Analysis of ASE-related impairments on wavelength-reuse WDM-PONs based on self-seeded reflective SOAs

We experimentally investigate the impact of chromatic dispersion (CD), post-filtering effects (PFEs), and backreflection-induced penalties on intensity-remodulation topologies based on self-seeded directly modulated reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) acting as downstream carriers. Optical eye diagrams and power penalties as a function of link reach and reflection tolerances, as well as optical spectra and bit error rate (BER) performance up to 100 km, are measured and directly compared to a conventional prespectrum slicing light (PSSL) injection topology, in order to highlight the advantages and drawbacks of the self-seeding scheme. Downstream and bidirectional reaches up to 80 and 60 km, respectively, with a maximum 2 dB power penalty (for a BER of 10^-12) at 1.25 Gb/s operation are demonstrated in our self-seeding configuration, which enables enhanced resilience to CD and PFE effects while surpassing the conventional PSSL scheme in about 40 km.