Nonlinearity compensation using optical phase conjugation deployed in discretely amplified transmission systems

We introduce a closed form equation, validated by simulations and experimental results that predicts the residual nonlinear noise ratio in mid-link OPC assisted discretely amplified systems. The model anticipates the reduction in performance enhancement achieved by mid-link OPC as the bandwidth of the modulated signals increases. The numerical analysis shows that uncompensated signal-signal interactions limit the performance improvement achieved by the introduction of additional OPCs. The numerical analysis predicts that the deployment of shorter amplifier spacing will lead to a greater performance enhancement. The numerical results are validated by experimentally testing of 2x, 4x, and 8x28Gbaud PM-QPSK systems with mid-link OPC compensation in a discretely amplified system with 100km amplifier spacing. The experimentally obtained reach enhancement (43%, 32%, and 24% for 2x28Gbaud, 4x28Gbaud, and 8x28Gbaud, respectively) confirms that the compensation efficiency of mid-link OPC is highly dependent on the number of channels (bandwidth) propagating along the system.