Optimization of wavelength division multiplexing in N×160Gbit/s terrestrial transmission systems

Abstract We analyze, from an engineering viewpoint, the prospects of an exploitable upgrade of terrestrial fiber systems based on standard monomode fiber and dispersion compensating units, for future N  × 160 Gbit/s transmission systems. We show that dispersion swing, average dispersion and input pulse power are the key parameters that govern the system performances. We show that whenever the dispersion swing is arranged in a symmetrical setup and the compensation ratio is optimized accordingly, one may obtain a significant improvement of the transmission performances.