PAM-4 VCSEL driver with selective falling-edge pre-emphasis

W. Soenen; J. Lambrecht; X. Yin; S. Spiga; M. C. Amann; G. Van Steenberge; P. Bakopoulos; J. Bauwelinck

doi:10.1049/el.2017.3945

PAM-4 VCSEL driver with selective falling-edge pre-emphasis

W. Soenen, J. Lambrecht, X. Yin, S. Spiga, M. C. Amann, G. Van Steenberge, P. Bakopoulos, J. Bauwelinck

Chair of Semiconductor Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Data centre optical links are migrating to four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) as a method to extend the data rate while covering longer distances. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) enable the integration of low-power transmitters, but their non-linear and bias-dependent behaviour makes conventional feed-forward equalisation less effective. This Letter presents a 0.13mm SiGe BiCMOS PAM-4 driver that boosts the falling-edge to the bottom level through a selective pre-emphasis technique. Experiments at 25 GBd (50 Gb/s) reveal that adding selective pre-emphasis to a 4-tap equalised current driving a 20.6 GHz 1.5mm VCSEL, relaxes the critical PAM-4 link budget requirements by >1 dB at the KP4 forward error correction threshold of 2.2 × 10^-4. The potential of PAM-4 VCSEL transmitters can be significantly enhanced by including selective pre-emphasis to the equalisation topology while requiring minimal overhead.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	155-157
Number of pages	3
Journal	Electronics Letters
Volume	54
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1049/el.2017.3945
State	Published - 8 Feb 2018

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title = "PAM-4 VCSEL driver with selective falling-edge pre-emphasis",

abstract = "Data centre optical links are migrating to four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) as a method to extend the data rate while covering longer distances. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) enable the integration of low-power transmitters, but their non-linear and bias-dependent behaviour makes conventional feed-forward equalisation less effective. This Letter presents a 0.13mm SiGe BiCMOS PAM-4 driver that boosts the falling-edge to the bottom level through a selective pre-emphasis technique. Experiments at 25 GBd (50 Gb/s) reveal that adding selective pre-emphasis to a 4-tap equalised current driving a 20.6 GHz 1.5mm VCSEL, relaxes the critical PAM-4 link budget requirements by >1 dB at the KP4 forward error correction threshold of 2.2 × 10-4. The potential of PAM-4 VCSEL transmitters can be significantly enhanced by including selective pre-emphasis to the equalisation topology while requiring minimal overhead.",

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AU - Soenen, W.

AU - Lambrecht, J.

AU - Yin, X.

AU - Spiga, S.

AU - Amann, M. C.

AU - Van Steenberge, G.

AU - Bakopoulos, P.

AU - Bauwelinck, J.

PY - 2018/2/8

Y1 - 2018/2/8

N2 - Data centre optical links are migrating to four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) as a method to extend the data rate while covering longer distances. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) enable the integration of low-power transmitters, but their non-linear and bias-dependent behaviour makes conventional feed-forward equalisation less effective. This Letter presents a 0.13mm SiGe BiCMOS PAM-4 driver that boosts the falling-edge to the bottom level through a selective pre-emphasis technique. Experiments at 25 GBd (50 Gb/s) reveal that adding selective pre-emphasis to a 4-tap equalised current driving a 20.6 GHz 1.5mm VCSEL, relaxes the critical PAM-4 link budget requirements by >1 dB at the KP4 forward error correction threshold of 2.2 × 10-4. The potential of PAM-4 VCSEL transmitters can be significantly enhanced by including selective pre-emphasis to the equalisation topology while requiring minimal overhead.

AB - Data centre optical links are migrating to four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) as a method to extend the data rate while covering longer distances. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) enable the integration of low-power transmitters, but their non-linear and bias-dependent behaviour makes conventional feed-forward equalisation less effective. This Letter presents a 0.13mm SiGe BiCMOS PAM-4 driver that boosts the falling-edge to the bottom level through a selective pre-emphasis technique. Experiments at 25 GBd (50 Gb/s) reveal that adding selective pre-emphasis to a 4-tap equalised current driving a 20.6 GHz 1.5mm VCSEL, relaxes the critical PAM-4 link budget requirements by >1 dB at the KP4 forward error correction threshold of 2.2 × 10-4. The potential of PAM-4 VCSEL transmitters can be significantly enhanced by including selective pre-emphasis to the equalisation topology while requiring minimal overhead.

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JO - Electronics Letters

JF - Electronics Letters

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ER -

PAM-4 VCSEL driver with selective falling-edge pre-emphasis

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