Abstract:We propose a novel multi-level pre-equalizer composed of multiple binary analog finite impulse response (FIR) filters. The performance was investigated using numerical simulation of a 20-Gb/s four-level pulseamplitude-modulation (4-PAM) multi-mode fiber (MMF) transmission system. The analog FIR filters were designed using 28 nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) based complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. The simulated CMOS circuits successfully compensated the multi-level signals distorted by modal dispersion. The error vector magnitude (EVM) of the transmitted 4-PAM signals was improved from 40% to 9%. The proposed design scheme will enable cost-effective, lowpower analog FIR filters for multi-level pre-equalization. Keywords: equalization, pre-distortion, FIR filter, 4-PAM, multi-mode fiber, CMOS circuit Classification: Fiber-Optic Transmission for CommunicationsNyquist pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) signaling for 100-Gbit/s/λ optical short-reach transmission," European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC2014), P.