Francisco Israel Chicharro López

The increasing demand of bandwidth per end-user required by current Internet services, high-definition video, multimedia applications or on-line gaming drives the advanced modulations to play a significant role in optical networks. OOFDM (Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) has been widely employed as a solution for network communications due to its advantages, such as overcoming chromatic and polarization dispersion impairments, its adaptability to channel variations and its high spectral efficiency.

The generation of OFDM signals, intensity modulated and directly detected, from double sideband modulations results in an inefficient use of the spectrum, adding the power fading related to the chromatic dispersion. Alternatively, the single band modulations avoid this drawback. In this work, we are introducing an original scheme of transmission of optical OFDM signals based on the single band modulation that makes a better use of the spectrum. It consists of the definition of paired channels. Each one includes two optical carriers with a narrow spectral separation, and the external single sideband.

Furthermore, this Thesis provides a low-cost solution for the implementation of WDM-OFDM transmitters based on the use of broadband sources. Despite the chromatic dispersion avoids the use of this kind of optical sources, the inclusion of some structures before the detection enable the transmission of OFDM signals in optical links. The use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, properly designed, enables the use of broadband sources in a dispersion tolerant scheme, as will be experimentally demonstrated. Moreover, every parameter that concerns the transmission of the signals is studied, with the goal of defining the optimal operation of these systems.

As an example of the flexibility of the introduced systems, the transmission of multiband OFDM signals is also demonstrated. Different OFDM bands form these signals, increasing the electric spectrum efficiency. Once again, the proper design of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer will result in an adaptive solution regarding the end-user requirements in each moment, as the experimental results will confirm.

Therefore, this Doctoral Thesis proposes and demonstrates advanced, novel and efficient solutions for the transmission of OFDM signals in optical networks. They are also validated along the Thesis in the context of the DWDM technology, for exploring their potential as a candidate for implementation in future networks.