Analysis of Conventional Direct Detection and Coherent Optical Receivers in Optical Access Networks †

This study evaluated the use of GFDM transmission in passive optical networks (PONs) by comparing the performance of coherent and non-coherent optical receivers using OptSim 2023.12sp2 and Matlab 2018b ^®. The study concentrated on transmitting 10 Gb/s radio frequency signals over optical fiber, emphasizing the significance of high-speed fronthaul links for 5G networks. The findings demonstrated that coherent detection markedly enhances receiver sensitivity by approximately 3 dB compared to direct detection, thereby augmenting the capacity of optical fronthaul networks despite the elevated cost. Additionally, the study recommended investigating pre- and post-compensation techniques to mitigate signal dispersion in optical fibers for further performance optimization.