10 gb/s bidirectional transmission with an optimized soa and a SOA‐EAM based ONU

Abstract

We investigated the application of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and an SOA electro‐absorption modulator (SOA‐EAM) as attractive, low‐cost solutions in passive optical networks (PONs). The main characteristics of an SOA with optimal performance for phase and amplitude modulation were tested. Additionally, a 10 Gb/s bidirectional transmission with an optical network unit (ONU) transmitter integrated with a distributed feedback (DFB) laser, electro-absorption modulator (EAM), and SOA was designed. The upstream (US) and downstream (DS) receiver sensitivities at the forward error correction (FEC) level reached −29.5 dBm and −33.5 dBm for back‐to‐back (BtB) fiber and −28.9 dBm and −33.1 dBm for 20 km fiber. For multichannel transmission, the US receiver sensitivities reached −28.8 dBm and −28.2 dBm for BtB and 20 km fibers, and the DS receiver sensitivities reached −33 dBm and −32.6 dBm for BtB and 20 km fibers, respectively.