Experimental demonstration of techniques to improve system performance in non-static microwave frequency analog and digital signal transmission over fiber-optic communication systems

The overall performance of non-static analog and digital optical communication systems and networks may be degraded for various reasons. For instance, chromatic dispersion of standard single mode fiber causes pulse distortion for digital transmission systems and RF power fading in analog fiber-optic links. Polarization mode dispersion also affects the microwave signals in a manner akin to that of multipath fading in wireless transmission. These effects can result in unacceptable power penalties and even complete loss of signal.; As data speeds continue to increase, latency at switching nodes due to O-E-O conversion is becoming a major bottleneck in optical networks. Moreover, it may become impractical and overly expensive to use electronics at each node of a network to detect the data, process the header information, and retransmit at rates of 40 Gb/s and higher. Subcarrier multiplexed, and low bit-rate header or label signals may prove to be the required mean to overcome these obstacles.; To combat the mentioned performance degrading effects, all-optical techniques are highly desirable to enable high-speed on-the-fly processing, which would be essential for future high throughput and dynamically reconfigurable optical networks.; This paper will present the following experimental demonstrations to enhance the system performance of such optical networks: (1) doubling the usable spectral bandwidth and number of channels in subcarrier-modulated data transmission over optical fiber; (2) Dynamic dispersion slope monitoring for accurate and continuous dispersion and dispersion slope compensation; (3) Distance-independent RF fading compensation using a tunable nonlinearly-chirped fiber Bragg grating; (4) Wavelength conversion of subcarrier channels using difference frequency generation in a PPLN waveguide; (5) Statistics of PMD-induced power fading for double sideband and single sideband subcarrier-multiplexed signals; (6) Dispersion Division Multiplexing for In-Band Subcarrier-Header-Based All-Optical Packet Switching; (7) Bias-Induced Diversity-Detection (BIRD) Technique for Robust Transmission of Subcarrier-Multiplexed Channels.