Beyond 100-Gb/s Transmission Over 80-km SMF Using Direct-Detection SSB-DMT at C-Band

For short-reach links, direct detection offers the advantages of low cost and low complexity. Discrete multitone (DMT) is a promising format due to its high spectral efficiency, flexibility and tolerance to chromatic dispersion (CD). In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a beyond 100-Gb/s DMT transmission over 80-km single mode fiber (SMF) without CD compensation. Using dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator-assisted single-sideband modulation, CD-induced power fading is eliminated after direct detection. Trellis coder modulation (TCM) is used to increase the Euclidean distance of the constellation points and nonlinearity equalization (NLE) is employed to mitigate system nonlinearities. Both TCM and NLE algorithms have contributions to improve the system performance. The experimental results show that high capacities up to 122, 110 and 105 Gb/s are achieved with bit error rate at 4.5 × 10-3 for back to back, 40- and 80-km SMF transmissions, respectively. The required OSNR after 80-km SMF transmission is 34.2 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the lowest required OSNR and highest capacity for C-band direct-detection transmission over 80-km SMF.