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Flexible Pulse Amplitude Modulation (FlexPAM) consists of the use of non-standard PAM formats, such as PAM-5 or PAM-6, to increase the granularity of the link capacity for a given baud rate. In this paper, we demonstrate FlexPAM systems as a scalable solution for future data center interconnects, introduce a symbol-to-bit mapping that minimizes the effect of intensity noise in the performance of non-power of two number of levels formats, and present experimental and simulation results of an unamplified FlexPAM transmission system over 1 km of single-mode fiber. 20 GBaud transmission was successfully demonstrated experimentally for modulation formats ranging from OOK up to PAM-16 using an integrated InP-Si3N4 laser. In addition, a simulation to closely replicate the experiment was used to determine the system requirements to achieve transmission rates of up to 200 Gbps on a single wavelength, at a baud rate of 53.5 Gbaud with component bandwidth limitations of 30 GHz.

We demonstrate detailed characterization results of a hybrid InP-TriPleX photonic integrated tunable laser based on silicon nitride microring resonators. A tuning range of 50 nm across the C-band, side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) >50 dB, high output power (~10 dBm), linewidth of

We describe the first demonstration and characterization of an optically integrated InP-Si3 N4 hybrid laser. The laser is formed by integration of an InP-based reflective semiconductor optical amplifier with a InP-Si3 N4 based feedback waveguide circuit. The circuit comprises a frequency selective and tunable Vernier mirror composed of two microring resonators with slightly different radii. A wide tuning range of more than 43 nm is achieved via the thermo-optic effect. The typical side mode suppression ratio is 35 dB. The narrowest linewidth achieved is about 90 kHz, and the relative intensity noise is less than -135 dBc/Hz.

Analog fronthauling is currently promoted as a bandwidth and energy-efficient solution that can meet the requirements of the Fifth Generation (5G) vision for low latency, high data rates and energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose an analog optical fronthaul 5G architecture, fully aligned with the emerging Centralized-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) concept. The proposed architecture exploits the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technique and multicarrier intermediate-frequency-over-fiber (IFoF) signal generation per wavelength in order to satisfy the demanding needs of hotspot areas. Particularly, the fronthaul link employs photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based WDM optical transmitters (Txs) at the baseband unit (BBU), while novel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) cascaded in an optical bus are used at the remote radio head (RRH) site, to facilitate reconfigurable wavelength switching functionalities up to 4 wavelengths. An aggregate capacity of 96 Gb/s has been reported by exploiting two WDM links carrying multi-IF band orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals at a baud rate of 0.5 Gbd with sub-carrier (SC) modulation of 64-QAM. All signals exhibited error vector magnitude (EVM) values within the acceptable 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) limits of 8%. The longest reach to place the BBU away from the hotspot was also investigated, revealing acceptable EVM performance for fiber lengths up to 4.8 km.

Data centers are continuously growing in scale and can contain more than one million servers spreading across thousands of racks; requiring a large-scale switching network to provide broadband and reconfigurable interconnections of low latency. Traditional data center network architectures, through the use of electrical packet switches in a multi-tier topology, has fundamental weaknesses such as oversubscription and cabling complexity. Wireless intra-data center interconnection solutions have been proposed to deal with the cabling problem and can simultaneously address the over-provisioning problem by offering efficient topology re-configurability. In this work we introduce a novel free space optical interconnect solution for intra-data center networks that utilizes 2D optical beam steering for the transmitter, and high bandwidth wide-area photodiode arrays for the receiver. This new breed of free space optical interconnects can be developed on a photonic integrated circuit; offering ns switching at sub-μW consumption. The proposed interconnects together with a networking architecture that is suitable for utilizing those devices could support next generation intra-data center networks, fulfilling the requirements of seamless operation, high connectivity, and agility in terms of the reconfiguration time.

Presents corrections to the paper, “Characterization of Hybrid InP-TriPleX photonic integrated tunable lasers based on silicon nitride (Si3N4/SiO2) microring resonators for optical coherent system,” (Lin, Y., et al), IEEE Photon. J., vol. 10, no. 3, Jun. 2018, Art. no. 1400108.