Single-source bidirectional free-space optical communications using reflective SOA-based amplified modulating retro-reflection

A novel amplified modulating retro-reflector (AMRR) based on a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) is proposed and a bidirectional free-space optical communication (FSO) system including both downstream and upstream links is experimentally demonstrated with only a single light source using this AMRR. The RSOA-based AMRR can provide a net gain more than 4 dB and support the modulation bit rate up to 1.25 Gbit/s. The bidirectional FSO transmission performance is evaluated by observing eye diagrams and measuring bit error rate (BER) results of both 10-Gbit/s DPSK downstream and 1.25-Gbit/s OOK upstream signals. The factors that limit the modulation bit rate and transmission quality are analyzed. The power penalties of both links are less than 0.69 dB in the bidirectional FSO system at the BER of 1×10-3.