Integrated segmented IQ-modulator for orthogonal sampling and multi-level high-bandwidth signal generation.

Photonic-assisted signal processing of high-bandwidth signals emerges as a solution for challenges encountered in electronic-based processing. Here we present a concept for a compact, photonic-assisted digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and optical IQ-modulator in one single integrated device based on two innovative concepts: a segmented Mach-Zehnder modulator and orthogonal sampling. For electrically driving the modulator, only a single radio frequency oscillator and no pulse source or electrical DAC are required. The presented and simulated proof-of-concept device with six segments can generate a multi-level and high-bandwidth signal from low-bandwidth electronic drivers; e.g., we show the generation of a 120 Gbps data rate, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM, 30 Gbaud) signal solely based on low-bandwidth (5 GHz) non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signals. Integrated on a silicon photonic platform, the device provides fixable speed and bandwidth operations, positioning it as a viable solution for diverse communication systems.

Reconfigurable and real-time high-bandwidth Nyquist signal detection with low-bandwidth in silicon photonics.

We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, reconfigurable and real-time orthogonal time-domain detection of a high-bandwidth Nyquist signal with a low-bandwidth silicon photonics Mach-Zehnder modulator based receiver. As the Nyquist signal has a rectangular bandwidth, it can be multiplexed in the wavelength domain without any guardband as a part of a Nyquist-WDM superchannel. These superchannels can be additionally multiplexed in space and polarization. Thus, the presented demonstration can open a new possibility for the detection of multidimensional parallel data signals with silicon photonics. No external pulse source is needed for the receiver, and frequency-time coherence is used to sample the incoming Nyquist signal with orthogonal sinc-shaped Nyquist pulse sequences. All parameters are completely tunable in the electrical domain. The feasibility of the scheme is demonstrated through a proof-of-concept experiment over the entire C-band (1530 nm-1560 nm), employing a 24 Gbaud Nyquist QPSK signal due to experimental constraints on the transmitter side electronics. However, the silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with a 3-dB bandwidth of only 16 GHz can process Nyquist signals of 90 GHz optical bandwidth, suggesting a possibility to detect symbol rates up to 90 GBd in an integrated Nyquist receiver.

Agnostic sampling transceiver.

Increasing demands for data centers, backbone, access, and wireless networks require inventive concepts to transmit and distribute digital or analog signal waveforms. We present a new, extremely simple transceiver concept, fundamentally different from conventional approaches. It does not rely on high-speed electronics and enables transmission of various time multiplexed analog waveforms or digital data signals with the maximum possible symbol rate in the same rectangular optical spectral band B. The aggregate symbol rate of N signal channels corresponds to B or twice the used modulator's electro-optical bandwidth. By a modification of the system, it can be increased to three times the modulator bandwidth. The rectangular spectra can be further multiplexed into wavelength-superchannels without guardbands. To time demultiplex single signal channel, just another intensity modulator and a detector with an electrical bandwidth corresponding to the channel's baseband width (B/(2N)) is required. No optical filter, high-speed signal processing, or unconventional photonic devices are needed; thus, it has the potential to be easily integrated into any platform and provides an economical and energy-efficient solution for future communication networks and microwave photonic links.