Transmission limitations due to fiber nonlinearities in optical FDM systems

Transmission limitations due to stimulated Brillouin scattering and four-wave mixing processes are investigated for optical frequency division multiplexing (FDM) systems. The applicability of the dispersion-shifted (DS) and nondispersion-shifted (NDS) fibers is discussed, taking account of channel frequency separation, total channel numbers, input signal power, transmission length, and receiver sensitivity degradation. Experimental results on Brillouin gain spectra and the wave generation efficiency in four-wave mixing processes are also presented to discuss the applicability of the two types of single-node fiber. It was found that NDS fibers operated at a wavelength of 1550 nm can be widely deployed in multichannel systems both for the long-haul and information distribution transmissions, if the signal waveform distortion due to fiber chromatic dispersion is precluded. The delay equalizer will be useful for a high-speed system employing bit rates over 10 Gb/s and repeaterless spans over 300 km. For such an application, DS fiber is preferable. Concerning information distribution network applications, the NDS fiber should be more attractive as a transmission medium for FDM system applications