PMD Design for High-Speed WDM Backbone Network Systems Based on Field PMD Measurements

Abstract

We propose a polarization mode dispersion (PMD) design for high-speed wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) backbone network systems based on field PMD measurements on installed optical fibers for long-term commercial use. Implementing a high-speed network system on an installed fiber requires measuring PMD, because the PMD characteristics of most installed fibers are unknown. For enhanced practicality, we must be able to precisely evaluate PMD characteristics precisely with just one measurement. To understand the statistical properties of measured PMD values, we use the Jones Matrix Eigenanalysis (JME) method to conduct long-term (12 months) PMD measurements on installed fibers. We statistically analyze the measurement results and confirm that the measured values match the theory that considers the accuracy of the measurement instrument. This enables a PMD design of desired outage probability based on PMD measurements of installed fibers. We also carry out a 43-Gb/s return-to-zero differential quadrature phase shift keying (RZ-DQPSK) signal transmission with high PMD fibers in order to confirm the effectiveness of our PMD design. The PMD values of the in-line amplifier transmission line are settled so as to meet the worst value of the design. We confirm that 43-Gb/s RZ-DQPSK signals are stably transmitted at the design value.