Demonstration of a 30 Gbps intensity modulation direct detection OFDM-based passive optical network

Intensity modulation direct detection orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based passive optical network is experimentally demonstrated at data rates of up to 30 Gbps. Error-free performance is achieved for a propagation length of up to 40 km with a spectral efficiency of 1.9 b/s/Hz. Pre-emphasis technique is used to counter the performance degradation in the direct detection system. A semiconductor optical amplifier is used at the remote node stage to increase the power budget of the passive optical network. Split ratios up to 1 × 256 are achieved after 25 km fiber at 30 Gbps down stream data rates.