Abstract

We demonstrate a field programmable gate array (FPGA) based optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmitter implementing real time digital signal processing at a sample rate of 
21.4 GS/s. The QPSK-OFDM signal is generated using an 8 bit, 128 point inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) core, performing one transform per clock cycle at a clock speed of 167.2 MHz and can be deployed with either a direct-detection or a coherent receiver. The hardware design and the main digital signal processing functions are described, and we show that the main performance limitation is due to the low (4-bit) resolution of the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and the 8-bit resolution of the IFFT core used. We analyze the back-to-back performance of the transmitter generating an 8.36 Gb/s optical single sideband (SSB) OFDM signal using digital up-conversion, suitable for direct-detection. Additionally, we use the device to transmit 8.36 Gb/s SSB OFDM signals over 200 km of uncompensated standard single mode fiber achieving an overall BER<10⁻³.

© 2009 OSA

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History
Original Manuscript: July 15, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: September 16, 2009
Revised Manuscript: August 26, 2009
Published: September 18, 2009

References

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Author Affiliations

Peter Milder, Deepak Rangaraj, Anthony Cartolano, Robert Koutsoyannis, James C. Hoe, Markus Püschel

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University,
 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Madeleine Glick

Intel Research Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA

Yannis Benlachtar, Rachid Bouziane, Robert I. Killey

Optical Networks Group, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place. London. UK. WC1E 7JE

Philip M. Watts

Optical Networks Group, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place. London. UK. WC1E 7JEComputer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0FD, UK

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