Gigabit Indoor Free-Space Optical Communication Enhanced by Dynamic Beam Control

We present details of our work which has been focused on improving the efficiency and scan rate of the photo-injected Fresnel zone plate antenna (piFZPA) technique which utilizes commercially available visible display technologies. This approach presents a viable low-cost solution for non-mechanical beam steering, suitable for many applications at (sub) mm-wave frequencies that require rapid beam steering capabilities in order to meet their technological goals, such as imaging, surveillance, and remote sensing. This method has the advantage of being comparatively low-cost, is based on a simple and flexible architecture, enabling rapid and precise arbitrary beam forming, and which is scalable to higher frame-rates and higher submm-wave frequencies. We discuss the various optimization stages of a range of piFZPA designs that implement fast visible projection displays, enabling up to 30,000 beams per second. We also outline the suitability of this technology across mm-wave and submm-wave frequencies as a low-cost and simple solution for dynamic optoelectronic beam steering.

Guest Editorial

Nowadays, the coherent optical communication system plays an important role in communication field because of large capability and bandwidth. A coherent optical communication, based on high-order modulation and digital signal processing technologies, consists of optical transmitters, optical fiber lines, optical amplifiers and optical receivers. In the high-speed coherent optical communication system, the phase noise from the transmitter laser and the local oscillator laser can significantly degrade the performance of the signal transmission and detection, especially for the systems using high-order modulation format, such as m-ary phase shift keying (mPSK) and m-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (m-QAM). Therefore, investigations on laser phase noise compensation algorithm based on digital signal processing technologies has become more and more significant. In this work, a multi-ring carrier phase recovery algorithm is developed for compensating the laser phase noise in optical fiber communication systems using high-order modulation formats. Degradations on the performance of communication systems due to the laser phase noise have been investigated. The system performance using the proposed algorithm and the conventional Viterbi-Viterbi algorithm were also evaluated in 9-channel and 15- channel, 32-Gbaud, Nyquist-spaced QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM and 256-QAM coherent transmission systems with considering the impact of the laser phase noise. It is found that the phase noise leads to stricter constraints on the linewidths of transmitter-side and receiver-side lasers, and it can greatly degrade the achievable information rates in communication systems. Besides, compared to the conventional Viterbi-Viterbi algorithm, which is usually applied in the QPSK system, our proposed algorithm can also well mitigate the laser phase noise in 16-QAM, 64-QAM and 256-QAM optical communication systems.
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光纤通信已经成为目前通信网络发展的主流方向。但是随着光纤通信系统向着超远距离、超大容量、超高速率的方向发展，光纤色散已经成为其巨大的阻碍。如何有效地控制光通信系统中产生的色散，使光信号在大容量、高速率、长距离传输中无误码地到达接收端，已经成为人们迫切需要解决的问题。对光通信系统中的色散进行监测并进行动态补偿的研究，使得超大容量、超长距离、超高速率的光纤通信系统成为可能，有助于最终实现全光智能自动交换网络。在众多测量光纤色散的方法中，调制相移法具有结构简单，可靠性强等优点。本文中，我们对使用调制相移法测量光纤色散进行了研究和仿真，讨论了在不同光纤长度和不同调制频率下，影响调制相移法测量结果精度的因素。通过适当地选取调制频率，我们可以使用调制相移法测得不同光纤长度下色散的精确值。另外在本文中，我们通过仿真验证了调制相移法可以测量具有任意色散–波长曲线的光纤。因此在实际应用中，调制相移法是可以应用于高精度光纤色散的测量。 Optical fiber communication is the mainstream of communication development at present. However, with the development of optical fiber communication system which trending towards ultra-long length, ultra-large capacity and ultra-high speed, fiber dispersion turned to be a great obstacle. How to control the dispersion created in the optical communication system effectively while force optical signal to reach the receiving end in high-capacity, high-rate and error-free long-distance transmission has increasingly become a research focus of optical fiber communication systems. It is a great significance to research about monitor and dynamic compensate dispersion in the optical communication systems, so that the ultra-large capacity, ultra-long length and ultra-high speed optical fiber communication systems would not be impossible, all-optical intelligent network with automatic switching functions would come true. Among the varieties of methods to measure fiber dispersion, the phase-modulation shift method is the unique one, which has the advantages of simple structure, high reliability. In this paper, we make a research and simulate to use the phase-modulation shift method, meanwhile we also discuss about the factors which affect the accuracy of the results in the different fiber lengths and modulation frequencies. By the means that selecting appropriate modulation frequency, we can use modulation phase shift method to measure the exact value of dispersion comes out from different lengths of fiber. Moreover, this paper also proves that the phase-modulation shift method is able to measure the optical fiber with arbitrary dispersion-wavelength curve, which is already verified by our simulation. Therefore, the phase-modulation shift method is well to be applied to take practice in the high-precision fiber dispersion measurement.

The efficient and accurate evaluation of the transmission performance of high-capacity optical communication systems has always attracted significant research attentions. The enhanced Gaussian noise (EGN) model is considered as an excellent solution to predict the system performance taking into account linear and nonlinear transmission impairments. Since the conventional form of the EGN model is complicated and intractable for a fast computation, the closed-form simplification has been regarded as a direction to significantly reduce the computational complexity. However, the accuracy of such a closed-form EGN model becomes a main concern in the application of ultra-wideband optical communication systems. In this work, we have investigated the accuracy of the closed-form EGN model for ultra-wideband optical fiber communication systems, where the performance of the system using electronic dispersion compensation, multi-channel nonlinearity compensation and full-field nonlinearity compensation has been evaluated in terms of symbol rate, number of channels and signal power. Our work will provide an insight on the application of the EGN model in next-generation ultra-wideband long-haul optical fiber communication networks.

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.

Dynamic phase-only beam shaping with a liquid crystal spatial light modulator is a powerful technique for tailoring the intensity profile or wave front of a beam. While shaping and controlling the light field is a highly researched topic, dynamic nonlinear beam shaping has hardly been explored so far. One potential reason is that generating the second harmonic is a degenerate process as it mixes two fields at the same frequency. To overcome this problem, we propose the use of type II phase matching as a control mechanism to distinguish between the two fields. Our experiments demonstrate that distributions of arbitrary intensity can be shaped in the frequency-converted field at the same quality as for linear beam shaping and with conversion efficiencies similar to without beam shaping. We envision this method as a milestone toward beam shaping beyond the physical limits of liquid crystal displays by facilitating dynamic phase-only beam shaping in the ultraviolet spectral range.

The design, fabrication, optical and mechanical characteristics, and reliability of several kinds of the latching-type single-mode-fiber (SMF) switch are reported. Practical applications of these switches to optical fiber communication systems and optical testing and sensing systems are also demonstrated. In the developed switches, a movable fiber is actuated by the magnetic attraction force produced between permanent magnets and a micromagnetic-alloy pipe fixed around the fiber. The ultralight micropipes (0.13 (i.d.)-0.18 (o.d.)/spl times/5/sup L/ mm, 400 /spl mu/g) were successfully massproduced by a fiber-micromachining technique based on metallizing and etching of sacrificial fibers. We used a refractive-index-matching oil in the switches to reduce insertion loss and reflected light. The several hundred fabricated 1/spl times/2 standard SMF switches exhibited excellent optical characteristics, such as typical insertion loss of 0.36 dB, return loss of 49 dB and crosstalk of -70 dB. They exhibited stable latching-type operation with loss changes of below 0.1 dB during 10/sup 5/ switching operations with minimum driving power of 9 mW and switching time of 2 ms. The switches were subjected to endurance (10/sup 8/ switching operations), heat cycles, shock and vibration, and long-term (6.5 years) intermittent operation tests, and revealed no significant optical or mechanical degradation. A 1/spl times/8 latching-type SMF switch was constructed using seven 1/spl times/2 switches cascaded in three stages and uniform insertion losses of below 0.7 dB and return losses of over 47 dB at each of eight ports were obtained. The 1/spl times/2 and 1/spl times/8 switches have been applied to NTT's optical communication systems. We fabricated a compact and cost-effective wavelength switch by installing microfilter chips in the 1/spl times/2 switch and confirmed stable latching-type wavelength switching between 1.3- and 1.55-/spl mu/m optical signals. We also designed and fabricated a polarization-maintaining switch using polarization maintaining and absorption reducing (PANDA) fibers and confirmed stable polarization maintaining switching operations. These switches are applicable not only to optical fiber communication systems, but also to optical testing and sensing systems.

Study on the regulation of amplitude for the optical soliton through nonlinear effects in the optical communication system

Since the power of continuous wave laser sources have reached one kilowatt, beam shaping is an important topic in the sector of laser material processing. The high intensity allows the increase of process speed, but the extreme local overheating often decreases the quality. Typically beam shaping solutions use a static beam adaptation by optical elements. For laser cutting for example, the increase of sheet thickness requires larger Rayleigh length what will be achieved by adapting the conditions of the incident ray at the focalization element. In this case the cutting quality increases but the cutting speed decreases. The advantage of high intensity gets lost. The dynamic beam shaping is known from the electron beam, and already applied in laser hardening and welding applications using galvanometer scanners. While the galvo-systems reached the physical limitations, the frequency is not high enough to achieve the desired effects. Resonance galvanometer scanners are limited by the atmosphere damping, too.This paper will introduce a new possibility of dynamic beam shaping, using MEMS technology in a low pressure atmosphere. It describes the reached steps to transfer the technology from display and sensor applications with low apertures and laser power to laser material applications with large apertures and high laser power. Finally, the technology possibilities are disclosed for the complete field of laser application.Since the power of continuous wave laser sources have reached one kilowatt, beam shaping is an important topic in the sector of laser material processing. The high intensity allows the increase of process speed, but the extreme local overheating often decreases the quality. Typically beam shaping solutions use a static beam adaptation by optical elements. For laser cutting for example, the increase of sheet thickness requires larger Rayleigh length what will be achieved by adapting the conditions of the incident ray at the focalization element. In this case the cutting quality increases but the cutting speed decreases. The advantage of high intensity gets lost. The dynamic beam shaping is known from the electron beam, and already applied in laser hardening and welding applications using galvanometer scanners. While the galvo-systems reached the physical limitations, the frequency is not high enough to achieve the desired effects. Resonance galvanometer scanners are limited by the atmosphere damping, too.T...

Clouds are key driver in the performance of free space optical communication (FSOC) systems. Clouds are composed of liquid water and/or ice crystals and depending on the physical thickness can produce atmospheric fades easily exceeding 10 dB. In these more common cases, impacts on FSOC systems may be severe. On the other hand, there are times when cloud fades may be as low as 1 or 2 dB as a result of thin, ice crystal based cirrus clouds. In these cases, the impacts on FSOC communication collectors may be limited. The ability to characterize the distribution and frequency of clouds are critical in order to understand and predict atmospheric impacts. A cloud detection system has been developed and applied to produce high resolution climatologies in order to investigate these impacts. The cloud detection system uses geostationary, multi-spectral satellite imagery at horizontal resolutions up to one kilometer and temporal resolutions up to fifteen minutes. Multispectral imagery from the visible wavelengths through the longwave infrared is used to produce individual cloud tests which are combined to produce a composite cloud analysis. The result represents a high spatial and temporal resolution climatology that can be used to derive accurate Cloud Free Line of Sight (CFLOS) statistics in order to quantify atmospheric effects on optical communication systems. The Lasercom Network Optimization Tool (LNOT) is used along with a mission CONOPS and the cloud database to find configuration of geographically diverse ground sites which provide a high availability system.

Phase change materials (PCMs) are attracting more and more attentions as enabling materials for tunable nanophotonics. They can be processed into functional photonic devices through customized laser writing, providing great flexibility for fabrication and reconfiguration. Lithium Niobate (LN) has excellent nonlinear and electro-optical properties, but is difficult to process, which limits its application in nanophotonic devices. In this paper, we combine the emerging low-loss phase change material with LN and propose a new type of high Q resonant metasurface. Simulation results show that the -LN metasurface has extremely narrow linewidth of 0.096 nm and high quality (Q) factor of 15,964. With LN as the waveguide layer, strong nonlinear properties are observed in the hybrid metasurface, which can be employed for optical switches and isolators. By adding a pair of Au electrodes on both sides of the LN, we can realize dynamic electro-optical control of the resonant metasurface. The ultra-low loss of , and its combination with LN, makes it possible to realize a new family of high Q resonant metasurfaces for actively tunable nanophotonic devices with widespread applications including optical switching, light modulation, dynamic beam steering, optical phased array and so on.

The application of very fast image detectors to the fine tracking system of free space optical (FSO) communication has been demonstrated in several projects. In the near surface of the earth, the influence of the atmosphere on the optical communication system must be considered. The optical communication system must be designed to be able to suppress the influence of atmospheric turbulence. The authors have used the high-speed CMOS image sensor for the fine tracking system of 15 km FSO communication demonstration. In this study, the authors present the atmospheric influence on the fine tracking detector, and find out the tracking algorithm for the fine tracking detector to detect the centre of the received spot. On analysis of atmosphere turbulence influenced and the experiment data, the authors find that using centroid algorithm in the fine tracking system is better than the centre of mass algorithm. They proposed a new centroid algorithm in the fine tracking system and use this algorithm in the demonstration system. They found it can minimise the atmosphere turbulence influence.

Bit error rate (BER) performances of DPSK are researched for space uplink optical communication system. Considering further phase fluctuation effect based on the traditional atmospheric turbulence model, BER performance versus transmission power, zenith angle, frequency deviation, divergence angle and transmission diameter are discussed for different wavelengths. Simulations, especially, indicate that considering the phase fluctuation effect, BER performance is sensitive for low frequency deviation. It also confirms that wavelength of 1550nm on communication system is still a good choice for the better BER performance. This work is helpful for enhancing transmission quality and the design of space optical communication system.

In optical communication systems, mitigating transmission errors caused by channel noise remains a critical challenge. This paper proposes bit repetition coding as a simple and effective method to enhance signal fidelity at the receiver. Our approach achieves a significant reduction in the bit error rate (BER), with simulations showing a decrease from 10<sup>–3</sup> to 10<sup>–10</sup> as the repetition count increases from 3 to 7. Furthermore, the clarity of the received signal improves consistently, with errors approaching zero at optimal repetition levels. This balance between simplicity and performance demonstrates the potential of repetition coding as a robust solution to transmission noise. Beyond its practical benefits, the study opens new pathways for designing resilient optical communication systems and highlights the relevance of repetition coding in improving both system reliability and efficiency. Future research is encouraged to explore its integration into next-generation optical networks.