Multichannel 16-QAM Single-Sideband Transmission and Kramers-Kronig Detection Using a Single QD-MLL as the Light Source

A 12-channel single-sideband transmission of 16-QAM signals at 18 GBd is experimentally demonstrated for the first time using a single quantum-dot mode-locked laser (QD-MLL) as the light source for both the modulated carriers and the continuous wave components. The Kramers-Kronig field reconstruction algorithm was used at the direct detection receiver for signal-signal beat interference cancellation. A total net data rate of >800 Gb/s is achieved over 78 km fiber of 1680 ps/nm accumulated chromatic dispersion with BER $2\times 10^{-3}$ , which is lower than the threshold of hard-decision FEC with 7% overhead. Numerical simulations were also performed to assess the impact of noises from the laser source and the receiver front-end on the system performance.