Multiplexing of Asynchronous and Independent ASK and PSK Transmissions in SDN-Controlled Intra-Data Center Network

An intra-data center architecture employing a cost-effective multi-level transmission scheme is presented. Unlike related previous works, the proposed scheme enables the optical multiplexing of two asynchronous and independent optical streams into an eight-amplitude phase-shift keying signal. The scheme is particularly suitable for intra-data center scenarios, where cost-effective solutions have to guarantee adequate bandwidth flexibility. The proposed transmitter successfully multiplexes two data streams, namely a 40 Gb/s differential quadrature phase-shift keying signal and a 10 Gb/s on-off keying one, coming from two separate (and not synchronized) apparatus. The experimental implementation, including two non-coherent receivers, reveals satisfactory performance ensuring a correct functionality (bit error rate