a large penalty for Nyquist filtered signals. An adaptive 4×4 equaliser is developed to compensate the imperfections dynamically. This is subsequently demonstrated experimentally with Polarisation Division Multiplexed (PDM) Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) and 16-level Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Furthermore, a modified blind equaliser is designed to adaptively compensate for unknown amount of Chromatic Dispersion (CD). The equaliser is demonstrated experimentally using 10.7 GBd PDM-QPSK transmission over 5,200 km. To simplify the computational complexity of the equalisers a multiplier free update scheme is explored in simulations. Optical frequency combs are investigated as phase and frequency synchronised sub- carrier sources for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) systems. The effect of phase synchronisation between sub-channels of a superchannel is examined in simulations without showing performance deviation when no additional optical or digital processing is applied. Afterwards, the transmission performance of two generation techniques implementing 400 Gbit/s superchannels, utilising PDM-16QAM, is evaluated. Although, the average performance of the two combs is identical subchannel fluctuations are observed due to uneven spectral profile. Carrier Phase Estimation (CPE) is explored for both single channel and superchannels systems. An equaliser interleaved with CPE, is explored for PDM-64QAM with minor improvement. Alternatively, Digital Coherence Enhancement (DCE) allowed the detection of 6 GBd PDM-64QAM with a 1.4 MHz linewidth laser, an order of magnitude improvement in linewidth tolerance. Finally, a joint CPE across a comb superchannel is demonstrated with a factor of 5 tolerance improvement

Impacto de imperfeições do laser em receptores ópticos coerentes com formatos de modulação de alta ordem

Orientador: Darli Augusto de Arruda MelloDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Atualmente, os sistemas ópticos coerentes transmitem grandes volumes de informação graças à utilização de formatos de modulação de alta ordem. No entanto, esses formatos de modulação são mais suscetíveis a perturbações de fase geradas por imperfeições nos lasers utilizados no transmissor e receptor. Este trabalho centrou-se em uma análise das imperfeições do laser e seu impacto sobre o desempenho de receptores ópticos coerentes com formatos de modulação de alta ordem. Em especial, avaliaram-se as duas fontes principais de perturbações de fase: o ruído de fase do laser e as flutuações na frequência de operação, efeito conhecido como jitter de frequência da portadora. Primeiramente, investigou-se o impacto das imperfeições do laser por meio de simulações. O ruído de fase foi simulado como um processo discreto de Wiener, e o jitter de frequência foi modelado como uma forma de onda senoidal. Os resultados permitiram avaliar o comportamento do sistema sob diversas condições de frequência e amplitude do sinal de jitter. Posteriormente, o impacto das perturbações de fase foi avaliado por meio de experimentos. Observou-se que parâmetro de largura de linha calculado por métodos existentes não é suficiente para prever o comportamento dos algoritmos de processamento digital de sinais sob condições intensas de jitter. Alternativamente, o trabalho sugeriu uma metodologia mais conveniente para prever o impacto das perturbações do laser no desempenho do sistema, que leva em consideração a composição de ruído de fase e jitter de frequênciaAbstract: Currently, coherent optical systems transmit large volumes of information thanks to the use of high-order modulation formats. However, such modulation formats are more susceptible to phase perturbations generated by imperfections in the lasers used in the transmitter and receiver. This work focused on an analysis of laser imperfections and their impact on the performance of coherent optical receivers with high-order modulation formats. In particular, the two main sources of phase perturbations were evaluated: laser phase noise and fluctuations in the operating frequency, an effect known as carrier frequency jitter. First, the impact of laser imperfections was evaluated by simulations. Phase noise was modeled as a Wiener process, and frequency jitter was assumed to be sinusoidal. The results allowed to evaluate the behavior of the system under different conditions of frequency and amplitude of the jitter signal. Later, the impact of phase perturbations was evaluated through experiments. It was observed that the laser linewidth calculated by existing methods is not sufficient to predict the behavior of the digital signal processing algorithms under intense jitter conditions. Alternatively, the work suggested a more convenient methodology for predicting the impact of laser perturbations on system performance, which takes into account the composition of phase noise and carrier frequency jitterMestradoTelecomunicações e TelemáticaMestra em Engenharia ElétricaCAPE

Spectral Properties of Phase Noises and the Impact on the Performance of Optical Interconnects

The non-ending growth of data traffic resulting from the continuing emergence of Internet applications with high data-rate demands sets huge capacity requirements on optical interconnects and transport networks. This requires the adoption of optical communication technologies that can make the best possible use of the available bandwidths of electronic and electro-optic components to enable data transmission with high spectral efficiency (SE). Therefore, advanced modulation formats are required to be used in conjunction with energy-efficient and cost-effective transceiver schemes, especially for medium- and short-reach applications. Important challenges facing these goals are the stringent requirements on the characteristics of optical components comprising these systems, especially laser sources. Laser phase noise is one of the most important performance-limiting factors in systems with high spectral efficiency. In this research work, we study the effects of the spectral characteristics of laser phase noise on the characterization of lasers and their impact on the performance of digital coherent and self-coherent optical communication schemes. The results of this study show that the commonly-used metric to estimate the impact of laser phase noise on the performance, laser linewidth, is not reliable for all types of lasers. Instead, we propose a Lorentzian-equivalent linewidth as a general characterization parameter for laser phase noise to assess phase noise-related system performance. Practical aspects of determining the proposed parameter are also studied and its accuracy is validated by both numerical and experimental demonstrations. Furthermore, we study the phase noises in quantum-dot mode-locked lasers (QD-MLLs) and assess the feasibility of employing these devices in coherent applications at relatively low symbol rates with high SE. A novel multi-heterodyne scheme for characterizing the phase noise of laser frequency comb sources is also proposed and validated by experimental results with the QD-MLL. This proposed scheme is capable of measuring the differential phase noise between multiple spectral lines instantaneously by a single measurement. Moreover, we also propose an energy-efficient and cost-effective transmission scheme based on direct detection of field-modulated optical signals with advanced modulation formats, allowing for higher SE compared to the current pulse-amplitude modulation schemes. The proposed system combines the Kramers-Kronig self-coherent receiver technique, with the use of QD-MLLs, to transmit multi-channel optical signals using a single diode laser source without the use of the additional RF or optical components required by traditional techniques. Semi-numerical simulations based on experimentally captured waveforms from practical lasers show that the proposed system can be used even for metro scale applications. Finally, we study the properties of phase and intensity noise changes in unmodulated optical signals passing through saturated semiconductor optical amplifiers for intensity noise reduction. We report, for the first time, on the effect of phase noise enhancement that cannot be assessed or observed by traditional linewidth measurements. We demonstrate the impact of this phase noise enhancement on coherent transmission performance by both semi-numerical simulations and experimental validation