μLED-based single-wavelength bi-directional POF link with 10 Gb/s aggregate data rate

We report record 10 Gb/s bi-directional data transmission over a single 10 m SI-POF, by employing blue microlight-emitting diodes (μLEDs) at a single wavelength, APD receivers, and a PAM-32 modulation scheme. The implementation of 10 Gb/s LED-POF links takes advantage of the bi-directional configuration, which doubles the overall channel capacity, and APDs, which provide an enhanced link power budget owing to their improved sensitivity compared with conventional p-i-n photodiodes. Moreover, the high spectral efficiency of the PAM-32 modulation scheme employed, together with equalization techniques, enable the full utilization of the link bandwidth and the transmission of data rates higher than those obtained with conventional on–off keying. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of such a bi-directional link, and simultaneous 5 Gb/s data transmission is realized in each direction, achieving an aggregate data rate of 10 Gb/s with a BER textless 10−3. The crosstalk penalty between the two directions of the link is measured to be less than 0.5 dB