In-service light path PMD (polarization mode dispersion) monitoring by PMD compensation

We describe a novel method of measuring PMD (polarization mode dispersion) of an in-service DWDM system by PMD compensation. We successfully demonstrate the method in a 1500-km ultra-long haul DWDM test bed. We further verify the feasibility of the method for in-service light path PMD monitoring in a field trial in a revenue-generating route in Verizon Network, and obtain an accurate PMD value without impacting live network traffic. The discrepancy between the measured and expected PMD values is less than 6% for all cases tested.