Performance Analysis of Mode Division
Multiplexing (MDM) Based Hybrid PON FSO
System Under Fog Weather Conditions
Rajan Miglani
School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering,
Lovely Professional University
Punjab, India
rajanmiglani1028@gmail.com
Abstract—The evolution of data hungry services will have a
2022 International Workshop on Fiber Optics in Access Networks (FOAN) | 978-1-6654-6503-8/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/FOAN56774.2022.9939692
serious impact on existing radio based architecture which has
already begun to feel the heat of bandwidth starvation. Thus,
in order to deliver seamless and high-speed data connectivity to
the end-users, we propose an all optical hybrid optical link by
integrating passive optical network (PON) with free-space optical
(FSO) links. Additionally, we have also incorporated Laguerre-
Gaussian (LG) based mode division multiplexing (MDM) to
enhance data capacity of the proposed link. The proposed link
can achieve data transfer rate of 20 Gbps using LG modes of
the order of 00 and 01. Despite adverse link conditions due
to fog attenuation, it is observed that the required signal-to-
noise ratio (SNR) of the proposed link for delivering forward
error correction (FEC) compatible bit error rate (BER) of 10−3
increases only by 19.3% as severity of fog conditions changes
from light to heavy. The proposed link exhibits reasonable
performance stability as no significant deviations are observed
even when the data rate is doubled.
Index Terms—Mode division multiplexing, Passive optical net-
works, FSO, fog attenuation, bit error rate
I. I NTRODUCTION
Due to recent advancements in the field of 4G and 5G mo-
bile networks, Information and Communication Technologies
have witnessed massive advancement and growth [1]. It is an-
ticipated that 5G mobile networks based communication will
use extremely dense heterogeneous networks, with a 1000-fold
increase in mobile data volume per area and a 100-fold in-
crease in the number of wireless devices connected, compared
to current wireless networks. The capacity to accommodate
higher transmission rates, lesser consumption of power, and
minimal end-to-end latency is, therefore, a requirement for
new networks. For 5G and future communications, backhaul
connectivity having huge capacity is necessary to support
fast access and ultra-dense networks. In addition to this, the
physical devices getting linked to the internet are increasing
exponentially due to advancements in the field of Internet of
Things (IoT) technology. Radio frequency (RF) is currently
an extensively used technology in many wireless applications.
The RF spectrum that is now in use, however, is not enough
to support the IoT paradigm and the growing need for 5G
wireless bandwidth [2].
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978-1-6654-6503-8/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE
Harjeevan Singh
ECE Department,
Chandigarh University,
Mohali, India
harjeevan38@gmail.com
Passive optical networks (PONs) have emerged as a very po-
tential solution for tackling the huge bandwidth requirements
of high-speed applications in the current scenario. A passive
optical network offers consumers a range of broadband ser-
vices via an optical fiber connection. PON enables the removal
of active components between the server and end-users and the
installation of passive devices to direct network traffic. PON
architecture enables a point-to-multi point topology where a
single optical fiber is capable of serving multiple users. PONs
can be utilized for data communications and specific backhaul
applications, as well as for residential and commercial access.
The task of deploying a typical PON architecture consisting
of optical fibers may be costly and challenging due to several
geographic restrictions [3]. So, it has been proposed and
researched to integrate the free-space optical (FSO) links
with optical fiber-based networks. FSO links transmit the
information signal using the atmospheric channel as a medium
and fall under optical wireless communication (OWC) [4].
Hence, the FSO links can replace the optical fiber in geo-
graphical locations where it is very challenging to install a
fiber-based network and can fulfill the bandwidth requirements
of the last-mile users. Furthermore, FSO links have been
researched globally by researchers and engineers due to their
benefits like higher transmission rates, improved security, high
directionality, license-free transmission, and electromagnetic
interference (EMI) immunity. Hence, the hybrid PON-FSO
network can play a vital role in removing the bandwidth
crunch in the areas, where installation of PON is not possible
and can provide high transmission rates to the end-users.
Mode Division Multiplexing (MDM) is an efficient trans-
mission technology and it can be employed to boost the
capacity of optical networks. In MDM, multiple modes are
transmitted simultaneously to increase the bandwidth of the
fiber-based communication system. Each spatial mode is ca-
pable of acting as an independent carrier, carrying information
signal, and can scale the total transmission capacity by several
orders of magnitude [5]. In comparison to single-mode optical
networks, PONs using MDM consume less power and may
accommodate flexible upgrades, providing a cost-effective
10
 Fig. 1: Proposed FSO-PON design with MDM.
option. Furthermore, sending many modes simultaneously can
also increase the channel capacity of FSO networks. The
authors in [6] have investigated the performance of hybrid
PON-FSO system based on OOK modulation, operating at a
data rate of 10 Gbps. There is a scope of investigating the
performance of hybrid system, proposed in [6] by transmitting
distinct modes, like LG 00 and LG 01. Additionally, the hybrid
PON-FSO system’s performance gets highly deteriorated by
the atmospheric FSO channel. Fog is one of the most de-
grading factors as it can deteriorate the performance of the
FSO link severely and can bring down the link completely
under extreme weather conditions. So, we are investigating
the performance of the hybrid MDM-PON-FSO system in
this work, under the impact of diverse fog weather scenarios.
The remaining of the paper has been organized as follows:
Section II will describe the system design of the proposed
hybrid MDM-PON-FSO system. The results and main findings
of this work will be discussed in Section III followed by the
conclusive remarks in Section IV.
II. S YSTEM D ESIGN
We have proposed a hybrid PON-FSO system based on
the principle of MDM and further investigated the system
performance for diverse fog scenarios. The proposed hy-
brid network transmits two Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes,
namely LG 00 and LG 01, simultaneously to deliver high data
rates. Fig. 1 represents the design of the proposed network,
comprising of fiber-based network and FSO link, for serving
the high bandwidth requirements of the data users [7]. The
main role of the central office (CO) of the hybrid system
design is to convert the backbone network’s data traffic into
optical wavelengths. Apart from this, the CO also frames and
transmits the information signal on the optical fiber channel
to the end-users. On the contrary, the FSO link transmits the
information signal through the atmospheric channel with the
help of optical wireless units (OWU) in the wireless mode of
communication. Furthermore, the role of the ONUs, stationed
at the user premises or near the premises, is to perform the
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11
optimization and reorganize the incoming stream of data so
that it can be delivered efficiently to the under-users [8].
As illustrated in Fig. 1, LG 00 and LG 01 modes are
generated by the spatial transmitters in the CO unit, delivering
an overall transmission rate of 20 (2×10) Gbps. The LG
modes can be defined mathematically as follows [9]:

2r2
|n/2| 
2r2
 
r2πr2
 
Ψ(r, ϕ) = Lnm exp exp j
ω02 ω02 ω02
λR0
(1)
where r and ϕ represent the cylindrical coordinates, az-
imuthal and radial indexes are given by m and n, the wave-
length of the optical signal is denoted by λ, the Laguerre
polynomial is represented by Lnm , R0 is the radius of the
curvature and spot size is represented by ω 0 . It should be noted
here that for (1) to be valid, sin(|n|ϕ), n > 0 and cos(|n|ϕ),
n > 0. Each mode is transmitted at the transmission rate of 10
Gbps and hence, the proposed system design is offering a total
data rate of 20 Gbps. Furthermore, the modes, LG 00 and LG
01 are multiplexed at the transmitter section and transmitted
on the fiber-based network of a length of 20 km. After this,
the OWU transmit the multiplexed signal using the FSO link
through free space. At the receiver of the FSO link, we can
mathematically express the power of the received signal as
follows [10]:
 2

DR
PR = PT × 10−αL/10 (2)
(DT + (θ × L))2
where the received and transmitted powers are denoted by
PR and PT , respectively, the aperture size of the transmitter
and receiver are represented by DT and DR , respectively,
θ represents the divergence of the FSO signal, L is the
transmission distance of the FSO link, and α is the atmospheric
attenuation (in dB/km). The aperture sizes of the transmitter
and receiver have been taken as 5 cm and 20 cm, respectively,
as per the commercial FSO links [14]. Along with this, the
divergence angle for the FSO link has been configured to
2 mrad for this work. It should be noted here that as the
fog is a major cause for deteriorating the performance of the the FSO transmission range has been represented in Fig. 3 by
FSO link, we have inspected the impact of light, moderate and considering various fog weather conditions. As depicted in
heavy fog scenarios on the link performance. The empirical Fig. 3(a), Fig. 3(b) and Fig. 3(c), the received power of the
formula, also known as the Kim model, can be used to find out proposed system design for LG 00 mode is more in contrast
the attenuation coefficient, α, and can be expressed as follows to LG 01 mode under light, moderate and heavy fog weather
[11]: conditions. The received power of the proposed system design
 −q is -15.5 dBm for LG 00 mode and -19.5 dBm for LG 01
3.912 λ mode for the FSO range of 500 m under light fog conditions.
α= (3)
V 550(nm) But the severe fog conditions impair the received power of
 the proposed system design severely as the received power


 1.6 V > 50 km drops to -22 dBm and -28 dBm for LG 00 and LG 01 mode,
1.3 6 km < V < 50 km respectively, for the same FSO transmission range.




q = 0.16V + 0.34 1 km < V < 6 km (4) The SNR of the proposed system design for LG 00 mode
 and LG 01 mode has demonstrated significant variations
V − 0.5 0.5 km < V < 1 km


for different FSO link distances in Fig. 4 for various fog



0 V < 0.5 km weather conditions. The proposed system design has delivered
where the wavelength of the FSO beam is given by λ ( nm), comparatively better SNR for LG 00 mode as compared to
the visibility (km) is given by V , q is a parameter that is a LG 01 mode under light, moderate, and heavy fog scenarios
function of the particle size distribution of scattering particles. as shown in Fig. 4(a), Fig. 4(b), and Fig. 4(c), respectively.
Therefore, (3) relates the attenuation coefficient ( dB/km) to The SNR of the proposed system is 13.2 dB for LG 00 mode
the visibility (km) for a given wavelength ( nm). Accordingly, for the FSO range of 500 m under light fog conditions as
the value of α has been taken as 9 dB/km, 16 dB/km, and 22 depicted in Fig. 4(a). But the moderate and heavy fog has
dB/km to represent the attenuation of the FSO beam due to deteriorated the SNR of the proposed system design in the
light, moderate, and heavy fog conditions, respectively [12]. case of LG 00 mode, represented in Fig. 4(b) and Fig. 4(c).
The optical splitter splits the received FSO beam, comprising On the other hand, LG 01 mode is not able to sustain sufficient
of multiplexed LG 00 and LG 01 modes, and further sends it SNR values for reliable transmission of the information signal,
to the respective mode selectors and spatial optical receivers, as illustrated in Fig. 4(a), Fig. 4(b), and Fig. 4(c).
present in the ONU of the proposed network. Consequently, The bit error rate (BER) performance of the hybrid system
the extracted data signal is finally distributed to the end- under various diverse fog conditions has been illustrated in
users. The system parameters of the proposed system design Fig. 5. As it can be observed that LG 00 mode has delivered
have been benchmarked with reputed literature as well as superior BER performance in contrast to LG 01 mode for light,
commercial vendors and are represented in Table I. moderate, and heavy fog scenarios, as shown in Fig. 5(a),
Fig. 5(b), and Fig. 5(c), respectively. Under the scenario of
TABLE I: Simulation Parameters [13], [14], [15], [16], [17] light fog weather conditions, the required SNR to achieve
the target BER of 10−3 for ensuring forward error correction
Link Parameters Value/Range
Overall data rate 20 (2×10) Gbps
(FEC) limit [18] is 15 dB and it increases to 17.9 dB under
Operating wavelength 1550 nm
heavy fog conditions, experiencing an increase of 19.3%. On
Laser power 10 dBm
the flip side, the required SNR of the proposed system design
Optical fiber length 20 km for delivering BER of 10−3 in the case of LG 01 mode is
FSO link range 0-1000 m 16.2 dB under light fog conditions and rises to 22.8 dB
Transmitter aperture diameter 5 cm under the scenario of heavy fog conditions, with an increase
Beam divergence 2 mrad of 40.7%. Fig. 6 illustrates the eye diagrams of the proposed
Receiver aperture diameter 20 cm system design for LG 00 modes at the FSO transmission range
Atmospheric attenuation 9 dB/km, 16 dB/km, 22 dB/km of 500 m for diverse fog scenarios. The proposed hybrid
Photodetector APD network can reliably transmit the information signal without
Dark current 10 nA much distortion under the scenario of light and moderate fog
Responsivity of APD 1 A/W scenario only for the FSO range of 500 m, as shown in
Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 6(b). But the transmission of the proposed
system design ceases completely for the heavy fog scenario
III. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION as represented in Fig. 6(c) for an FSO link range of 500
We have designed the proposed hybrid MDM-PON-FSO m. On the contrary, the proposed system design can transmit
system using OptiSystem 13.0 software and simulated it information signals in a severely distorted form for an FSO
according to the system parameters specified in Table I. The range of 500 m, as shown in Fig. 7(a), for LG 01 mode under
intensity profiles of LG 00 and LG 01 modes have been light fog conditions. But the transmission of the proposed
demonstrated in Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b), respectively. The system fails for LG 01 mode under moderate and heavy fog
variation in received power of the proposed system design with conditions as shown in Fig. 7(b) and Fig. 7(c) for the same

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12
 (a) (b)
Fig. 2: The intensity profiles of (a) LG 00 mode (b) LG 01 mode.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 3: Received power vs. FSO link range in case of (a) light fog (b) moderate fog (c) heavy fog.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 4: SNR vs. FSO link range in case of (a) light fog (b) moderate fog (c) heavy fog.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 5: BER vs. SNR in case of (a) light fog (b) moderate fog (c) heavy fog
.

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13
 (a) (b) (c)
Fig. 6: Eye diagrams of LG 00 mode at FSO range of 500 m in case of (a) light fog (b) moderate fog (c) heavy fog.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 7: Eye diagrams of LG 01 mode at FSO range of 500 m in case of (a) light fog (b) moderate fog (c) heavy fog.

transmission range of 500 m.

We have investigated the performance of the proposed
hybrid network for LG 00 and LG 01 modes under the impact
of various fog conditions by maintaining the data rate of each
mode equal to 10 Gbps. As per the analysis, LG 00 mode has
delivered superior performance in contrast to LG 01 mode for
various fog weather conditions. In addition to this, we have
also evaluated the Q-Factor of the proposed system design
for a transmission rate of 20 Gbps for each mode and thus
increasing the overall data rate of the system to 40 Gbps.
Fig. 8 demonstrates the behavior of the Q-Factor for LG 00
and LG 01 mode for data rates of 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps
under the impact of moderate fog weather conditions. It can
be observed that the LG 00 mode has delivered a better Q-
Factor in contrast to the LG 01 mode for a data rate of 10
Fig. 8: Q-Factor vs. FSO Link Range for moderate fog weather Gbps. But as the data rate is increased to 20 Gbps, the Q-
conditions. Factor has not demonstrated much deviation for LG 00 and
LG 01 mode. As shown in Fig. 8, it can be inferred that the

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14
Q-Factor is almost identical for LG 00 and LG 01 mode up to
the FSO range of 200 m, and after that, the Q-Factor reduces
abruptly for LG 01 mode as compared to LG 00 mode.
In a similar work [6], the authors have reported a hybrid
OOK-based PON-FSO system and the hybrid PON-FSO sys-
tem proposed in this work has demonstrated comparatively
superior performance. The hybrid system in [6] is operating
at a data rate of 10 Gbps, and the proposed system design in
this work, based on MDM, has an overall transmission rate of
20 Gbps. In addition to this, the hybrid system design in [6]
has attained a maximum FSO transmission range of 300 m.
On the other hand, the proposed hybrid system in this work
can transmit data successfully at a maximum FSO range of
500 m and thus extending the transmission by 200 m.
IV. C ONCLUSIONS
We have proposed a hybrid MDM-PON-FSO system for re-
moving the bandwidth constraints of the end-users by serving
them with high data services. For increasing the capacity of the
proposed system design, we have transmitted LG 00 and LG
01 modes simultaneously, at a data rate of 10 Gbps each, over
a fiber-based network having a length of 20 km and an FSO
link. Furthermore, we have evaluated the system performance
by considering the attenuation of the FSO link due to light,
moderate, and high fog weather conditions. The proposed
system design has delivered superior results for LG 00 mode in
comparison to LG 01 mode for various fog weather conditions.
The required SNR of the proposed system design to deliver a
target BER of 10−3 , ensuring FEC limit, increases by 19.3%
in the case of LG 00 mode as the severity of fog changes from
light to heavy. On the other hand, the required SNR increases
by 40.7% in the case of LG 01 mode for delivering target
BER of 10−3 as the scenario changes from light fog to heavy
fog conditions. Moreover, the proposed system design has
demonstrated significant improvement over similar referred
work in terms of transmission rate and maximum achievable
FSO range. Apart from this, we have analyzed the impact of
increasing data rates on the transmission of LG 00 and LG
01 modes. It has been concluded that the variations in the Q-
Factor of the proposed system design are not significant for
LG 00 and LG 01 modes as the data rate is increased to 20
Gbps, for each of the modes. Therefore, the proposed hybrid
MDM-PON-FSO system is capable of removing the bottleneck
problem in the last-mile network area and can ensure high-
speed data connectivity for last-mile users.
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15
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