Spiking Neural Network Equalization on Neuromorphic Hardware for IM/DD Optical Communication

A spiking neural network (SNN) nonlinear equalizer model is implemented on the mixed-signal neuromorphic hardware system BrainScaleS-2 and evaluated for an IM/DD link. The BER 2e-3 is achieved with a hardware penalty less than 1 dB, outperforming numeric linear equalization.