International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT) 228

Volume 2 Issue 7, October 2014, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

COHERENT OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IN DIGITAL

SIGNAL PROCESSING
K. Nordin1, N. M. Z. Hashim2, S. Idris3, A. M. Darsono4, A. Salleh5, N. R. Mohamad6
1-6
(Faculty of Electronic and Computer Engineering
UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Hang Tuah Jaya, Melaka, Malaysia)

ABSTRACT
For the future of optical communication systems, Digital
signal processing (DSP) is an enabling technology. This
system is the most promising widely viewed in the next
generation for long-haul transport systems. In past, the
digital carrier phase estimation demonstration in
coherent receivers has stimulated an extensive attention
in coherent optical communications again. In this paper,
the emergence of DSP tutorial will discussed before
surveying in the algorithms required in digital coherent
transceivers for optical communication systems.
KeywordsCoherent,
Detection,
Processing (DSP), Signal

I.

Digital

Signal

INTRODUCTION

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) emerged as an

enabling technology for high capacity optical
transmission systems since optical communication has
undergone the evolution over the last decade. As a
promising technique, digital signal processing is under
consideration for optical signal modulation, fiber
transmission, and signal detection and dispersion
compensation. Coherent detection and DSP combination
is expected to become part of optical communication
systems generation and provide new capabilities that
were not possible without the phase of the optical signal
detection. Lately, digital coherent optical communication
is the main technology for optical transport networks [1].
In future of optical networks, capacity increase
will need a flexible bandwidth transmitter which is
dynamically allocates bandwidth by user demand. The
function is to further increase the networks spectral
efficiency [2]. DSP has increase become embedded into
optical transceivers when the first application specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) implementing advanced
algorithms appeared. ASIC are designed for 11.5Gsymbol/s polarization-multiplexed QPSK signal has
been developed, and digital coherent receiver real time
operation at 46 Gbit/s bit rate has been demonstration
striated by using an ASIC. In modern coherent optical
communications history, the achievement is really
milestone [3]. Nascent technology culmination is the

digital coherent receivers for DSP essential to operate

with allow 40Gbits/s, 100Gbit/s and to deployed in core
networks over fiber. It is due to polarization-mode
dispersion (PMD) not support 10Gbit/s by using
conventional technique.
The basic of the principle coherent optical
detection is coherent measure the complex amplitude of
the optical signal with the shot noise limited sensitivity.
This is how information on the state of polarization can
be extracted by polarization diversity uses. Coherent
detection associated of DSP can be very advantageous.
To increase optical receiver sensitivity and permitting a
greater span loss to be tolerated, coherent detection is a
promising technology. Quadrature amplitude modulation
(QAM) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) are an
example of supported of more spectrally efficient
modulations format by coherent detection. Coherent
detection also allows digital signal processing for
transmission impairments compensation such as
chromatic dispersion (CD), PMD, signal carrier offset
and spectrum restricting instead of requesting expensive
physical impairments compensation links.
Next generation of optical transmission systems
need adaptive fitting for time varying transmission
impairments. For example, channel spectrum narrowing
and random phase noise. DSP become more powerful
solution for the future optical transmission links. For this
tutorial, the aim is to outline the development and issues
associate details with realizing a digital coherent
transceiver.

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Fig. 1: Generic coherent system [8]

International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT) 229

Volume 2 Issue 7, October 2014, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

In Figure 1, in a real arrangement, this black box

embodies a number of complex functions. As well the
purposes that are additionally performed in a classical
arrangement, such as data aggregation, coding, and
framing, supplementary steps demand to be gave in a
transmitter for convoluted modulation formats, as it is
normally utilized in a consistent system. Early of all, the
data have to be mapped to constellation points and, in
case of several messenger systems, to frequencies.
Often, the data are additionally differentially preceded to
cope alongside period slips across receiver-side
messenger synchronization. In a subsequent pace, the
mapped data could be processed digitally, for instance, it
could be pre-distorted to compensate for the nonlinearity
of amplifiers and modulators, or it might be precompensated for deterministic fiber results, for instance,
chromatic dispersion (CD).
The processing of the preceding delineated data
aftermath in four digital data streams those afterward
demand to be modified into analog data. In case of
single-carrier QPSK indicating, every single data stream
carries merely a solitary bit each signal, and
consequently, does not need a DAC. This reduces the
intricacy, and therefore, power consumption of the
transmitter significantly. But even for multicarrier
arrangements [6] or modulation formats alongside higher
order than QPSK, the presentation necessities alongside
respect to resolution and conversion speed are normally
less restrictive for the send DAC than for the accord AD
converter (ADC).
For instance, for a 16-QAM transmitter lacking
preprocessing, only 2 bits (four levels) at a conversion
speed equivalent to the symbol rate are needed, as at the
receiver side, typically 68 bits at a sampling rate of
twice the data rate are needed [8].

II.

INTERFACING
ANALOG
DIGITAL DOMAINS

AND

To apply DSP, the key element has been the

availability of high speed, time interleaved CMOS
digital to analog and the important is analog to digital
converters (ADC). The real-time sampling oscilloscope
is currently test equipment that led the way in the ADC
development technology. The first generation 20GSa/s 8
bit ADCs in 2003 were emerged in test equipment by
using time-interleaving in 180nm CMOS. Test
equipment has move to 160GSa/s in 2012, increase ADC
rate sampling at steady rate of 25% per annum over the
same period.
60GSa/s is common place for 100GbE
transceivers using PDM-QPSK while ADCs sampling
rates lag test equipment. Test equipment with rates of

50GSa/s is only emerging even though 40GSa/s and

60GSa/s digital to analog converters (DAC) s already
exist in commercial products in contrast for DAC [4].

III.

DIRECT DETECTION SYSTEMS IN

DSP

The detect detection systems is a first

application of digital signal processing. The primary
application increases the range of uncompensated
transmission. Maximum likelihood sequence estimators
(MLSE) include at the receiver to pre-compensation of
chromatic dispersion by coherently modulating both the
phase and amplitude at the transmitter in addition. The
exponential increase in complexity with transmission
distance resulting in commercial MLSE is one of the
limitations of MLSE. It is being unable to achieve
uncompensated
transmission
over
more
than
metropolitan distances. With transmission distance since
it acts on the coherent field, the complexity of precompensation at the transmitter.
Coherent detection is the most advanced
detection method. The receiver computes decision
variables based on the recovery of the full electric field.
Its contains amplitude and phase information. In
modulation formats, coherent detection allows the
greatest flexibility that information can be encoded in
amplitude and phase or in both in-phase (I) and
quadrature (Q) components of a carrier. Knowledge of
the carrier phase need in the coherent receiver detection
because of received signal is demodulated by a local
oscillator (LO). LO function to serves as an absolute
phase reference. Usually, carrier synchronization has
been performed by a phase-locked loop (PLL). In optical
systems, it can used an optical PLL (OPLL) which
synchronizes the frequency and phase of the LO laser
with the TX laser. The system also can used an electrical
PLL where the function to down conversion using a
free-running LO laser. It followed by a second-stage
demodulation by an analog or digital electrical VCO
whose frequency and phase is synchronized.
Duplex systems can have an advantage by using
an electrical PLL which the transceiver can use one laser
as both TX and LO. Delay requirement is difficult to
satisfy due to PLLs are sensitive to propagation delay in
the feedback path. To fix this problem, the feed forward
(FF) carrier synchronization has the solution. In
addition, , FF can achieve better performance than a PLL
as a FF synchronizer uses both past and future symbols
to estimate the carrier phase. FF can only employ past
symbols due to it is function as a feedback system.
Normally, to perform in software, DSP has enabled
polarization alignment and carrier synchronization. A

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International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT) 230

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coherent transmission system and the model system are

shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
With both quadratures detected employing full
coherent detection that shown in Figure3, to gain 3 dB in
receiver sensitivity is possible. Polarization multiplexing
is available for additional spectral efficiency and
compensates ability to an arbitrarily high degree from
linear impairments. The most attractive possibility for
full coherent detection is about 100 Gb/s and above.

required for core if the networks at the transmitter are

also more efficient. At the transmitter, in contrast to the
general case, it occurs since the inputs are binary
removing the need for multiplication. With merely
summing a suitable combination of the tap weights,
convolution can be achieved. To control the optical
spectrum for non-binary modulation formats something
like 16- QAM, transmitter DSP has primarily focused on
pulse shaping. It implement by using FIR filters.

V.

Fig. 2 Coherent transmission system implements

Fig. 3 System model

Fig. 4 Quadrature coherent detection

IV.

COHERENT TRANSMITTERS IN DSP

Coherent transmitters allow a conventional

direct detection receiver to be employed at coherent
system in DSP. Modulated complex optical fields are
used in this situation. It was shown in a Cartesian MachZehnder modulator. An electrical drive signal modulates
the real part of the field and another electrical drive
signal modulates the imaginary part of the field. By
using finite impulse response (FIR) filter, it can achieve
chromatic dispersion pre-compensation.
This purpose can implement the complex
transfer function with the inverse chromatic dispersion.
The directly achievement for FIR filter implementation
in the time domain or the frequency domain are using
overlap methods. The time domain implementation can
be more efficient for the length of filter typically

COHERENT RECEIVERS IN DSP

Coherent detection of optical communication

signals has long been recognized to propose several
performances advantages over direct detection [5], but to
date it has not been used in fiber optic networks.
Coherent detection is sensitive to the amplitude and
phase of an optical signal and it can be used to notice
phase-encoded modulation formats like quadrature phase
shift keying (QPSK), binary phase shift keying (BPSK)
and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). These
formats give better receiver sensitivity than easy on-off
modulation.
QPSK and QAM permit many bits each signal to
be transmitted without a substantial degradation in
receiver sensitivity, by transmitting the information in
both quadrature components. Coherent detection replies
only to the optical spectrum in the instant area of the
local oscillator, so it is equivalent to encompassing a
narrow optical filter in the receiver. In fact coherent
detection is the only method that can notice information
spectral densities approaching the Shannon limit.
One more advantage of coherent over direct detection is
the potential of correcting fiber propagation impairments
like chromatic dispersion (CD) in the mechanical
domain. These advantages are all priceless in todays
fiber optic transmission systems, which use high channel
count wavelength division multiplexing above multi1000km distances. The outstanding disadvantage of
coherent detection is the complexity, and consequently
the price, of the receiver.

Fig 5 Typical DSP subsystems in a digital coherent

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Volume 2 Issue 7, October 2014, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

Based on Figure 5, inside a digital coherent

receiver there are several key subsystems, that could be
loosely tear in to those concerned alongside equalization
and those concerned alongside synchronization more
details of that could be discovered in. Equalization
algorithms are primarily concerned alongside
compensating for the imperfections in the optical
channel in supplement to those present in the physical
transmitter and receiver, fluctuating from timing and
amplitude correction for the high speed time interleaved
analog to digital converter and also to digital
compensation of residual chromatic dispersion.
After the signal has been equalized it is probable
for the synchronization algorithms to align the
oscillators, both mechanical and optical, thereby
mitigating the encounter of the difference in phase and
frequency amid the transmitter and receiver. Naturally
there are numerous probable variations of the structural
design of the DSP, for example one could select to
digitally compensate for the frequency offset, compare
than estimate the frequency offset to provide a control
signal for the local oscillator to hold the frequency offset
to within the range of the carrier phase estimation and
correction algorithm. As the last way, simplifies the DSP
the feedback induces coupled dynamics and
consequently care have to be seized to ensure that time
constants for every single subsystem are optimized to
ensure stable operation.

Fig. 6 DSP signal flow model

Hence for fast acquisition a feed onward
structure is needed, albeit at the price of higher DSP
complexity [6]. In the end the demodulated signal is
optimally decoded to produce the best estimate of the
sequence of bits encoded by the transmitter alongside the
coding overhead optimized for the working condition of
the system [7].
Estimation of power consumption is challenging
due to the largely parallel nature of the DSP that
frequently pushes the design instruments to their limits.
One of the challenges in approximating power
consumption is the paucity of data considering the
parameters for the power consumption and the
algorithms utilized in business digital coherent receivers.
The notable exclusion is the early commercially

obtainable 40Gbit/s application specific integrated

circuit (ASIC) projected by Nortel (now Ciena), for that
a significant amount of detail has been published.
Instituted on a preceding scrutiny [8] for the ASIC
projected in 90nm CMOS, the manipulation
consumption was manipulated by multiplications
alongside 2.7pJ utilized each real multiplication.

VI.

OPTICAL
COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS IN DSP

Applying DSP to optical transceivers has

revolutionized optical fiber communication systems
enabling transceivers to evolve to become software
defined. With this new possibilities such as cognitive
transceivers emerge, permitting for both software
describes webs and cognitive webs both in the core and
the admission networks. As we have concentrated
primarily on core webs going onward, DSP is probable
to be a key technology for optical admission webs, just
as it has completed for wireless admission networks [918].

VII.

CONCLUSION

Digital signal processing (DSP) is an enabling

technology for future optical communication system.
Over the last decade optical communications has
undergone a revolution, as digital signal processing
(DSP) emerged as an enabling technology for highcapacity optical transmission systems when the first
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
implementing advanced algorithms appeared, DSP has
increasingly become embedded into optical transceivers.
The culmination of this nascent technology is the digital
coherent receiver for which DSP is essential to its
operation.

ACKNOWLEGMENT
We
are
grateful
to
Centre
for
Telecommunication Research and Innovation (CeTRI)
and UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)
through PJP/2013/FKEKK (29C)/S01215 for their kind
and help for supporting financially and supplying the
electronic components and giving their laboratory
facility to complete this study.

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