Equalization and mode partition noise in all-plastic optical fiber data links

High-speed, short-distance data transmission over all-plastic step-index fiber (plastic optical fiber, or POF) is normally considered to be limited by intermodal dispersion. Theoretical calculations in this letter show that the baseband frequency response can be significantly improved using simple linear equalization. However, as the fiber length is increased, the sharp absorption attenuation peaks of PMMA fiber can potentially introduce mode partition noise. The bounds on practical laser characteristics and fiber lengths are explored; these results indicate that 530-Mb/s transmission over 100 m of 1-mm-diameter POF is feasible, thus potentially satisfying a significant segment of future computer interconnect applications.<>