WDM PON RSOA-based self-tuning transmitters: An insight from the EU FP7 ERMES project

We present the final results of the EU FP7 ERMES project, which focused on the development of a WDM-PON colourless self-tuning transmitter based on RSOA self-seeding. Measurements obtained with a packaged O-band RSOA in a SFP+ compatible transmitter are reported at 1.25, 2.5 and 10 Gb/s for various drop fibre lengths, up to 6.3 km and 1 km respectively. We successfully demonstrated transmission over more than 20-km SSMF with bit error rates below the FEC limit (3·10^-3). The transmission length is limited only by the power budget while the chromatic dispersion has no impact, even at 10 Gb/s. Finally, we give an overview of the BER field trail measures performed with the 18-km fibre loops over the city of Lannion (France). We tested the ERMES transmitter at 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s with various PRBS lengths to prepare GEth and CPRI tests. Field trial results resembled laboratory tests, successfully obtaining transmission over up to 2 fibre loops.