Practical implementation of high performance optical transmitter/receiver subsystems for 20 Gbit/s TDM operation

High performance optical transmitter/receiver subsystems operating at 20 Gbit/s by the IM/DD approach have been implemented with high speed components. The optical transmission characteristics over standard single mode and dispersion-shifted fibre has been investigated. With dispersion compensation, transmission over a single 80 km span of standard fibre was achieved with -32.7 dBm sensitivity. Transmission over 420 km of dispersion-shifted fibre was also demonstrated with an optical sensitivity of -31.1 dBm. The effects of external modulator chirp on the transmission characteristics are discussed. Practical system implementation issues are also addressed, with particular emphasis on the availability of emerging high speed integrated circuits and optical components.<
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