Space Division Multiplexing in Optical Fibres

Optical communications technology has made enormous and steady progress for several decades, providing the key resource in our increasingly information-driven society and economy. Much of this progress has been in finding innovative ways to increase the data carrying capacity of a single optical fibre. In this search, researchers have explored (and close to maximally exploited) every available degree of freedom, and even commercial systems now utilize multiplexing in time, wavelength, polarization, and phase to speed more information through the fibre infrastructure. Conspicuously, one potentially enormous source of improvement has however been left untapped in these systems: fibres can easily support hundreds of spatial modes, but today's commercial systems (single-mode or multi-mode) make no attempt to use these as parallel channels for independent signals.Comment: to appear in Nature Photonic

Multiplexage par division modale pour les applications à courte distance

Le multiplexage par division de mode (MDM) a reçu une attention considérable de la part des chercheurs au cours des dernières années. La principale motivation derrière l'utilisation de différents modes de fibre optique est d'augmenter la capacité des réseaux de transport. Les expériences initiales ont montré une grande complexité dans le traitement de signal (DSP) du récepteur. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions la viabilité et les défis de la transmission de données sur des fibres à quelques modes (FMF) pour des systèmes MDM à complexité de DSP réduite. Nos études comprennent à la fois une transmission de données cohérente et non cohérente. Dans notre première contribution, nous démontrons, pour la première fois, la transmission de données sur 4 canaux dans une nouvelle fibre OAM sans démultiplexage de polarisation optique. Nous utilisons une complexité de DSP réduite: deux jeux d'égaliseurs MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) 2 × 2 au lieu d'un bloc égaliseur MIMO 4 × 4 complet. Nous proposons un nouveau démultiplexeur de mode permettant de recevoir simultanément deux polarisations d'un mode et de réaliser électriquement un démultiplexage de polarisation dans le récepteur DSP. Nous étudions également la pénalité OSNR due aux imperfections dans le démultiplexeur de mode et nous examinons la vitesse de transmission maximum accessible pour notre système. Dans notre deuxième contribution, nous étudions les dégradations modales dans les systèmes OAM-MDM, en nous concentrant sur leur effet sur la performance et la complexité du récepteur. Dans notre étude expérimentale, nous discutons pour la première fois de l'impact de deux modes non porteurs de données sur les canaux de données véhiculés par les modes OAM. Deux types différents de fibres OAM sont étudiés. Nous caractérisons notre liaison MDM en utilisant les techniques de mesure du temps de vol et de réponse impulsionnelle. Nous discutons des conclusions des résultats de caractérisation en étudiant l'impact des interactions modales sur la complexité de l'égaliseur du récepteur pour différents scénarios de transmission de données. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous étudions un nouveau FMF à maintien de polarisation et conduisons deux séries d'expériences de transmission de données cohérentes et de radio sur fibre (RoF). Nous démontrons pour la première fois, la transmission de données sans MIMO sur six et quatre canaux dans les systèmes cohérents et RoF, respectivement. Nous démontrons également, pour la première fois, la transmission de données RoF sur deux polarisations d'un mode dans une FMF. Nous discutons de la dégradation des performances due à la diaphonie dans de tels systèmes. Nous étudions également l'impact de la courbure sur cette fibre dans un contexte de RoF. La propriété de maintien de polarisation de cette fibre sous courbure est étudiée à la fois par des expériences de caractérisation et de transmission de données.Mode division multiplexing (MDM) has received extensive attention by researchers in the last few years. The main motivation behind using different modes of optical fiber is to increase the capacity of transport networks. Initial experiments showed high complexity in DSP of the receiver. In this thesis, we investigate the viability and challenges for data transmission over specially designed few mode fibers (FMF) for MDM systems with reduced DSP. Our studies include both coherent and non-coherent data transmission. In our first contribution, we demonstrate, for the first time, data transmission over 4 channels in a novel OAM fiber without optical polarization demultiplexing. We use reduced DSP complexity: two sets of 2×2 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) equalizers instead of a full 4×4 MIMO equalizer block. We propose a novel mode demultiplexer enabling us to receive two polarizations of a mode simultaneously and conducting polarization demultiplexing electrically in receiver DSP. We also investigate the OSNR penalty due to imperfections in the mode demultiplexer and we examine the maximum reachable baud rate for our system. In our second contribution, we study the modal impairments in OAM-MDM systems, focusing on their effect on receiver performance and complexity. In our experimental study, for the first time, we discuss the impact of two non-data carrying modes on data channels carried by OAM modes. Two different types of OAM fibers are studied. We characterize our MDM link using time-of-flight and impulse response measurement techniques. We discuss conclusions from characterization results with studies of the impact of modal interactions on receiver equalizer complexity for different data transmission scenarios . In the third contribution, we study a novel polarization-maintaining FMF and conduct two sets of coherent data transmission and non-coherent radio over fiber (RoF) experiments. We demonstrate for the first time, MIMO –Free data transmission over six and four channels in coherent and RoF systems, respectively. We also demonstrate, for the first time, RoF data transmission over two polarizations of a mode in a FMF. We discuss the performance degradation due to crosstalk in such systems. We also study the impact of bending on this fiber in RoF context. The polarization maintaining property of this fiber under bending is studied both via characterization and data transmission experiments

Experimental Demonstration of Stokes Space Equalization for Space Division Multiplexed Signals

In this letter we experimentally validate, for the first time, the Stokes space algorithm (SSA) equalizer for space division multiplexing (SDM) transmission systems. We introduce the frequency domain (FD)-SSA and FD least-mean square (FD-LMS) algorithms, and evaluate their performance for different frequency offsets by computer simulations. Our simulations show that FD-SSA is insensitive to the frequency offsets, not requiring carrier frequency estimation (CFE) before equalization (pre-CFE) or carrier phase estimation (CPE) inside the loop (L-CPE). Our experimental results confirm that FD-SSA presents the same performance as FD-LMS, where the required digital signal processing (DSP) stack for FD-SSA is simpler compared to the FDLMS

Reconfigurable photonic integrated mode (de)multiplexer for SDM fiber transmission

A photonic integrated circuit for mode multiplexing and demultiplexing in a few-mode fiber is presented and demonstrated. Two 10 Gbit/s channels at the same wavelength and polarization are simultaneously transmitted over modes LP01 and LP11a of a few-mode fiber exploiting the integrated mode MUX and DEMUX. The proposed Indium-Phosphide-based circuits have a good coupling efficiency with fiber modes with mode-dependant loss smaller than 1 dB. Measured mode excitation cross-talk is as low as -20 dB and a channel cross-talk after propagation and demultiplexing of -15 dB is achieved. An operational bandwidth of the full transmission system of at least 10 nm is demonstrated. Both mode MUX and DEMUX are fully reconfigurable and allow a dynamic switch of channel routing in the transmission system

RoF data transmission using four linearly polarized vector Modes of a polarization maintaining elliptical ring core fiber

We experimentally investigate the feasibility of transmission of radio frequency (RF) signals over a 900 m polarization-maintaining, elliptical ring core fiber. No multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) processing is used to recover the RF signals carried by different modes; we recover the 16QAM, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) RF signals with the same techniques used for single mode fibers. For the first time, we report transmission of four RF streams over four channels in a few mode fiber. Also, for the first time, we transmit RF signals over two polarizations of a mode in few mode fibers and successfully recover data in both polarizations without polarization tracking or digital signal processing to separate polarizations. Furthermore, we examine the impact of fiber bending on crosstalk among channels. We show that even under severe bending, the polarization states remain separated and the RF streams transmitted on polarization states of a mode could be recovered with low power penalty

Orbital Angular Momentum Waves: Generation, Detection and Emerging Applications

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) has aroused a widespread interest in many fields, especially in telecommunications due to its potential for unleashing new capacity in the severely congested spectrum of commercial communication systems. Beams carrying OAM have a helical phase front and a field strength with a singularity along the axial center, which can be used for information transmission, imaging and particle manipulation. The number of orthogonal OAM modes in a single beam is theoretically infinite and each mode is an element of a complete orthogonal basis that can be employed for multiplexing different signals, thus greatly improving the spectrum efficiency. In this paper, we comprehensively summarize and compare the methods for generation and detection of optical OAM, radio OAM and acoustic OAM. Then, we represent the applications and technical challenges of OAM in communications, including free-space optical communications, optical fiber communications, radio communications and acoustic communications. To complete our survey, we also discuss the state of art of particle manipulation and target imaging with OAM beams

Advanced DSP Techniques for High-Capacity and Energy-Efficient Optical Fiber Communications

The rapid proliferation of the Internet has been driving communication networks closer and closer to their limits, while available bandwidth is disappearing due to an ever-increasing network load. Over the past decade, optical fiber communication technology has increased per fiber data rate from 10 Tb/s to exceeding 10 Pb/s. The major explosion came after the maturity of coherent detection and advanced digital signal processing (DSP). DSP has played a critical role in accommodating channel impairments mitigation, enabling advanced modulation formats for spectral efficiency transmission and realizing flexible bandwidth. This book aims to explore novel, advanced DSP techniques to enable multi-Tb/s/channel optical transmission to address pressing bandwidth and power-efficiency demands. It provides state-of-the-art advances and future perspectives of DSP as well