Probabilistic Shaping Based on Single-Layer LUT Combined with RBFNN Nonlinear Equalization in a Photonic Terahertz OFDM System

We propose a probabilistic shaping (PS) scheme based on a single-layer lookup table (LUT) that employs only one LUT for symbol mapping while achieving favorable system performance. This scheme reduces the average power of the signal by adjusting the symbol distribution using a specialized LUT architecture and a flexible shaping proportion. The simulation results indicate that the proposed PS scheme delivers performance comparable to that of the conventional constant-composition distribution-matching-based probabilistic shaping (CCDM-PS) algorithm. Specifically, it reduces the bit error rate (BER) from 1.2376 $\times {10}^{-4}$ to 6.3256 $\times {10}^{-5}$, corresponding to a 48.89% improvement. The radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) effectively compensates for nonlinear distortions and further enhances transmission performance due to its simple architecture and strong capacity for nonlinear learning. In this work, we combine lookup-table-based probabilistic shaping (LUT-PS) with RBFNN-based nonlinear equalization for the first time, completing the transmission of 16-QAM OFDM signals over a photonic terahertz-over-fiber system operating at 400 GHz. Simulation results show that the proposed approach reduces the BER by 81.45% and achieves a maximum Q-factor improvement of up to 23 dB.