Abstract

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) crosstalk has been recently shown to severely limit ultrahigh-capacity long-haul optical communication systems [1]. In this paper SRS crosstalk in intensity- modulated WDM systems is analyzed including modulation statistics of multiple channels in presence of chromatic dispersion. It is found that the depletion caused by SRS on a given channel has an average, deterministic component that is the dominant source of SNR degradation, and a statistical contribution that depends on the bits transmitted in the other channels. Power equalization at amplifiers can completely suppress the average part of SRS crosstalk, exploiting its deterministic nature. The residual degradation caused by the statistical component is analytically evaluated, assuming that pulses propagate without distortion and neglecting all other nonlinear effects. The proposed technique increases the number of channels that can be transmitted by about an order of magnitude.

© 1995 Optical Society of America