Advanced technologies for coherent access networks

Coherent technologies are exhibiting the flexibility and performance required to address the next generation of optical access networks, where the residential, business and mobile backhaul will converge. The use of these technologies for access networks is approached from several angles, including affordable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and cost-effective transceivers are met.

In this work, we will present different technologies we have been working on lately, as a low cost 2x3 coherent PIC receiver, which allows an increment of the overall capacity of the network. We will also show cost-effective coherent transceiver components, e.g. directly-phase modulated VCSELs transmitters and/or quasi-coherent receivers, which can play an important role in reducing cost while still fulfilling the future capacity.

New advanced modulation formats may also contribute to this goal, by allowing the introduction of new concepts as pay-as-you-grow upgrades through the employment of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique combined with e.g. carrierless amplitude phase modulation (CAP). Finally, we will also study the use of intensity modulated spectrally efficient formats as OFDM, FBMC, UFMC and GFDM in an optical access network architecture.