FPGA-Implemented Fractal Decoder with Forward Error Correction in Short-Reach Optical Interconnects

Forward error correction (FEC) codes combined with high-order modulator formats, i.e., coded modulation (CM), are essential in optical communication networks to achieve highly efficient and reliable communication. The task of providing additional error control in the design of CM systems with high-performance requirements remains urgent. As an additional control of CM systems, we propose to use indivisible error detection codes based on a positional number system. In this work, we evaluated the indivisible code using the average probability method (APM) for the binary symmetric channel (BSC), which has the simplicity, versatility and reliability of the estimate, which is close to reality. The APM allows for evaluation and compares indivisible codes according to parameters of correct transmission, and detectable and undetectable errors. Indivisible codes allow for the end-to-end (E2E) control of the transmission and processing of information in digital systems and design devices with a regular structure and high speed. This study researched a fractal decoder device for additional error control, implemented in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) software with FEC for short-reach optical interconnects with multilevel pulse amplitude (PAM-M) modulated with Gray code mapping. Indivisible codes with natural redundancy require far fewer hardware costs to develop and implement encoding and decoding devices with a sufficiently high error detection efficiency. We achieved a reduction in hardware costs for a fractal decoder by using the fractal property of the indivisible code from 10% to 30% for different n while receiving the reciprocal of the golden ratio.

Area and Energy Efficient QCA Based Compact Serial Concatenated Convolutional Code Encoder

Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is a transistor-less technology known for its low power consumption and higher clock rate. Serial Concatenated Convolutional Coding (SCCC) encoder is a class of forward error correction. This paper picturizes the implementation of the outer encoder as a (7, 4, 1) Bose Chaudhary Hocquenghem encoder that serves the purpose of burst error correction, a pseudo-random inter-leaver used for permuting of systematic code words and finally the inner encoder which is used for the correction of random errors in QCA. Two different architectures of the SCCC encoder have been proposed and discussed in this study. In the proposed two architectures, the first based on external clock signals whereas the second based on internal clock generation. The sub-blocks outer encoder, pseudo-random inter-leaver and inner encoder of the SCCC encoder are optimized, implemented and simulated using QCADesigner and then integrated to design a compact SCCC encoder. The energy dissipation is computed using QCADesigner-E. The proposed SCCC encoder reduced the total area by 46% and energy dissipation by 50% when compared to the reference SCCC encoder. The proposed encoders are more efficient in terms of cell count, energy dissipation and area occupancy respectively.

An Improved End-to-End Autoencoder Based on Reinforcement Learning by Using Decision Tree for Optical Transceivers

In this paper, an improved end-to-end autoencoder based on reinforcement learning by using Decision Tree for optical transceivers is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Transmitters and receivers are considered as an asymmetrical autoencoder combining a deep neural network and the Adaboost algorithm. Experimental results show that 48 Gb/s with 7% hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) threshold under 65 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) is achieved with proposed scheme. Moreover, we further experimentally study the Tree depth and the number of Decision Tree, which are the two main factors affecting the bit error rate performance. Experimental research afterwards showed that the effect from the number of Decision Tree as 30 on bit error rate (BER) flattens out under 48 Gb/s for the fiber range from 25 km and 75 km SSMF, and the influence of Tree depth on BER appears to be a gentle point when Tree Depth is 5, which is defined as the optimal depth point for aforementioned fiber range. Compared to the autoencoder based on a Fully-Connected Neural Network, our algorithm uses addition operations instead of multiplication operations, which can reduce computational complexity from 108 to 107 in multiplication and 106 to 108 in addition on the training phase.

Carrier-Assisted Phase Retrieval

Phase-retrieval (PR) schemes based on the modified Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm capture the full-field employing a dispersive element and intensity-only measurements to eliminate the use of a local oscillator. In this work, we propose two carrier-assisted PR schemes, namely central carrier-assisted PR (CCA-PR) and edge carrier-assisted PR (ECA-PR), to improve the comprehensive performance of PR receiver in terms of convergence speed, redundancy, and computational complexity. The proposed CCA-PR recovers the electrical field employing a reference carrier at 0 GHz with several iterations between two projection planes. It avoids pilot symbols and digital backpropagation to the transmitter and offers a flexible electrical bandwidth requirement compared with conventional PR schemes. To lower the carrier-to-signal power ratio (CSPR) requirement and enable faster convergence for the carrier-assisted PR schemes, the ECA-PR is proposed to obtain the initial phase for the GS algorithm. We numerically characterize the performance of the two schemes and experimentally demonstrate them for 30 GBaud 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) transmission over 80 km single-mode fiber with a bit error rate (BER) below the threshold of 7% hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC). Several critical parameters are analyzed, including the applied dispersion value, CSPR, and electrical bandwidth. Moreover, we compare the hardware complexity and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) sensitivity of proposed PR schemes with mainstream field recovery schemes.

Carrier-Assisted Phase Retrieval

Phase-retrieval (PR) schemes based on the modified Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm capture the full-field employing a dispersive element and intensity-only measurements to eliminate the use of a local oscillator. In this work, we propose two carrier-assisted PR schemes, namely central carrier-assisted PR (CCA-PR) and edge carrier-assisted PR (ECA-PR), to improve the comprehensive performance of PR receiver in terms of convergence speed, redundancy, and computational complexity. The proposed CCA-PR recovers the electrical field employing a reference carrier at 0 GHz with several iterations between two projection planes. It avoids pilot symbols and digital backpropagation to the transmitter and offers a flexible electrical bandwidth requirement compared with conventional PR schemes. To lower the carrier-to-signal power ratio (CSPR) requirement and enable faster convergence for the carrier-assisted PR schemes, the ECA-PR is proposed to obtain the initial phase for the GS algorithm. We numerically characterize the performance of the two schemes and experimentally demonstrate them for 30 GBaud 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) transmission over 80 km single-mode fiber with a bit error rate (BER) below the threshold of 7% hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC). Several critical parameters are analyzed, including the applied dispersion value, CSPR, and electrical bandwidth. Moreover, we compare the hardware complexity and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) sensitivity of proposed PR schemes with mainstream field recovery schemes.

Imbalanced Mach-Zehnder Modulator for Fading Suppression in Dispersion-Uncompensated Direct Detection System

In this work, we systematically analyze the impact of three kinds of Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) imbalances, including bias deviation, amplitude mismatch, and differential time skew in intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM-DD) links. It is shown that, for power fading limited transmission, the imbalances can be utilized as advantages rather than impairments. Specifically, the bias deviation with single-arm driven mode and amplitude mismatch with differential driven mode can increase the available bandwidth by shifting the frequency of fading notches. Meanwhile, time skew provides another way to avoid fading by shaping the double sideband (DSB) signal into a vestigial sideband (VSB) with an asymmetrical transfer function. In the transmission experiment, 34 Gbaud Nyquist 6/8-ary pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-6/8) signals are used for investigation in a 20 km dispersion-uncompensated standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) link. With the help of a Volterra nonlinear equalizer, all three kinds of imbalances can achieve bit-error rates (BERs) below the 7% and 20% hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) thresholds for PAM-6 and PAM-8 signals, respectively. The received power sensitivity is also compared at the back-to-back (BTB) case and after fiber transmission. Both numerical simulation and experimental demonstration confirm that the dispersion-induced power fading can be effectively suppressed with bias, amplitude, or skew imbalance, providing a feasible solution for transmission distance extension of C-band DD links.

Pass/Fail Quality Assessment in Last Mile Smart Metering Networks Based on PRIME Interface

The pass/fail form is one of the presentation methods of quality assessment results. The authors, as part of a research team, participated in the process of creating the PRIME interface analyzer. The PRIME interface is a standardized interface—considered as communication technology for smart metering wired networks, which are specific kinds of sensor networks. The frame error ratio (FER) assessment and its presentation in the pass/fail form was one of the problems that needed to be solves in the PRIME analyzer project. In this paper, the authors present their method of a unified FER assessment, which was implemented in the PRIME analyzer, as one of its many functionalities. The need for FER unification is the result of using different modulation types and an optional forward error correction mechanism in the PRIME interface. Having one unified FER and a threshold value makes it possible to present measurement results in the pass/fail form. For FER unification, the characteristics of FER vs. signal-to-noise ratio, for all modulations implemented in PRIME, were used in the proposed algorithm (and some are presented in this paper). In communication systems, the FER value is used to forecast the quality of a link or service, but using PLC technology, forecasting is highly uncertain due to the main noise. The presentation of the measurement results in the pass/fail form is important because it allows unskilled staff to make many laborious measurements in last mile smart metering networks.

High Speed Visible Light Communication Using Digital Power Domain Multiplexing of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) Signals

In order to increase transmission capacity, multiplexing schemes in different physical dimensions, including time, frequency, modulation quadrature, polarization, and space, can be employed. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a red color laser-diode (LD) based visible-light-communication (VLC) system using two kinds of digital domain multiplexing schemes, orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) and power-domain division-multiplexing (PowDM). The two digital domain multiplexed data can achieve data rates of 1.66 Gbit/s and 6.41 Gbit/s, respectively, providing a total data rate of 8.07 Gbit/s, fulfilling the pre-forward error correction (pre-FEC) bit-error-rate (BER) limit. The measured signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) are 10.96 dB and 14.45 dB, respectively. Here, similar to OFDM, the PowDM can enhance the total system capacity by allowing acceptable signal spectra overlapping among different power division signals to maximize the bandwidth utilization. An experiment to verify and evaluate the proposed work is performed. The modulation and demodulation of OFDM and PowDM are discussed. The optimum power levels of the individual signals in the PowDM signal are also analyzed.