Optics Communications 473 (2020) 125988

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Optics Communications
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/optcom

MIMO-free WDM–MDM bidirectional transmission over OM3 MMF

Mengyue Jiang, Cheng Chen, Bo Zhu ∗, Fangren Hu
Optoelectronic Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210056, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: We design and demonstrate a same-mode (base mode/high-order mode) bidirectional transmission system
Optical communication based on WDM–MDM without MIMO. We present the experimental system block diagram and experimental
Same mode bidirectional results. Three non-degenerate modes (LP01, LP11 and LP02 mode) are used as transmission channels, 12.5-km
WDM–MDM
multimode fiber (MMF) as the transmission medium, and photonic lanterns as MUX and DEMUX in our system.
Photonic lantern mode
The average transmission loss value is −11 dB, the average inter-mode crosstalk value is −29 dB, the BER is
multiplexer/demultiplexer
MMF
below FEC-Limit. The same-mode bidirectional transmission is realized, and the communication capacity is
doubled.

1. Introduction Dario Pilori, et al. [11] presented an experimental demonstration

With the development of social technology, people’s demand for
information transmission has grown exponentially, and increasing com-
munication capacity has become a major problem to be solved. The
mode division multiplexing (MDM) technique is one approach for
increasing the transmission capacity [1–4]. However, modal crosstalk
combined with modal-group delay (MGD) in FMF transmission needs
coherent detection and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) digital
signal processing (DSP). The huge computation complexity severely
limits the practical application of MDM [5,6]. On the other hand,
weakly-coupled MDM approaches have been proposed and in short-
reach transmission scenarios [7,8], in which the modal crosstalk is
greatly suppressed so that signals in multiple linearly-polarized (LP)
modes/mode groups could be independently transmitted and received
without MIMO processing.
For the bidirectional transmission, the main back reflection impacts
are multiple reflection interference caused by link connectors along
a fiber path, the Rayleigh and Brillouin backscattering produced by
neighboring counter propagating channels. The reflections by link con-
nectors, for instance, legacy TIA-568 LC connectors, have a maximum
optical back-reflection specified as −26 dB. In a long reach system, the
interference caused by numerous reflections, which can be accurately
approximated as Gaussian noise [9,10]. In a short reach system, the
interference caused by one (or few) reflections can be analyzed as signal
to reflection-signal beat noise and reflection-signal to reflection-signal
beat noise [11]. Rayleigh backscattering in the fiber causes phase-to-
intensity noise conversion. The backscattering of about-31 – −33 dB of
the launched power cannot be avoided. In a short reach system, the
Brillouin backscattering can be negligible for the transmitter power is
not high.
of bidirectional 4-PAM transmission for intra-datacenter links using
a pair of SMF fibers, they also reported a theoretical and simulative
investigation on the penalty induced in this architecture by spurious
connector back-reflections. Koji, L, et al. [12] experimentally evaluated
performance of selective six-mode multiplexer based on mode selec-
tive couplers. The mode-group coupling was suppressed by −20 dB,
maintaining OSNR penalty of 3 dB due to mode multiplexing even
with use of 6 × 6 MIMO in the back-to-back configuration. Although
this system increases the communication capacity, it just is back-to-
back transmission. Bao F C, et al. [13] proposed that the transmission
of 2 × 20 Gb/s PAM4 signals in a 2 × 2 mode division multiplexed
communication system, which was realized under the transmission
condition of 50 m FMF based on the mode-selective photonic lantern
mode multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX). Koji L, et al. [14]
showed all-fiber-based six-mode MUX and DEMUX. The OSNR penalty
dued to six-mode multiplexingwas suppressed to be 2 dB in DP-16 QAM
with 12 × 12 MIMO and 3 dB in DP-QPSK even with 4 × 4/2 × 2
MIMO over C-band. However, the system’s structure is complex because
of the MIMO technology. Lei S, et al. [15] designed and fabricated a
novel weakly-coupled ultra low loss FMF, and the attenuations of all LP
modes were less than 0.168 dB/km. This novel FMF could satisfy the
requirement of high quality MDM transmission systems in the future.
Chun Y D, et al. [16] experimentally demonstrated Weakly-Coupled
MDM transmission enabled by cascaded mode selective couplers and
wavelength interleaving scheme over 200-m conventional multimode
fiber (MMF). Although the structure is simple, the distance is limited.
Philippe G, et al. [17] presented a spatial 6-mode multiplexer with low
loss and high mode selectivity; They demonstrated 100 Gbit/s error-
free transmission over 20 km for 6 modes and over 40 km bidirectional
transmission with 3 modes in each direction. Although the bidirectional

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhub@njupt.edu.cn (B. Zhu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2020.125988
Received 11 November 2019; Received in revised form 17 April 2020; Accepted 19 April 2020
Available online 22 April 2020
0030-4018/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Jiang, C. Chen, B. Zhu et al.
Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of the WDM–MDM bidirectional transmission system.
transmission is achieved, the MIMO technology is used, it is not in
same mode and the transmission medium is expensive SMF. Lei S,
et al. [18] successfully demonstrated a single-span weakly-coupled
Wavelength division multiplexing-Mode division multiplexing (WDM–
MDM) transmission over long distance transmission with 2 × 10-Gb/s
OOK by greatly suppressing the modal crosstalk of FMFs, direct detec-
tion, 2 LP modes and 4 wavelengths. In spite of realizing long distance
transmission, the cost is high because the FMF is expensive and only 2
modes are used for transmission. Wakayama Y, et al. [19] demonstrated
a 6-mode and WDM transmission with an inline C+L-band 6-mode
erbium doped fiber amplifier (6M-EDFA), increasing communication
capacity and transmission distances. However SMF, 6-mode EDFA and
MIMO technology are used in the system, result in a complex structure
and high cost.
In summary, although the above experiments have realized long-
distance transmission and expanded communication capacity, their
setups have either complex structure or higher cost. To our knowledge,
bidirectional transmission in same mode has not been reported yet.
In this paper, we proposed a same-mode bidirectional transmission
system based on the photonic lantern mode MUX/DEMUX. Different
from others’ work, bidirectional transmission is realized in the same
mode (base mode/high-order mode), which doubles the communica-
tion capacity. Besides, the transmission medium is the universal OM3
MMF, which is easy to expand to more modes and has low cost;
Furthermore, the three non-degenerate modes (LP01, LP02 and LP11
mode) are used for transmission to obtain low crosstalk. So, our system
does not require complicated MIMO technology, the structure is simple,
and the reliability is high.
2. Design of bidirectional transmission system
The schematic diagram of the bidirectional transmission system we
designed is shown in Fig. 1, which shows the process of bidirectional
transmission of optical signals of the same mode (base mode/high order
mode) in a WDM–MDM system. Four WDM channels CH21, CH28,
CH29 and CH36 are selected for transmission. In forward transmission,
four lasers are used to generate WDM channels, with wavelengths of
1560.61, 1554.94, 1554.13, 1548.52 nm according to the four WDM
channels respectively. Each laser beam enters the intensity modulator
(IM) driven by 10-Gb/s pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) with
a period of 231 -1, which is generated by program pulse generator
of electric bit error rate tester (eBERT), therefore, four OOK signals
are generated. Delay lines are used to eliminate correlation among
four paths. Then the optical signals are sent to the WDM1(wavelength
division multiplexer1) to multiplex. An optical coupler (OC) divides the
2
Optics Communications 473 (2020) 125988
modulated optical signal into three paths, next the signal is amplified
by an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), so as the optical power at
the receiver can be adjusted. The three signals are also decorrelated by
the delay lines. Then the signals enter the optical switch1 to be mul-
tiplexed into three forward signals of the bidirectional system. Optical
switch1 is used as three optical splitters (1:2) here, and controlled by
LynxVISION software installed on the server. Fig. 2 is the usergraphical
interface of this software, which shows the connection mode of the opti-
cal switch1. As shown in Fig. 2, the 1, 3, 6 ports are used as transmitting
terminal of three signals in forward transmission, and the 2, 4, 7 ports
are used as receiving terminal of three signals in reverse transmission.
Then the three non-degenerate modes (LP01, LP02 and LP11 mode)
are multiplexed by a mode selective photonic lanterns, the photonic
lantern is a spatial mode multiplexer/demultiplexer called PROTEUS-
S-6 produced by CAILabs, which is designed for mode multiplexing and
demultiplexing in a few mode fibers or multi-mode fibers. After 12.5-
km MMF transmission, the 3 mode division signals are demultiplexed
by another photonic lantern, and enter the optical switch2 which is
also used as three optical splitters (1:2), the connection mode in the
user graphical interface is shown in Fig. 3. The 1, 3, 6 ports are used as
receiving terminal of three signals in forward transmission, and the 2,
4, 7 ports are used as transmitting terminal of three signals in reverse
transmission. The one of the three signals which we choose enters
the DE-WDM1 for demultiplexing. The photodiodes (PD) are applied
to detect signals and the bit-error-rates (BER) are calculated by the
receiver of the eBERT.
Similar to forward transmission, in reverse transmission, the three
modulated optical signals pass through the WDM2, OC and EDFA.
After decorrelating, the signals enter the optical switch2, the function
and connection mode of the switch2 are same as the switch1 in for-
ward transmission. Then the signals are sent through the MUX+OM3
+DEMUX system for reverse transmission, and reach switch1. The
one of the three signals which we choose enters the DE-WDM2 for
demultiplexing. Another PD are applied to detect signals and the BER
are calculated by the receiver of the eBERT.
The CAILabs PROTEUS-S-6 mode selective photonic lantern pro-
vides the interface between single-mode fibers and our OM3 multi-
mode fibers. Based on the highly flexible technology of multi-plane
light conversion, PROTEUS-S-6 can be customized to any set of input
or output spatial modes; it can provide efficient multiplexing to 6
modes (LP01, LP11a, LP11b, LP21a, LP21b, LP02) into any multi-
mode fiber. In our system, the three non-degenerate modes (LP01,
LP02 and LP11 mode) are multiplexed and demultiplexed by them. The
average transmission loss of the BTB system is −7.5 dB, and the average
inter-mode crosstalk of the BTB system is −26.7 dB.
M. Jiang, C. Chen, B. Zhu et al. Optics Communications 473 (2020) 125988

Fig. 2. The connection mode of optical switch1 displayed on LynxVISION software.

Fig. 3. The connection mode of optical switch2 displayed on LynxVISION software.

The optical switch1 and swich2 in the system also can play a role
of selecting the channel according to the optical signal quality. When
the signal quality is poor, the base-mode with better performance is
selected as the transmission channel; When the signal quality is good,
the high-order mode is selected as a transmission channel.

3. System performance analysis

In the system, we choose OM3 MMF for transmission. Although FMF

performance is superior to MMF, it is not commercialized for its high
price. 12.5-km OM3 MMF is added between the MUX and DEMUX,
three non-degenerate modes with better performance are selected for
transmission. In order to evaluate the performance of the bidirectional
transmission system, we test the transmission loss value (Loss), the
inter-mode crosstalk value (Crosstalk) and the BER of each mode in
the C+L band. The transmission loss and inter-mode crosstalk in the
transmission system of MUX+OM3+DEMUX is shown in Fig. 4.
In Fig. 4, the left axis represents the transmission loss, and the
Fig. 4. The transmission Loss (left axis) and the inter-mode crosstalk (right axis) over
right axis represents the inter-mode crosstalk among the three non- the entire C+L band.
degenerate modes (LP01, LP02 and LP11 mode). An average value
of transmission loss is −11 dB over the entire C+L band for the 3
modes; An average of inter-mode crosstalk is −29 dB in the whole C+L
correction limit (FEC-Limit) is 10 −3 (ITU-TG.975). Variable attenuators
band. The difference of the average transmission loss and the average
are placed to control the received power for each mode, PD is applied
inter-mode crosstalk is above 18 dB.
to detect signals, the BER is calculated by the receiver of the eBERT.
For bidirectional transmission without using MIMO, main impacts
In single direction transmission, the receive power sensitivities are
are inter-mode crosstalk interference between mode channels, the
−17 dBm, −16 dBm and −15 dBm when the three channels reach
reflection interference caused by link connectors and the Rayleigh
the FEC-Limit threshold, respectively. In bidirectional transmission, the
backscattering produced by neighboring counterpropagating channels.
receive power sensitivities are −14 dBm, −13 dBm, −12 dBm. And
For their randomness, they can be compared to noise approximately.
the penalty of bidirectional transmission is 3 dBm. And the penalty of
The inter-mode crosstalk threshold without using MIMO can be esti-
bidirectional transmission is 3 dBm. This penalty is mainly caused by
mated according to the requirements of the BER or OSNR of the system.
multiple reflection interference caused by link connectors along a fiber
For IE-3 BER limit standard, Q = 3, the inter-mode crosstalk threshold is
path and the Rayleigh backscattering produced by neighboring counter
the OSNR which satisfy Q = 3 plus other penalty budget without MDM.
According to these, the experimental system could realize bidirectional propagating channels.
transmission without MIMO in C+L band.
Fig. 5 shows measured BER as a function of receive power for LP01, 4. Conclusions
LP02 and LP11 mode at situation of both single direction and bidi-
rectional transmission. The red circle, black square and blue triangle Based on WDM–MDM, a bidirectional MIMO-free transmission sys-
indicate LP01, LP11 and LP02 mode respectively; The forward error tem with the same mode (base mode/high-order mode) is presented

3
M. Jiang, C. Chen, B. Zhu et al.
Fig. 5. The BER versus received power for different modes (a) single direction transmission (b) bidirectional transmission.
in the paper, we give the system block diagram and experimental
results. Three non-degenerate modes (LP01, LP02, and LP11 mode) are
selected for bidirectional transmission, and OM3 MMF is used as the
transmission medium. The better performance index of transmission
loss, inter-mode crosstalk and BER are obtained. It can be realized that
bidirectional transmission of same mode without MIMO by using OM3
MMF.
Compared with bidirectional transmission system using different
mode, the system we designed doubles the system capacity. The receiv-
ing terminals do not require complicated MIMO technology, and have
the advantages of large capacity, simple structure, and low economic
cost.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation of
China (61574080), and by Research Center of Optical Communications
Engineering & Technology, Jiangsu Province, China (ZXF201803).
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