On the use of electrical precompensation of dispersion in optical single-sideband transmission systems

The use of electrical predistortion in optical single-sideband (OSSB) transmission systems is proposed to extend the tolerance to fiber dispersion impairment. Due to the spectral properties of OSSB signals, a simple electrical dispersive line can be used to mitigate the fiber dispersion, reducing the complexity of electrical predistortion methods proposed recently for optical modulations other than OSSB. Carrier-suppressed and carrier-unsuppressed optical modulations can be compensated by such technique, extending the range compared to previously reported works on fiber dispersion mitigation after direct detection using OSSB signals, where only carrier-unsuppressed modulations can be effectively compensated. The use of electrical precompensation is investigated for three signaling formats: Nonreturn to zero, return to zero, and alternate mark inversion (AMI). Due to distortion occurring in the sideband suppression process, signaling formats with reduced duty cycles present improved performance as a consequence of enhanced tolerance to intersymbol interference. Using such formats with electrical predistortion, the reach limitation arises not from fiber dispersion but from nonlinear impairments and optical noise accumulation. Using AMI and ideal electrical predistortion, distances greater than 1200 km of standard single mode fiber are achieved at 10 Gb/s with bit error ratio (BER) lower than 10(-12), without using optical dispersion compensation. Introducing accurate models for the electrical dispersive lines, the transmission distance is reduced to 720 km for BER lower than 10(-12).