AbstractIn this paper, the performance of a novel multilevel signaling based on Manchester code namely four-level Manchester Coding (4-MC) technique is investigated for next generation high-speed optical fiber communication links. The performance of 4-MC is studied and compared with conventional Manchester modulation and four-level pulse amplitude modulation (4-PAM) formats in terms of receiver sensitivity, spectral efficiency and dispersion tolerance at the bit rate of 40 Gb/s. The bit error rate (BER) calculation model for the proposed multilevel scheme has also been developed. The calculated receiver sensitivity and the chromatic dispersion tolerance at the BER of 10–9 of the proposed scheme are −22 dBm and 67.5 ps/nm, respectively. It is observed that, 4-MC scheme is superior in comparison to 4-PAM by 3.5 dB in terms of receiver sensitivity in back-to-back scenario. Therefore, the proposed scheme can be considered as an alternative to current 4-PAM system.
