Establishment of an Electro-Optical Mixing Design on a Photonic SOA-MZI Using a Differential Modulation Arrangement

Abstract

We design and evaluate two experimental systems for a single and simultaneous electro-optical semiconductor optical amplifier Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) mixing system based on the differential modulation mode. These systems and the optimization of their optical and electrical performance largely depend on characteristics of an optical pulse source (OPS), operating at a frequency of f = 39 GHz and a pulse width of 1 ps. The passive power stability of the electro-optical mixing output over one hour is better than 0.3% RMS (root mean square), which is excellent. Additionally, we generate up to 22 dBm of the total average output power with an optical conversion gain of 32 dB, while achieving a record output optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) up to 77 dB. On the other hand, at the SOA–MZI output, the 128 quadratic amplitude modulation (128-QAM) signal at an intermediate frequency (IF), f1, is up-mixed to higher output frequencies nf ± f1. The advantages of the resulting 128-QAM mixed signal during electrical conversion gains (ECGs) and error vector magnitudes (EVMs) are also evaluated. The performed empirical SOA-MZI mixing can operate up to 118.5 GHz in its high-frequency range. The positive and almost constant conversion gains are achieved. Indeed, the obtained conversion gain values are very close across the entire range of output frequencies. The largest frequency range achieved during experimental work is 118.5 GHz, where the EVM achieves 6% at a symbol rate of 10 GSymb/s. Moreover, the peak data rate of the 128-QAM up mixed signal can reach 70 GBit/s. Finally, the study of the simultaneous electro-optical mixing system is accepted with unmatched performance improvement.

Terahertz Replica Generation of Ultra-High Data Rate Transmission in an Electro-Optical Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Mach–Zehnder Interferometer System

“…In recent work, we used a data acquisition rate of f s = 19.5 GHz [23]. Consequently, as the sampling interval rises, the photonic transmission efficiency is significantly improved [33].…”

“…A comparative analysis between these methods is presented in Table 1, which substantiates that the differential modulation exhibits superior efficiency and quality, as evidenced by enhanced conversion gains and reduced EVMs, respectively. While acknowledging the groundbreaking achievement of implementing the standard modulation approach in the electro-optical SOA-MZI design for the first time, it is essential to highlight the major advantages it offers in comparison to the previously explored differential modulation method [20,23,28,33]. Firstly, standard modulation techniques are renowned for their simplicity and ease of implementation, making them particularly advantageous in scenarios where a straightforward system design is paramount.…”

Advanced Topics and Smart Systems for Wireless Communications and Networks

“…Therefore, many recent studies have considere these technologies in various applications: wireless fidelity (WiFi) communications, radar applications, and cellular networks. In their paper [ 11 ], Termos et al design and evaluate two experimental systems for a single and a simultaneous electro-optical semiconductor optical amplifier Mach–Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) mixing system based on the differential modulation mode. The largest frequency range achieved during the experimental work was 118.5 GHz.…”

SOA-MZI Differential Transformation Approach Applied on Simultaneous Electro-Optical Mixing

“…As a result, the control signal is transferred at a wavelength of the data signals, which decreases the harmonic power of the control signal as well as the replicas' power at 𝑛𝑓 ± 𝑓 . The only solution to augment the harmonics along with the replicas is to apply the differential modulation regime [53], where the data signals are converted at the wavelength of the control signal at the SOA-MZI output. It is vital to mention that in the differential modulation architecture, the data signals modulate the sampling pulse train known as the OPS signal.…”

“…Therefore, it will be useful to determine the influence of SOA parameters on the quality of mixed data communication through a straightforward examination of the coplanar elements of the electro-optic mixing transmitting mechanism. As a result of that, the SOA's carrier density is efficiently modulated by the large augmentation of the OPS repetition rate up to 39 GHz with a time interval reaching 1 ps among the optical pulse source (OPS) pulses [53], which reduces the variation of harmonic amplification with harmonic levels. As a consequence of this, at the SOA-MZI output, the electro-optical mixed signal carrying 128-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) data is significantly authenticated and enhanced in terms of its properties.…”