Performance evaluation of trench-assisted multi-core fiber for passive optical network

In contrast to conventional single-mode fiber, this study illustrates the first Trench Assisted Multi-Core Fiber (TA-MCF) in a passive optical network (PON) that uses space division multiplexing (SDM) to effectively minimize upstream losses and lowers the cost per bit of optical fiber. A single TA-MCF with 19 cores transmits signals for upstream data transmission over a distance of 50 km in PON without using multiple feeder fibers. With fewer splitters and combiners, one TA-MCF can receive data from 19 ONUs in PON. For upstream transmission via 19 optical network units (ONUs) in TA-MCF, an error-free performance is assessed. Excellent reductions of total link losses are analyzed using TA-MCF for upstream transmission with minimum acceptable inter-core crosstalk.