Title :
Fading in lightwave systems due to polarization-mode dispersion
Author :
Poole, C.D. ; Tkach, R.W. ; Chraplyvy, A.R. ; Fishman, D.A.
Author_Institution :
AT&T Bell Lab., Holmdel, NJ, USA
Abstract :
System fading caused by polarization-mode dispersion is investigated at 1.7 Gb/s using highly-birefringent, dispersion-shifted fiber at 1.55 mu m. The observed fading, which is manifested by random fluctuations of the bit error rate for a fixed receiver power, is observed to depend on the environmental conditions of the fiber, with the time constant for fading varying from minutes to hours depending on the rate of change of the ambient temperature. The mean dispersion penalty inferred from the observed fluctuations in the bit error rate is consistent with a square-law dependence on the polarization-mode dispersion for small penalties.<>
Keywords :
birefringence; light polarisation; optical dispersion; optical fibres; optical links; 1.55 micron; 1.7 Gbit/s; ambient temperature; bit error rate; environmental conditions; fading; fixed receiver power; highly birefringent dispersion shifted fibre; lightwave systems; mean dispersion penalty; polarization-mode dispersion; random fluctuations; square-law dependence; time constant; Fading; Frequency shift keying; Optical attenuators; Optical fiber polarization; Optical fiber testing; Optical receivers; Optical sensors; Optical transmitters; Polarization mode dispersion; Radio transmitters;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
