100 Gb/s/λ polarization multiplexing PON downlink based on simplified heterodyne coherent reception

Abstract

In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a ${100}\;{\rm Gb/s/}\lambda$ downstream transmission link for coherent passive optical networks (PONs) up to 50 km, achieving an optical power budget of 29 dB through polarization multiplexing (PolMux) of two 50 Gb/s channels using multiband carrierless amplitude phase modulation (multiCAP) and optical single side band (OSSB) modulation. Additionally, we introduce a separate PolMux 50 Gb/s link that presents an optical power budget of 38.7 dB. Both links have been achieved using a simplified polarization-demultiplexing heterodyne coherent receiver. The robustness of the system is experimentally evaluated by analyzing its response to various input states of polarization. The transmission has been accomplished using 10 GHz electrical bandwidth devices at both the transmission and receiving ends, thereby paving the way for low-cost 100G links suitable for applications such as PONs.