Spectrum-Efficient Communication Over Copper Using Hybrid Amplitude and Spatial Signaling

This article analyzes the potentials of different signaling methods to reach very high data communication speeds over copper channels. As the available bandwidth is limited in this type of channels, sensitivity to ISI (inter-symbol interference) turns out to be the key parameter influencing both data rate, and energy consumption. Performance of some of the main common signaling methods, all based on non-return to zero (NRZ), used in wire-line communications, are examined for implementing short-reach links. Moreover, it is shown that a proper combination of spatial and amplitude domain coding improves the signal quality (i.e., eye opening), enabling data transfer rates beyond 112 Gb/s.