Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the enhanced atmospheric turbulence resiliency in a 137.8 Gbit/s/mode mode-division multiplexing free-space optical communication link through the application of a successive interference cancellation digital signal processing algorithm. The turbulence resiliency is further enhanced through redundant receive channels in the mode-division multiplexing link. The proof of concept demonstration is performed using commercially available mode-selective photonic lanterns, a commercial transponder, and a spatial light modulator based turbulence emulator. In this link, 5 spatial modes with each mode carrying 34.46 GBaud dual-polarization quadrature phase shift keying signals are successfully transmitted with an average bit error rate lower than the hard-decision forward error correction limit. As a result, we achieved a record-high mode- and polarization-division multiplexing channel number of 10, a record-high line rate of 689.23 Gbit/s, and a record-high net spectral efficiency of 13.9 b/s/Hz in emulated turbulent links in a mode-division multiplexing free-space optical system.

Demonstration of 10-channel mode- and polarization-division multiplexed free-space optical transmission with successive interference cancellation DSP

Yiming Li, Zhouyi Hu, David M. Benton, Abdallah Ali, Mohammed Patel, and Andrew D. Ellis
Opt. Lett. 47(11) 2742-2745 (2022)

Single-wavelength polarization- and mode-division multiplexing free-space optical communication at 689 Gbit/s in strong turbulent channels

Yiming Li, Zhaozhong Chen, David M. Benton, Mohammed Patel, Martin P. J. Lavery, and Andrew D. Ellis
Opt. Lett. 48(13) 3575-3578 (2023)

Turbulence mitigation of four mode-division-multiplexed QPSK channels in a pilot-assisted self-coherent free-space optical link using a photodetector array and DSP-based channel demultiplexing

Huibin Zhou, Hao Song, Xinzhou Su, Yuxiang Duan, Kaiheng Zou, Runzhou Zhang, Moshe Tur, and Alan E. Willner
Opt. Lett. 49(5) 1209-1212 (2024)

Single-wavelength transmission at 1.1-Tbit/s net data rate over a multi-modal free-space optical link using commercial devices

Zhouyi Hu, Yiming Li, David M. Benton, Abdallah A. I. Ali, Mohammed Patel, and Andrew D. Ellis
Opt. Lett. 47(14) 3495-3498 (2022)

Performance of mode diversity reception of a polarization-division-multiplexed signal for free-space optical communication under atmospheric turbulence

Manabu Arikawa and Toshiharu Ito
Opt. Express 26(22) 28263-28276 (2018)