4-PHOTON MIXING AND HIGH-SPEED WDM SYSTEMS

The trend toward higher bit rates in lightwave communications has increased interest in dispersion-shifted fiber to minimize dispersion penalties. At the same time optical amplifiers have increased interest in wavelength multiplexing. These two methods of increasing system capacity, if used together, can result in severe degradation due to fiber nonlinearity. This paper discusses the impact of the principal nonlinearity, four-photon mixing, and describes strategies that allow simultaneous use of high bit rates and WDM.