PMD—Induced Pulse Broadening in Optical Fibers

Abstract

In this paper, by means of analytical expressions we compare the expected pulse broadening in a fiber-optic transmission system suffering from both first- and higher order Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD). The results are compared for compensated fiber with uncompensated fiber. Compensation could be achieved both before the transmission or after the transmission, accordingly it is classified as Pre-Transmission Compensation or Post-Compensation techniques. We discuss the influence of both the PMD Compensation schemes. Firstly, we analyze the First-Order PMD Compensation and subsequently the Principal State of Polarization (PSP) Transmission Compensation scheme.