25-Gb/s TDM Optical Link Using EMLs for Mobile Fronthaul Network of LTE-A System

We propose and demonstrate a common public radio interface (CPRI)-compliant 25.2923-Gb/s mobile fronthaul network for long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A) systems. In order to meet the CPRI specifications and the stringent latency requirement of the LTE-A fronthaul network cost-effectively, we use the synchronous time-division-multiplexing, forward-error correction, and electrical equalization techniques. To enhance the cost-effectiveness, we also use an electroabsorption-modulated laser and exploit the possibility of using simple modulation formats such as the ON–OFF keying, electrical duobinary, and four-level pulse amplitude modulation. The performance of the proposed network is evaluated experimentally in terms of the tolerances to fiber dispersion and optical reflection.