Demonstration and analyses of a hybrid multiplexing scheme for scaling-up the last mile

The last mile solutions for high-speed high-capacity optical networks capable of securely supporting large number of simultaneous users by minimal hardware requirements are needed but it seems that any such solutions are still far away. Access networks based only on a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), optical timedivision multiplexing (OTDM) or optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM) schemes can't do it as the standalone systems. Here we present a proof-of-concept field demonstration of the implementation of an incoherent OCDMA over OTDMA system (iOCDM-OTDM) using a 17km long bidirectional fiber link installed between the Strathclyde and Glasgow Universities. The performed system performance analyses include system scalability calculations and a system reach under the influence of transmission link physical impairments.