Low Power and Low Cost Coherent Optical Receiver

Stanford researchers have developed a low-power coherent optical receiver for high-speed data transmission between or within data centers. The receiver architecture uses electrical phase-locked loop (EPLL), and avoids high-speed analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors. It has higher receiver sensitivity than commercially available receivers for short-reach communications and does not require local oscillator laser integration. This low-power and low-cost receiver is a great solution for cost-sensitive interconnects such as those used in data centers.

Stage of Research
Researchers have performed simulations comparing the proposed receiver with DSP-based receivers to demonstrate viability.