Recent developments in transceiver SoC design for next generation optical networks

This paper presents the ongoing research efforts in optical communication transceiver SoC design for emerging fiber-wireless mobile networks and next generation 200/400GbE optical networks using advanced CMOS technologies. First, a 4-Gb/s fiber-to-mm-wave baseband-over-fiber (BoF) modulator SoC using 65-nm CMOS with a fully integrated 850-nm wavelength optical receiver front-end for short-range wireless backhaul connectivity is reviewed. Next, design considerations for an improved 10-Gb/s BoF I/Q modulator SoC with integrated 60-GHz power amplifier is described. Lastly, a novel PAM4/NRZ transceiver architecture featuring BER built-in-self-test is discussed.