PMD mitigation at 10 Gbit/s using linear and nonlinear integrated electronic equaliser circuits

A transversal filter (TF) and a decision feedback equaliser (DFE) have been manufactured as integrated electronic circuits in SiGe technology suitable for 10 Gbit/s operation. Using these devices, electrical equalisers for implementation in optical receivers have been realised and the reduction in penalty induced by polarisation mode dispersion (PMD) has been experimentally analysed. A device consisting of the concatenation of a TF and DFE exhibits the lowest residual penalty, <3 dB for a PMD with a differential group delay of <80 ps