IDLab - Internet Technology and Data Science Lab

Fiber-optic Transceivers

This research topic is situated in the physical layer of fiber-optic communication networks. Our work mainly focuses on the design and development of the key front-end and mixed-signal circuits, including drivers, equalizers, transimpedance amplifiers (TIA) and clock-and-data recovery (CDR) solutions, and their integration in TRx subsystems. Co-design and co-optimization methodologies are investigated to achieve high-performance, compact integration and low power consumption considering the trade-offs between the electronics design, the electro-optic properties of the photonic devices and the interconnect parasitics introduced by the assembly or interposer technology.

The main components and applications of recent and ongoing research are:

  • Multi-lane MZM driver, EAM driver, VCSEL driver and TIA integrated circuits for datacenter and metro networks considering NRZ, duobinary and multi-level PAM modulation.
  • Burst-mode receivers for upstream transmission in Passive Optical Networks (PONs) and for packet switching in datacenters with very short settling times.
  • Digital clock-and-data recovery circuits
  • Radio-over-fiber and fiber-to-the-antenna links for 5G multi-RAT access
  • CMOS-compatible segmented Mach-Zehnder modulator drivers providing direct digital-to-optical signal generation and coherent receiver design for complex modulation at 28Gbaud and beyond for coherent transport networks

Staff

Xin Yin, Guy Torfs, Johan Bauwelinck

Researchers

Laurens Bogaert, Laurens Breyne, Gertjan Coudyzer, Joris Lambrecht, Bart Moeneclaey, Hannes Ramon, Wouter Soenen, Michael Vanhoecke, Joris Van Kerrebrouck, Marijn Verbeke, Jochem Verbist

Projects

Key publications

  • X. Z. Qiu, X. Yin, J. Verbrugghe, B. Moeneclaey, A. Vyncke, C. Van Praet, G. Torfs, J. Bauwelinck, and J. Vandewege, “Fast Synchronization 3R Burst-Mode Receivers for Passive Optical Networks [invited]”, Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 644-659, Feb. 2014.
  • J. Verbrugghe, R. Vaernewyck, B. Moeneclaey, X. Yin, G. Maxwell, R. Cronin, G. Torfs, X.-Z. Qiu, C. Lai, P. Townsend, and J Bauwelinck, “Multi-Channel 25 Gb/s Low-Power Driver and Transimpedance Amplifier Integrated Circuits for 100 Gb/s Optical Links”, Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 32, no. 16, pp. 2877 - 2885, Aug. 2014.
  • J. Bauwelinck, W. Soenen, B. Moeneclaey, M. Vanhoecke, R. Pierco, R. Vaernewyck, T. De Keulenaer, G. Roelkens, G. Torfs, X. Yin, and P. Demeester, "On-chip transmitter and receiver front-ends for ultra-broadband wired and optical-fiber communications [invited]", Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), Anaheim, California, USA, March 20-24, 2016, pp. Tu3B.1
  • B. Moeneclaey, J. Verbrugghe, F. Blache, M. Goix, D. Lanteri, B. Duval, M. Achouche, J. Bauwelinck, and X. Yin, "A 40 Gb/s transimpedance amplifier for optical links", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.
  • M. Verbeke, P. Rombouts, A. Vyncke, and G. Torfs, "Influence of jitter on limit cycles in bang-bang clock and data recovery circuits", IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I - Regular Papers, vol. 62, no. 6, July 1, 2015, pp. 1463-1471
  • X. Yin, B. Moeneclaey, X. Qiu, J. Verbrugghe, K. Verheyen, J. Bauwelinck, J. Vandewege, M. Achouche, and Y. Chang, "A 10Gb/s APD-based linear burst-mode receiver with 31dB dynamic range for reach-extended PON systems", Optics Express, vol. 20, no. 26, December 10, 2012, pp. B462-B469.
  • W. Soenen, R. Vaernewyck, X. Yin, S. Spiga, M. C. Amann, K. S. Kaur, P. Bakopoulos, and J. Bauwelinck, "40 Gb/s PAM-4 transmitter IC for long-wavelength VCSEL links", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 27, no. 4, February 15, 2015, pp. 344-347.
  • Xin Yin, Michiel Verplaetse, Rui Lin, Joris Van Kerrebrouck, Oskars Ozolins, Timothy De Keulenaer, Xiaodan Pang, Ramses Pierco, Renato Vaernewyck, Arno Vyncke, Richard Schatz, Urban Westergren, Gunnar Jacobsen, Sergei Popov, Jiajia Chen, Guy Torfs, Johan Bauwelinck, “First Demonstration of Real-Time 100 Gbit/s 3-Level Duobinary Transmission for Optical Interconnects”, ECOC 2016 post-deadline paper Th.3.B.5.

Dual-channel 56Gb/s PAM-4 VCSEL driver, wirebonded by the UGent CMST group to a single-mode long-wavelength VCSEL of TUM
Dual-channel 56Gb/s PAM-4 VCSEL driver, wirebonded by the UGent CMST group to a single-mode long-wavelength VCSEL of TUM

 

40Gbaud 16-QAM coherent optical receiver, combining our dual-channel linear TIA array with a silicon photonic receiver chip (UGent-imec PRG)
40Gbaud 16-QAM coherent optical receiver, combining our dual-channel linear TIA array with a silicon photonic receiver chip (UGent-imec PRG)