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Modulation Formats and Receiver Concepts for Optical Transmission Systems

Details are subject to change.

  • Instructors

    Peter Winzer, Nubis Communications, USA
    Xi (Vivian) Chen, Nokia Bell Labs, USA

  • Day & Time

    21.09.2022, 08:30 – 12:30

  • Location

    Room Hongkong

  • Description

    The ever-increasing traffic demands in carrier networks, driven by emerging data-centric services and applications, have led to intense research and development in the area of high-capacity (> 100 Tbit/s), high-speed (> 1 Tb/s per wavelength) optical transport networks. In order to enable such high capacities and speeds over appreciable transmission distances (> 1,000 km), spectrally efficient yet impairment-tolerant transmission technologies have moved into the focus of optical communications research and have led to considerable innovation in modulation and detection strategies. This course gives an overview of modulation formats and multiplexing techniques for optical networking applications, both from a conceptually fundamental and from a state-of-the-art technological point of view. The discussed modulation formats include intensity modulation, phase modulation, and quadrature amplitude modulation; multiplexing techniques include wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), polarization division multiplexing (PDM), subcarrier multiplexing, discrete multi-tone (DMT) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), and space division multiplexing (SDM). The course covers basic optical receiver design and optimization principles, both for direct-detection and digital coherent (intradyne) receivers, including the underlying digital electronic signal processing (DSP) at both the receiver and the transmitter, as well as some fundamentals of error correcting coding techniques from a systems perspective. Finally, the course highlights the interplay of modulation format, receiver design, and the wide variety of transmission impairments found in optically routed long-haul networks and points to latest research trends in optical modulation and multiplexing.

  • Instructor Biographies

    Peter J. Winzer received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. From 2000 through 2019 worked at Bell Labs in NJ, where he performed research on fiber-optic communication systems and networks, set multiple high-speed optical transmission records, and contributed to optical communications product developments. Following his involvement in estimating the optical fiber Shannon capacity, he investigated space-division multiplexing (SDM) to scale optical transport systems. In 2020 he founded the start-up Nubis Communications. Dr. Winzer has widely published and patented and is actively involved with the IEEE and with Optica. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Lightwave Technology (2013 to 2018), was Program Chair of ECOC 2009, and Program/General Chair of OFC 2015/2017. A Highly Cited Researcher, Bell Labs Fellow, Fellow of the IEEE and Optica, and an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering, he received multiple recognitions for his work, including the John Tyndall Award and an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Eindhoven.

    Xi (Vivian) Chen received her B.E. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the National University of Defense Technology, China, in 2008, and her Ph.D. degree from The University of Melbourne, Australia, in 2012. She worked from 2013 to 2015 was a Research Fellow in The University of Melbourne, conducting research on optical fiber transmission. Since 2015, she has been with Nokia Bell Labs and she is currently the Department Head for Opto-Electronic Subsystems Department at Nokia Bell Labs. Her research interests include fiber transmission, modulation format, digital signal processing, ultra-high symbol rate signal generation and detection. She is a senior member if IEEE, and a recipient of Young Investigator Award (2021) from IEEE Photonics Society.

  • Intended Audience

    This advanced-beginner course is intended for a diverse audience including lightwave system researchers and engineers as well as opto-electronic subsystem designers. Some basic knowledge of optical modulation and detection technologies will help in better understanding the course but is not a prerequisite.