2021/03/03 by Giuseppe Rizzelli, Rizzelli, Giuseppe, A. Nespola +5
Engineering · #Advanced Photonic Communication Systems #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI) #Optical Network Technologies #Photonic and Optical Devices #Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices #Signal Processing (eess.SP) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2103.02299
openalex publication_date 2021/03/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
International standardization bodies (IEEE and ITU-T) working on the\nevolution of transmission technologies are still considering traditional direct\ndetection solutions for the most relevant short reach optical link\napplications, that are Passive Optical Networks (PON) and intra-data center\ninterconnects. Anyway, future jumps towards even higher bit rates per\nwavelength will require a complete paradigm shift, moving towards coherent\ntechnologies. In this paper, we thus study both analytically and experimentally\nthe scaling laws of unamplified coherent transmission in the short-reach\ncommunications ecosystems. We believe that, given the extremely tight\ntechno-economic constraints, such a revolutionary transition towards coherent\nin short-reach first requires a very detailed study of its intrinsic\ncapabilities in largely extending the limitation currently imposed by direct\ndetection systems. To this end, this paper focuses on the ultimate physical\nlayer limitations of unamplified coherent systems in terms of bit rate and\npower budget. The main parameters of our performance estimation model are\nextracted through fitting with a set of experimental characterizations and\nlater used as the starting point of a scaling laws study regarding local\noscillator power, modulator-induced attenuation, bit rate, and maximum\nachievable power budget. The analytically predicted performance is then\nverified through transmission experiments, including a demonstration on a 37-km\ninstalled metropolitan dark fiber in the city of Turin.\n