C- and O-Band Operation of RSOA WDM PON Self-Seeded Transmitters up to 10  Gb/s [Invited]

Abstract

We propose a network-embedded colorless self-tuning transmitter for wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks based on self-seeding in reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs). We compare up to a 10-Gb/s data rate in either O-band or C-band operation. In particular, the transmitter exploits a two-Faraday rotator configuration to ensure polarization-insensitive operation and allowing for the exploitation of high-gain C- and O-band RSOAs, which present a very high polarization-dependent gain. Two different multiplexers and various lengths of drop fibers constituted the network-embedded transmitters in order to evaluate various dispersion load influence on cavity buildup. Moreover, transmission over standard single-mode feeder fiber has been evaluated both at 2.5 and 10 Gb/s to compare the performance in both bands, confirming the absence of chromatic dispersion penalties for the O-band operation.