Bit Error Performance of APD and SPAD Receivers in Optical Wireless Communication

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have been applied to recover signals in optical communication systems and have shown competence of mitigating linear and nonlinear distortions. However, as the data throughput increases, the heavy computational cost of DNNs impedes them from rapid and power-efficient processing. In this paper, we propose an optical communication signal recovery technology based on a photonic convolutional processor, which is realized by dispersion delay unit and wavelength division multiplexing. Based on the photonic convolutional processor, we implement an optoelectronic convolutional neural network (OECNN) for signal post-equalization and experimentally demonstrate on 16QAM and 32QAM of an optical wireless communication system. With system parameters optimization, we verify that the OECNN can achieve accurate signal recovery where the bit error ratio (BER) is below the 7% forward error correction threshold of 3.8×10-3 at 2Gbps. With adding the OECNN-based nonlinear compensation, compared with only linear compensation, we improve the quality (Q) factor by 3.35 dB at 16QAM and 3.30 dB at 32QAM, which is comparable to that of an electronic neural network. This work proves that the photonic implementation of DNN is promising to provide a fast and power-efficient solution for optical communication signal processing.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a full-duplex integrated passive optical network (PON) and indoor optical wireless communication (OWC) system. For the PON part, an external cavity laser (ECL) and a directly modulated laser (DML) are used as optical sources for downlink and uplink, respectively. The OWC subsystem utilizes a visible light-emitting diode (LED) for downlink and an infrared LED (IR-LED) for uplink transmission. To enable high spectral efficiency (SE), high-speed transmission, and flexible multiple access with simplified optical network unit (ONU)-side digital signal processing (DSP), multilevel, multiband quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and hybrid 128/64/16 Nyquist single-carrier frequency domain equalization (N-SC-FDE) modulation are implemented in this paper. In terms of 62.5 MHz OWC N-SC-FDE signals, the system successfully delivered a further 140 cm indoor distance after transmitting over a span of 25 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) together with three subbands of 250 MHz PON signals. As a proof of concept, an integrated system of symmetrical full-duplex 5 Gb/s PON and 250 Mb/s OWC at each direction for three wired users and one wireless user is successfully achieved. The measured bit error ratios (BERs) for each user are all smaller than the 7% pre-forward-error-correction (pre-FEC) limit of 3.8 × 10−3, which shows the promising potential and feasibility of this proposal to extend multiple services from metro areas to suburban areas.

Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are very attractive devices in optical detector applications where both CMOS integration and low light detection are critical. An important SPAD performance parameter is the photon detection probability (PDP) which has to be carefully characterized for the sensor design. In this article, we present a comprehensive modeling and experimental characterization of the PDP to obtain its optical and electrical dependency on different parameters including the wavelength and light incidence angle as well as the biasing condition. By calculating the optical absorption and the avalanche triggering probabilities within the silicon, the PDP of an n <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> /p-well CMOS-implemented SPAD is accurately modeled. It is shown that due to the formation of a standing wave in different layers above the silicon, which significantly affects the optical transmission and the PDP spectrum, the application of the presented approach is necessary especially when an anti-reflection coating layer is not available. The obtained result shows an excellent agreement to our measurements and, therefore, the model can be reliably used for accurate design and optimization of SPAD-based detectors and to avoid very time-consuming experimental investigations, e. g. for obtaining the detector performance for deviations in the light incidence angle.

Although many researchers have achieved wireless optical ranging and communication based on Avalanche Photon Diode (APD) detectors and PIN detectors. However, due to the low sensitivity of APD and PIN detectors, their working distances are limited. In order to achieve long-distance underwater wireless optical communication, a Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) with photon-limited sensitivity is used to detect optical signals. In addition, most literatures do not specially design the data frames of ranging and communication, which makes it difficult to perform ranging and communication at the same time. In view of the fact that there is currently no systematic solution for simultaneous communication and high-precision ranging under underwater photon counting, this paper sorts out the relevant technical details, proposes an integrated ranging and communication scheme applied to photon counting, designs a special data frame that integrates ranging and communication, and proposes an extraction and recovery scheme for ranging and communication signals. Simulation shows that this scheme can achieve underwater photon counting wireless optical communication with a communication distance of 160m and an SER of 9.75×10-6, and the ranging accuracy is better than 1.59cm.

Time-coordinated SPAD-based receiver for high-speed optical wireless communication

The structure of one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) containing indefinite metamaterials with a hyperbolic dispersion relation is proposed to realize the omnidirectional gap for the design of omnidirectional reflectors and filters. It is demonstrated that this 1DPC can result in a similar zero average index (zero-n¯) gap usually appearing in the 1DPC containing isotropic left-handed materials. The properties of zero-n¯ gap and defect modes of this photonic crystal are studied in detail. The edge of this zero-n¯ gap is insensitive to incident angle and polarization of light in contrast to the Bragg gap. When a defect layer is introduced into the 1DPC, a defect mode appears inside the omnidirectional gap. The spectral position of defect mode is found to be weakly dependent on the incident angle of light and nearly invariant to the scale length of photonic crystal.

Single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are a key underpinning technology to many existing and emerging applications, including LIDAR for 3D imaging as well as quantum imaging, quantum encryption and quantum information applications. There is a growing demand for low-cost LIDAR systems for autonomous vehicles, particularly in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral range, which enables long-range measurements whilst complying with eye-safety regulations and offers enhanced transmission through atmospheric obscurants like smoke and haze compared to systems operating in the near-infrared. Furthermore, for quantum-key distribution, single photons must be measured at telecoms wavelengths for compatibility with optical fibre networks. Ge-on-Si SPADs offer significant potential for low-cost SWIR single photon detection, with the ability to meet the price points required for these large emerging markets thanks to Si foundry compatibility. This contrasts with state-of-the-art SWIR SPADs based on InGaAs/InP, which are not only expensive but suffer from the effects of afterpulsing.Here, we present an overview of our work on the design, fabrication and characterisation of pseudo-planar Ge-on-Si detectors, with both operation in the Geiger mode (i.e. SPADs), as well as linear mode for avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The pseudo-planar SPAD design resulted in a step-change in performance compared to mesa-based SPADs, leading to high single-photon detection efficiencies (SPDEs) of 38 % at 1310 nm wavelength, and ultimately low noise equivalent powers of 7.7x10-17 W/Hz0.5 in 26 µm diameter pixels at 125 K, with single photon detection demonstrated up to 165 K. This was achieved by local ion-implantation of a charge-sheet layer, used to mediate the electric field between the Si avalanche layer and the Ge absorber, which in conjunction with a local p+Ge etched contact layer enabled a reduced E-field at etched sidewalls. These devices demonstrated over 100 X improvement in NEP compared to the most comparable Ge-on-Si mesa devices, and showed reduced afterpulsing compared to commercial InGaAs/InP devices when run in nominally identical operating conditions.In order to further optimise the technology, and gain insight into the device dynamics, we have simulated SPADs using TCAD process and device simulators, and developed custom-code to solve triggering probabilities using McIntyre’s model to understand the sensitivities of the detectors to the device design. Simulations are compared to experimental DCR measurements to probe sensitivities to surface passivation and geometry scaling and reveal that surfaces do not appear to be the limiting factor on performance, therefore validating the pseudo-planar architecture. Furthermore, with these simulation techniques, we have investigated potential enhancements achievable by the inclusion of an etched photonic crystal nano-hole array, which is known to enhance absorption and will therefore enhance SPDE. Here, we demonstrate the design trade-offs between enhanced SPDE performance, and the degradation of DCR that can be induced by etching surfaces into the device active area.Finally, we present recent results on surface normal Ge-on-Si APDs using the pseudo-planar architecture in devices with 2 µm thick Ge absorbers. Here, the benefits of the device architecture are demonstrated to be applicable to high performance in the linear mode. Devices are measured at room-temperature, and demonstrate ~0.40 A/W responsivity at unity gain at 1550 nm wavelength, with a maximum avalanche gain of ~100, and excess noise of 3.1 at a gain of 20; to our knowledge a record for any Ge-on-Si APD.

Optical wireless communication (OWC) has attracted more and more attention in recent decades. One promising method of improving the sensitivity of the receivers in OWC system is the utilization of the single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD). However, due to the non-linear effects induced by the dead time, the performance of SPAD-based receivers is significantly degraded in high incident power regime. Recently, we proposed a novel hybrid SPAD/PD receiver in which the receiver can adaptively switch between the SPAD- and PD-mode based on the instantaneous received optical power. In addition, a variable optical attenuator (VOA) is applied to optimize the performance of the SPAD unit. In this work, the superiority of the proposed hybrid receiver is experimentally demonstrated. For a data rate transmission of 450 Mbps, it is demonstrated that the proposed receiver significantly outperforms the traditional PD and SPAD array receiver in terms of the BER performance and can greatly extend the receiver dynamic range to reliably operate at both extremes of the incident light levels.

지상 광무선 통신에서 대기의 교란 및 대기 입자에 의한 광의 감쇄가 있을 때, 대기교란의 강도 및 가시도가 수신 광 강도에 미치는 영향을 해석하였다. 광신호는 On-Off Keying(OOK), Pulse Position Modulation(PPM) 및 Digital Pulse Interval Modulation(DPIM)의 방식으로 변조하였다. 교란대기 하에서 각 변조방식에 대해 광 전송 거리에 따른 광수신 전력을 계산하고 이를 이용하여 전송거리에 따른 패킷 오류율(packet error rate: PER)을 계산하였다. 광신호를 전송하기 위한 광원의 파장은 850nm, 1310nm 및 1550nm을 선택하였다. 대기는 약 교란 상태로 가정하여 대기 굴절률 구조상수 <TEX>$Cn2{\approx}10-14m-2/3$</TEX>, 대기의 가시도 V=2km로 하였다. 약교란 대기 상태에서 세가지 변조방식 중 DPIM 방식이 우수하며, 광 신호의 전송을 위한 파장으로는 1550nm가 PER 성능이 우수함을 알 수 있었다. In the terrestrial optical wireless communication(OWC), the performance is affected by atmospheric turbulence and particles in the air. The received signal power loss mainly is caused by turbulence and scattering. To minimize the adverse atmospheric effects, the OWC used optical signal modulation, such as OOK, PPM and DPIM. In this paper, the packet error rate(PER) was analyzed above three modulation methods to ground optical link in atmospheric turbulence, scattering and link distance. The OWC system used three wavelengths which are 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm. I assumed the atmospheric turbulence intensity is weak, so the refractive index is <TEX>$Cn2{\approx}10-14m-2/3$</TEX> and the visibility is 2km. The numerical results shown that the L-DPIM scheme and the wavelength 1550nm are better than other modulation methods and wavelengths.

This paper describes the design and performance of a 10-Gb/s laser diode (LD) transmitter and avalanche photodiode (APD) receiver, both of which are based on GaAs MESFET IC's. The LD transmitter consists of a strained MQW distributed-feedback LD and one chip LD driver IC. The module output power is +4.6 dBm at 10 Gb/s. The APD receiver consists of an InGaAsP/InAl/As superlattice-APD and an IC-preamplifier with the 10-Gb/s receiver sensitivity of /spl minus/27.4 dBm. As for the LD transmitter, we discuss the optimum impedance-matching design from the viewpoint of high-speed interconnection between LD and driver IC's. As for the APD receiver, the key issue is input impedance design of preamplifier IC, considering noise and bandwidth characteristics. Total performance of the transmitter and receiver is verified by a 10-Gb/s transmission experiment and a penalty-free 10-Gb/s fiber-optic link over 80 km of conventional single-mode fiber is successfully achieved. >

Performance analysis and experimental verification of SPAD receivers without photon counting for optical wireless communications

This study presents a scalable inter-satellite optical wireless communication (IS-OWC) system based on coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) and high-power erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) to support high-bandwidth data transmission to address 6G and non-terrestrial network (NTN) backhaul needs. An 18-channel CWDM arrangement supports an aggregated data rate of 180 Gbps through 5500 km optical wireless link. Every channel takes up a unique wavelength (1270–1610 nm with 20 nm separation), designed to provide maximum interference protection and high spectral efficiency. Signal amplification is ensured by EDFAs to provide data continuity over long distances. Performance parameters like bit error ratio (BER) and Q-factor exhibit reliable transmission up to 4500 km and degradation beyond this distance to warrant error correction and sophisticated modulation to support far-range use cases. The study demonstrates the promise of CWDM-based IS-OWC with EDFAs to be an economical high-speed option for 6G and NTN backhaul to offer mass-scale access in remote and underserved regions.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring the application of single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) in optical wireless communication (OWC). As a photon counting detector, SPAD can provide much higher sensitivity compared to the other commonly used photodetectors. However, SPAD-based receivers suffer from significant dead-time-induced non-linear distortion and signal dependent noise. In this work, we propose a novel SPAD-based OWC system in which the non-linear distortion caused by dead time can be successfully eliminated by the pre-distortion of the signal at the transmitter. In addition, another system with joint pre-distortion and noise normalization functionality is proposed. Thanks to the additional noise normalization process, for the transformed signal at the receiver, the originally signal dependent noise becomes signal independent so that the conventional signal detection techniques designed for AWGN channels can be employed to decode the signal. Our numerical results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed SPAD-based systems compared to the existing systems in terms of BER performance and achievable data rate.

Optical wireless communication (OWC) is seen as an interesting technology to complement radio-based systems for vehicular communication. Along with sensors like radar, lidar or cameras, vehicular communication is a cornerstone of the future autonomous vehicles. Automotive Lighting - Magneti Marelli has thus gathered all these technologies into a single automotive light called Smart Corner™. This paper details the architecture, integration and performances of the OWC system used in the third generation Smart Corner™presented at the 2019 Consumer Electronic Show (CES). Based on an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation combined with channel estimation and bit loading, this system maintains a null packet error rate (PER) over 2 m at more than 100 Mbps and over 15 m at 14 Mbps, which shows it could provide a vital redundant communication link in several automotive use cases.

The development of two high-speed monolithically integrated optical receivers for wireless optical communication is presented from the design phase to the measurement. The first high-speed receiver is the modified previous design with an integrated 200-µm diameter avalanche photodiode. The redesign improved the optical sensitivity by 3.7 dB resulting in the sensitivity of -35.5 dBm at 1 Gbit/s. The second receiver is an avalanche photodiode receiver with increased photodiode diameter of 400 µm with a sensitivity of -34.7 dBm at 1 Gbit/s. The receivers were employed in wireless optical communication experiments under various ambient light conditions. The maximum error free transmission distance is 22 m at 1 Gbit/s OWC link. The limits of the used standard 0.35 µm HV CMOS technology are estimated in terms of maximum possible detection area of avalanche photodiode receiver still capable for Gbit data rates.