We present high speed real time, error free 4-PAM transmission for short range optical links based on a VCSEL operating at 850 nm, a multimode fibre and a simple intensity detector. Transmission speeds of 25 Gbps and 30 Gbps are demonstrated, and the maximum fibre reaches were 300 m and 200 m, respectively. The 4-PAM is also compared with OOK transmission at 25 Gbps, and we find that at this bit rate 4-PAM increases the error free transmission distance in the multimode fibre by 100 m, compared to OOK. © 2011 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (060.0060) Fiber optics and optical communications; (060.4080) Modulation; (060.2360) Fiber optics links and subsystems; (140.7260) Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers. References and links 1. P. Westbergh, J. Gustavsson, B. Kögel, A. Haglund, A. Larsson, A. Mutig, A. Nadtochiy, D. Bimberg, and A. Joel, “40 Gbit/s error-free operation of oxide-confined 850 nm VCSEL,” Electron. Lett. 46, 1014–1016 (2010). 2. W. Hofmann, P. Moser, P. Wolf, A. Mutig, M. Kroh, and D. Bimberg, “44 Gb/s VCSEL for optical interconnects,” Optical Fiber Communication Conference, (2011), paper PDPC5. 3. J. Ingham, R. Penty, and I. White, “10 Gb/s & 20 Gb/s extended-reach multimode-fiber datacommunication links using multilevel modulation and transmitter-based equalization,” Optical Fiber communication Conference, OSA Technical Digest (2008), paper OTuO7. 4. J. D. Ingham, R. V. Penty, I. H. White, P. Westbergh, J. S. Gustavsson, A. Haglund, and A. Larsson, “32 Gb/s multilevel modulation of an 850 nm VCSEL for next-generation datacommunication standards,” in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, (2011), paper CWJ2. 5. K. Szczerba, B. Olsson, P. Westbergh, A. Rhodin, J. Gustavsson, A. Haglund, M. Karlsson, A. Larsson, and P. Andrekson, “37 Gbps transmission over 200 m of MMF using single cycle subcarrier modulation and a VCSEL with 20 GHz modulation bandwidth,” European Conference on Optical Communication, (2010), paper We7B2. 6. S. Lee, F. Breyer, S. Randel, D. Cardenas, H. van den Boom, and A. Koonen, “Discrete multitone modulation for high-speed data transmission over multimode fibers using 850-nm VCSEL,” Optical Fiber Communication Conference, OSA Technical Digest (2009), paper OWM2. 7. D. Watanabe, A. Ono, and T. Okayasu, “CMOS optical 4-PAM VCSEL driver with modal-dispersion equalizer for 10 Gb/s 500 m MMF transmission,” IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, (2009), 106–107. 8. T. Toifl, C. Menolfi, M. Ruegg, R. Reutemann, P. Buchmann, M. Kossel, T. Morf, J. Weiss, and M. Schmatz, “A 22 Gb/s PAM-4 receiver in 90-nm CMOS SOI technology,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 41, 954–965 (2006). 9. P. Westbergh, J. Gustavsson, A. Haglund, A. Larsson, F. Hopfer, G. Fiol, D. Bimberg, and A. Joel, “32 Gbit/s multimode fibre transmission using high-speed, low current density 850 nm VCSEL,” Electron. Lett. 45, 366–368 (2009). 10. W. I. Way, Broadband Hybrid Fiber Coax Access System Technologies, 1st ed., (Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL, USA, 1998). #155826 $15.00 USD Received 3 Oct 2011; revised 31 Oct 2011; accepted 31 Oct 2011; published 18 Nov 2011 (C) 2011 OSA 12 December 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 26 / OPTICS EXPRESS B203 11. C. Carlsson, H. Martinsson, J. Vukusic, J. Halonen, and A. Larsson, “Nonlinear distortion and dynamic range of red (670 nm) oxide confined VCSELs,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 13, 358–360 (2001). 12. J. Pollard, “Multilevel data communication over optical fibre,” IEE Proc. I 138, 162–168 (1991). 13. S. Walklin and J. Conradi, “Multilevel signaling for increasing the reach of 10 Gb/s lightwave systems,” J. Lightwave Technol. 17, 2235–2248 (1999).
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