Time-Domain Single Carrier Index Modulation for Elastic Optical Access Links

Index modulation has received a lot of interest in the wireless communication field in the last decade, since this technology can enhance the data transmission rate per energy (Eb/N0) in low signal power conditions. This gain originates from the utilization of index activation patterns that can transmit part of the data without consuming additional energy. This inherent characteristic of index modulation can be used to develop a new elastic optical fiber access service that supports energy efficient intermediate data rates in ultra-low signal power conditions. We evaluate the receiver sensitivity of a Time-Domain Single Carrier (8,1,BPSK) Index Modulation optical signal with symbol rate of 2.5 GBaud for the first time. We confirm 3 dB gain in Eb/N0 values and 6 dB margin to maintain optical link connectivity compared to BPSK optical signaling.