Exponential-Memory-Polynomial-Based Nonlinear Equalizer for C-Band IM/DD Systems

We propose a novel exponential memory polynomial decision-feedback equalizer (EMP-DFE) for nonlinear compensation in intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) systems. Different structures of EMP are investigated and the proposed one achieves the best performance by including both self- and cross-beating terms of all nonlinear orders while balancing the complexity. Experiments of a 96-112Gbit/s PAM-4 system over 10-30km single-mode fiber show that the proposed EMP-DFE outperforms diagonally-pruned Volterra DFE, diagonally-pruned absolute-term Volterra DFE and trigonometric memory polynomial DFE in terms of both ultimate performance and the performance at the same complexity.