In-line and cascaded DWDM transmission using a 15dB net-gain polarization-insensitive fiber optical parametric...

Area of Science:

• Optical Communications
• Fiber Optics
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) systems face significant signal loss.
• Polarization-Division Multiplexing (PDM) increases data capacity but requires robust loss compensation.
• Existing amplification methods may introduce polarization-dependent loss, impacting system performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate and characterize DWDM data transmission using a novel polarization-insensitive fiber optical parametric amplifier (PI-FOPA).
• To evaluate the performance of PI-FOPA in compensating for loss in diverse fiber optic transmission systems.
• To assess the feasibility of PI-FOPA for high-capacity PDM-DWDM signal transmission.

Main Methods:

• Development of a PI-FOPA with a modified diversity-loop architecture, achieving 15dB net-gain and 2.3THz bandwidth.
• Characterization of three distinct systems: an in-line transmission system, a cascaded PI-FOPA amplification system, and a gain-flattened recirculating loop system.
• Transmission of 100Gb/s PDM-QPSK signals alongside emulated DWDM channels.

Main Results:

• The in-line system transmitted 4.5Tb/s (45x50GHz-spaced signals) with an average OSNR penalty of 1.3dB.
• The 'FOPA-only' cascaded system supported up to eight recirculations for 10x100GHz-spaced signals.
• The PI-FOPA effectively compensated for transmission fiber loss and loop losses in various configurations.

Conclusions:

• PI-FOPAs are effective for loss compensation in PDM-DWDM systems.
• The developed PI-FOPA enables high-capacity data transmission with minimal performance degradation.
• This technology offers a promising solution for future high-speed optical networks.