4-PAM for High-Speed Short-Range Optical Communications

In this work, we compare 4-pulse amplitude modulation and on–off keying modulation formats at high speed for short-range optical communication systems. The transmission system comprised a directly modulated vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser operating at a wavelength of 850 nm, an OM3+ multimode fiber link, and a photodetector detecting the intensity at the receiver end. The modulation formats were compared both at the same bit-rate and at the same symbol rate. The maximum bit-rate used was 25 Gbps. Propagation distances up to 600 m were investigated at 12.5 Gbps. All measurements were done in real time and without any equalization.