Optical Modulation Amplitude

vs.
Extinction Ratio

Mark Donhowe
W.L. Gore & Associates

 W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., 1999

 Extinction Ratio Power Penalty
l Recognizes power in ‘0’ bit is wasted.
l Usually attributed to receiver sensitivity.

Extinction Ratio Power Penalty

Power Penalty = 10 log ER – 1
ER + 1 10
9
8

Power Penalty (dB)

7
6
5

1.1 dB @ 9 dB ER 4
3
2.2 dB @ 6 dB ER 2
1
4.8 dB @ 3 dB ER 0
0 3 6 9 12 15
Extinction Ratio (dB)

 W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., 1999

 Optical Modulation Amplitude -
Justification
l Photoreceivers respond to signal swing not
average power.
• Differential input.
Circuitry responds the same to
‘0’ = 0 µW, ‘1’ = 40 µW
‘0’ = 40 µW, ‘1’ = 80 µW
l Receivers are dominated by thermal noise.
• Additional shot noise at higher currents negligible.
l Receiver maximum power limited by current in
‘1’ bit, not differential current in some receiver
designs.

 W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., 1999

Optical Modulation Amplitude - Why?
l More freedom to set bias and modulation
currents in transmitter ⇒ lower cost.
• Trade-off between ER vs. jitter.
• Trade-off between ER vs. Tx min. avg. power (at a
given optical modulation amplitude).
l Already dispersion limited at 1 GHz data rates,
need even lower jitter numbers at higher data
rates.
l Receiver performance not compromised.
• ER power penalty absorbed by transmitter.
• May make receiver testing simpler (easier to adjust
OMA than ER).

 W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., 1999

 Effect of laser bias -- the benefits of specifying OMA
Low bias filtered Tx Rx output from low bias Tx

Med bias filtered Tx Rx output from med bias Tx

Optical Modulation Amplitude - Proposal
For 1.0625 Gbps, 7 dB plant budget: 155 µW to 31 µW
‘1’ = 155 µW
ER ∞ ‘0’ = 0 µW
Pave = -11.1 dBm

Tx Min ‘1’ = 177 µW

ER 9 dB ‘0’ = 22 µW
Pave = -10.0 dBm
155 uW

‘1’ = 207 µW
ER 6 dB ‘0’ = 52 µW
Pave = -8.9 dBm

‘1’ = 31 µW
ER ∞ ‘0’ = 0 µW
Pave = -18.1 dBm

Rx Min ‘1’ = 35.4 µW

ER 9 dB ‘0’ = 4.4 µW
Pave = -17.0 dBm
31 uW

‘1’ = 41.3 µW
ER 6 dB ‘0’ = 10.3 µW
Pave = -15.9 dBm

 W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., 1999