Using Optical Feedforward Linearization to Reduce Noise and Intermodulation Distortion of Fabry-Perot Lasers for Cable Television Distribution Networks

Abstract

This paper describes an optical feedforward scheme to linearize Fabry-Perot lasers and to reduce their inherently high RIN figure. Instead of using expensive, highly linear and low-noise DFB lasers, which is the usual choice for high quality analog TV optical transmitters, the use of Fabry-Perot lasers offers a low-cost alternative with comparable performance. Experimeptal results of 1OdB noise reduction and an average of 18dB non-linear distortion improvement have been achieved.