Incoherent OFDMA for multimode passive optical home and office networks

In this paper a novel concept of the multimode fiber-based passive optical network utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) is presented. Usage of multimode fibers ensures effective optical beat interference mitigation, thus making wavelength control in the uplink not necessary. Several experimental results confirming proper operation and good performance of the proposed solution are provided. The orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission was tested in both the baseband and pass band of the multimode fiber. Several issues related to the proposed solution were addressed, namely, optical beat interference, modal noise, and the frequency response fluctuations of the multimode fiber links.