Evaluation by Monte Carlo simulations of the power limits and bit-error rate degradation in wavelength-division multiplexing networks caused by four-wave mixing

摘要

Fiber nonlinearities can degrade the performance of a wavelength-division multiplexing optical network. For high input power, a low chromatic dispersion coefficient, or low channel spacing, the most severe penalties are due to four-wave mixing (FWM). To compute the bit-error rate that is due to FWM noise, one must evaluate accurately the probability-density functions (pdf) of both the space and the mark states. An accurate evaluation of the pdf of the FWM noise in the space state is given, for the first time to the authors' knowledge, by use of Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, it is shown that the pdf in the mark state is not symmetric as had been assumed in previous studies. Diagrams are presented that permit estimation of the pdf, given the number of channels in the system. The accuracy of the previous models is also investigated, and finally the results of this study are used to estimate the power limits of a wavelength-division multiplexing system. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.