Fiber-optic links supporting baseband data and subcarrier-multiplexed control channels and the impact of MMIC photonic/microwave interfaces

Author

Blumenthal, Daniel J. ; Laskar, Joy ; Gaudino, Roberto ; Han, Sangwoo ; Shell, Michael D. ; Vaughn, Mark D.

Author_Institution

Microelectron. Res. Center, Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA

Volume

45

Issue

8

fYear

1997

fDate

8/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1443

Lastpage

1452

Abstract

We report experimental and analytical results of a fiber-optic link that supports simultaneous transmission of baseband data and subcarrier multiplexed control-data channels. A novel transmitter design is used to optoelectronically combine baseband and subcarrier channels onto the optical carrier using a differential Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer modulator. Microwave direct detection of the subcarrier data channel simplifies the receiver design and network architecture. An approach to optimize the transmitter parameters for a given transmitter/receiver configuration is presented, A discrete component link is implemented and its performance compared to analytical results and discrete-time simulations. Insertion of monolithic-microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) technology is investigated by utilizing a MMIC mixer for control-channel upconversion and envelope detection in the link transmitter and receiver, respectively. High signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the control channel demonstrates that MMIC technology is a viable approach to integration of subcarrier multiplexed fiber links

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; optical fibre communication; optical links; optical modulation; optical receivers; optical transmitters; subcarrier multiplexing; MMIC photonic/microwave interfaces; baseband data; control-channel upconversion; differential Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulator; discrete component link; envelope detection; fiber-optic links; microwave direct detection; network architecture; optical modulation; receiver design; signal-to-noise ratio; subcarrier-multiplexed control channels; transmitter design; transmitter parameters; Analytical models; Baseband; Envelope detectors; MMICs; Optical design; Optical interferometry; Optical modulation; Optical receivers; Optical transmitters; Performance analysis;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.618450

Filename

618450