Performance optimization of OADM based DP-QPSK DWDM optical network with 37.5 GHz channel spacing

Abstract Advanced modulation formats like dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (DP-QPSK) along with the digital coherent receiver are enabling optical networks to provide high spectral efficiency (SE) over long-haul transmission reach. The DP-QPSK based dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system with 37.5 GHz channel spacing can provide extra throughput of 33% compared to 50 GHz channel spacing. However, at 37.5 GHz channel spacing, optical add-drop multiplexers (OADMs) at intermediate nodes, impact the performance of WDM based optical networks in terms of increased BER, thereby reducing transmission reach drastically. In this paper, we have analyzed with the help of numerical simulations, the performance of a differentially encoded eight-channel 112 Gb/s, OADM based DWDM optical network with a channel spacing of 37.5 GHz. We propose that the selection of optimum values of system parameters can result in reducing the impact of crosstalk propagation and narrowband optical filtering introduced by a chain of OADMs at 37.5 GHz channel spacing. The paper exhibited that the selection of optimum values of parameters like filter order of multiplexer and demultiplexer, launch power per channel and filter taps of adaptive equalizer (AE) result in achieving minimum BER on all the channels over a long transmission reach up to 3600 km.