EA-Modulator-Based Optical Time Division Multiplexing/Demultiplexing Techniques for 160-Gb/s Optical Signal Transmission

In this paper, 160-Gb/s optical-time-division-multiplexing (OTDM) techniques employing electroabsorption (EA)-modulator-based optical multiplexer are described. The optical multiplexer integrates four EA modulators with free-space optics and enables, stably, to generate an authentic 160-Gb/s OTDM signal. The optical multiplexer possesses a switching capability of modulation format, which originates in the thermo-optic effect in EA waveguide, so that it is possible to generate various phase-coded OTDM signals such as carrier-suppressed return-to-zero (CS-RZ) signal by tuning operation temperatures of the EA modulators. By employing the novel 160-Gb/s optical multiplexer, prototypes of 160-Gb/s OTDM transmitter and receiver were developed. EA modulators are also adopted to optical short pulse source at transmitter side, optical time division demultiplexer, and phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit for clock recovery at the receiver side. The 160-Gb/s system prototype exhibited a superior performance maintaining high stability, and its applicability to practical use is discussed, showing experimental results of 160-Gb/s 635 km field trial on Japan Gigabit Network II (JGN II) optical testbed.