Higher-order PMD mitigation based on optical signal filtering

摘要

A method for reducing deleterious effects of higher-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) on the quality of data transmission in a long-haul optical communication system. An optical bandpass filter (OBF) designed for spectral bandwidth reduction of a received data-modulated optical signal is placed at the receiver end of the communication system next to a first-order PMD compensator. The OBF may be, e.g., a Mach-Zehnder filter having a bandwidth approximately equal to a modulation frequency of the optical signal. A center frequency of the OBF may be detuned from that of the optical signal. Using the OBF at the receiver may decrease a number of optical bit errors associated with the effects of higher-order PMD.