A 100-Gb/s, 1-tap feed-forward based analog equalizer for optical communication applications

Abstract

This paper reports the design and measurement results of a 1-tap feed-forward based analog equalizer, mainly designed with differential pair amplifier cells composed of Indium Phosphide (InP) heterojunction bipolar transistors. This analog equalizer exhibits a maximal peaking frequency and amplitude of 50 GHz and 12 dB respectively. Large signal measurements demonstrated an equalization at 100 Gb/s of a 3m-long 1.85-mmconnector coaxial cable, which represents a lossy channel of 20 dB at 50 GHz. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first analog equalizer reported with an equalization capability demonstrated at 100 Gb/s.