Simulation of polarization mode dispersion compensation based on EMTY-model and nonlinear optimization

There are two main approaches for the enhancement of data transfer rates in fiber-optical communication systems: by increasing the number of WDM-channels or simply by increasing the bit rate of each channel. At present, a key factor which restricts the date rate of WDM-channels is polarization mode dispersion (PMD). PMD has a significant influence on the signal quality at bit rates of more than 10 Gbps per channel. An adaptive optical compensator based on controlled birefringent elements for mitigation of higher order PMD is posed a challenging method. Using the EMTY model in combination with nonlinear optimization to adjust the compensator parameters leads to good results (in given test - average PMD value is reduced about 2,5 times) and can be used as basis of an algorithm for a reconfigurable optical compensator.