GHz-multichannel SCM-WDM transmission over multimode fiber links employing an optical broadband source

In this paper a new low-cost SCM-WDM scheme suitable for short/middle-reach multimode radio over fiber applications is proposed. The approach is based on the spectral slicing of an optical broadband source centred at 1550 nm and a Mach-Zehnder interferometric structure used to increase the operative frequency range up to 20 GHz. Free-error transmission for QPSK and 64-QAM digital signals over a 20 GHz SCM bandwidth is experimentally demonstrated making the proposed low-cost architecture suitable for future PONs.