Short Courses

In the last few years complex modulation has become the standard modulation scheme for data rates of 100 Gb/s to 400 Gb/s and beyond. The increasing demand for high speed links in long haul, metro and data center interconnects along with upcoming demand in 5G front/backhaul has driven the development of complex modulation and coherent detection systems, catching up with current direct detection systems.

Current developments of interoperability standards like ITUs G.698.2 for 100G metro systems and OIFs 400G ZR for data center interconnects are discussed and it will be explained how these standards take advantage of quality parameters discussed below.

In this course a detailed understanding of commonly used complex modulation formats will be provided. The physical principles of the generation and detection of such signals will be discussed.

The measurement of complexly modulated signals requires a significant amount of signal processing before any useful information can be derived. The steps of the signal processing will be discussed as well as the available parameters to describe the quality of the signals and systems. Those parameters include error vector magnitude and constellation impairments and their relationship to system performance parameters like bit error ratio, signal-to-noise ratio and quality factor. It is discussed how these parameters can be attributed to properties of the transmitter hardware.

By understanding the concepts engineers and decision makers will get a profound knowledge base to decide for the best test strategy for their characterization applications.

By the end of this course you will be able to

• Understand the fundamental measurements for complexly modulated signals
• Get a fundamental understanding of the measurements required by the different standards
• Comprehend the signal processing needed to analyze coherent signal and how the processing steps influence the derived quality parameters
• Compare the quality of various transmitters through the use of EVM measurements
• Relate details of constellation diagrams to specific device and/or measurement system impairments
• Identify the root causes of measurement degradation and uncertainty
• Define test strategies to validate the accuracy of test results

This short course is intended for engineers who start to work or already have basic experience in manufacturing and development of short reach, metro and long-haul communication equipment and components that uses complex modulation. Attendees should be aware of basic concepts of optical transmission. Research and manufacturing managers as well as technical buyers will get a profound background in order to make optimal decision for their test and measurement needs. Students will extend their knowledge in optimal test concepts for fiber optical testing in the field of complex modulation.

Michael Königsmann joined Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent Technologies/Hewlett Packard) in 1996 as an Application Engineer for RF/µWave products in the Electronic Test & Measurement Business.

He held various positions in Sales, Product Support and R&D before he joined the Networks and Data Centers Marketing Team where he focuses on applications for Optical Modulation Analyzer and High-Speed Arbitrary Waveform Generator product portfolios in Coherent Optical Communications.

Michael studied Electrical Engineering, specializing in Communication Engineering and Microwave Technology. He holds a degree in Communication Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund.