Reducing nonlinear waveform distortion in IM/DD systems by optimized receiver filtering

Nonlinear waveform distortion caused by the combined effect of fiber chromatic dispersion, self-phase modulation, and amplifier noise limits the attainable performance of high bit-rate, long haul optically repeatered systems. Signal processing in the receiver is investigated and found to be effective in reducing the penalty caused by this distortion. Third order low pass filters, with and without a tapped delay line equalizer are considered. The pole locations or the tap weights are optimized with respect to a minimum bit error rate criterion which accommodates distortion, pattern effects, decision time, threshold setting and noise contributions. The combination of a third order Butterworth filter and a five-tap, fractionally spaced equalizer offers more than 4 dB benefit at 4000 km compared with conventional signal processing designs. >