2019 Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 81-86
The use of the higher-order modulation format and narrower channel bandwidth can enhance the spectral efficiency of photonic networks. However, such spectrally efficient schemes cannot be utilized when the large margin is required to tolerate uncertainties in the performance of system components. Furthermore, the disaggregation of optical transmission system increases the required margin. In this paper, we propose highly spectrally efficient network architecture, where the required margin is minimized by transmission-quality-aware modulation-order/channel-bandwidth assignment based on optical performance monitoring. Up to 82% improvement in spectral efficiency for 400-Gbps DP-QPSK/DP-16QAM signals is confirmed through transmission experiments and network simulations.
