Quantification and Reduction of OSNR-Penalties due to Crosstalk in High Bit Rate Multi Core Fiber Systems

Abstract:
This contribution focuses on the quantification and the reduction of the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalties caused by crosstalk between fiber cores in multi core fiber systems. Both high bit rate polarization-multiplexed QPSK as well as NRZ systems with a bit rate of at least 112 Gbit/s per fiber core are investigated. It is demonstrated that the occurring OSNR penalties can be greatly reduced by using optical multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) equalizers. Various optimization routines have been investigated and compared which can be utilized to derive the optimal set of complex equalizer coefficients of the MIMO equalizer. Even for multi core fibers with relatively strong coupling between cores, equalization without OSNR penalties or bit errors could be achieved.