Statistical analysis of the performance of PMD compensators using multiple importance sampling

In this letter, we evaluate the performance of fixed and variable differential group delay (DGD) polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) compensators as the first- and second-order PMD varies using multiple importance sampling. We show that importance sampling yields estimates of the average penalty with low variance over the entire region of interest of first- and second-order PMD. We also show that there is little advantage in using a compensator with a variable-DGD element and that the performance of a compensator that minimizes the residual DGD at the central frequency of the channel is considerably worse than a compensator that maximizes the eye opening.