ENRZ vs. NRZ: A Performance Comparison at 112 Gbps

Abstract

The performances of Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) and Ensemble Non-Return-to-Zero (ENRZ) at the throughput of 112 Gbps per pair (224 Gbps for an ENRZ channel), with three channels of different levels of losses, are investigated. The Frequency Domain Matrix Multiplication (FDMM) channel simulation method is introduced and applied. The simulation results show that ENRZ has a remarkable advantage in terms of channel loss, which becomes more pronounced as channel loss increases. While it might still be challenging for ENRZ to support a full-length backplane at 224 Gbps per Chord™, its supportable range should be significantly larger than NRZ.