10-Gb/s Access Network Architecture Based on Micro-Ring Modulators With Colorless ONU and Mitigated Rayleigh Backscattering

The authors demonstrate an optical access network architecture utilizing the wavelength-selective behavior of micro-ring modulators to achieve Single-SideBand (SSB) modulation, which generates a downstream signal and simultaneously provides a centrally distributed carrier for upstream phase-remodulation. Cascaded silicon micro-rings are capable for Complementary Metal - Oxide - Semiconductor (CMOS) integration and multichannel SSB modulations which can help to significantly reduce the cost of the Wavelength-Division-Multiplexed (WDM) Passive Optical Networks (PONs). They further study the power penalty induced by Rayleigh backscattering from the centrally distributed carrier and show a power penalty of less than 0.6 dB when propagating 43 km of a single feeder fiber.