TY - JOUR
T1 - Mode division multiplexing based on ring core optical fibers
AU - Liu, Jie
AU - Zhu, Guoxuan
AU - Zhang, Junwei
AU - Wen, Yuanhui
AU - Wu, Xiong
AU - Zhang, Yanfeng
AU - Chen, Yujie
AU - Cai, Xinlun
AU - Li, Zhaohui
AU - Hu, Ziyang
AU - Zhu, Jiangbo
AU - Yu, Siyuan
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - The unique modal characteristics of ring core fibers (RCFs) potentially enable the implementation of mode-division multiplexing (MDM) schemes that can increase optical data transmission capacity with either low-complexity modular multi-input multi-output (MIMO) equalization or no MIMO equalization. This paper attempts to present a comprehensive review of recent research on the key aspects of RCF-based MDM transmission. Starting from fundamental fiber modal structures, a theoretical comparison between RCFs and conventional step-index and graded-index multi-mode fibers in terms of their MDM capacity and the associated MIMO complexity is given first as the underlining rationale behind RCF-MDM. This is followed by a discussion of RCF design considerations for achieving high-mode channel count and low crosstalk performances in either MIMO-free or modular MIMO transmission schemes. The principles and implementations of RCF mode (de-)multiplexing devices are discussed in detail, followed by RCF-based optical amplifiers culminating in MIMO-free or modular-MIMO RCF-MDM data transmission schemes. A discussion on further research directions is also given.
AB - The unique modal characteristics of ring core fibers (RCFs) potentially enable the implementation of mode-division multiplexing (MDM) schemes that can increase optical data transmission capacity with either low-complexity modular multi-input multi-output (MIMO) equalization or no MIMO equalization. This paper attempts to present a comprehensive review of recent research on the key aspects of RCF-based MDM transmission. Starting from fundamental fiber modal structures, a theoretical comparison between RCFs and conventional step-index and graded-index multi-mode fibers in terms of their MDM capacity and the associated MIMO complexity is given first as the underlining rationale behind RCF-MDM. This is followed by a discussion of RCF design considerations for achieving high-mode channel count and low crosstalk performances in either MIMO-free or modular MIMO transmission schemes. The principles and implementations of RCF mode (de-)multiplexing devices are discussed in detail, followed by RCF-based optical amplifiers culminating in MIMO-free or modular-MIMO RCF-MDM data transmission schemes. A discussion on further research directions is also given.
KW - mode-division multiplexing
KW - optical communications
KW - Ring-core fiber
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052560180&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/JQE.2018.2864561
DO - 10.1109/JQE.2018.2864561
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052560180
SN - 0018-9197
VL - 54
JO - IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
JF - IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
IS - 5
M1 - 0700118
ER -