13 Gbit/s WDM-OFDM PON using RSOA-based colourless ONU with seeding light source in local exchange

Abstract

Optical-carrier-distribution using reflective-semiconductor-optical-amplifier (RSOA)-based colorless optical-networking-unit (ONU) is a promising candidate for the wavelength-division-multiplexed passive-optical-network (WDM-PON). However, commercial available RSOA has a typical modulation-bandwidth of similar to 1 GHz, which is not enough for the future bandwidth demand. Here we demonstrate a WDM-PON using 1 GHz bandwidth RSOA-based ONU, which can be operated up to 13 Gbit/s. Experimental results show that 20 km singlemode-fibre transmission of the 13 Gbit/s orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signal can be achieved with bit-error rate lower than the forward error correction threshold.