Beyond 1 Gbit/s Transmission over 1 mm Diameter Plastic Optical Fiber employing DMT for In-Home Communication Systems

Abstract

Multi-Gbit/s transmission over 1 mm diameter graded index plastic optical fiber (GI-POF) is reported. Transmission rates between 5.3 and 7.6 Gbit/s are achieved for fiber lengths between 10 and 50 m using discrete multi-tone modulation (DMT) in an intensity modulated direct detection system using directly modulated eye-safe VCSEL and silicon photodiode (PD). The used system bandwidth is only 1.42 GHz resulting in a spectral efficiency of bits/s/Hz. All employed components represent a low-cost, off-the-shelf cost-effective solution for high-speed in-home communication systems.