Bit Error Rate Performance of Multiple-Channel OTDM Demultiplexer Employing A Chained Symmetric Mach-Zehnder Switch

This paper presents a high-speed multiple-channel optical time division multiplexed (OTDM) demultiplexer based on a chained symmetric Mach-Zehnder (CSMZ) switch. In CSMZ switch semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) are shared between two chained arms in contrast to the MZ based multiple-channel demultiplexers where there is an SOA in each arm. The analysis for bit error rate (BER) and the average received power penalty is presented and the results are compared with the simulated data. It is shown that the power penalty incurred is highly dependent on the value of coupling ratio and the channel number.