Impact of mode coupling on the mode-dependent loss tolerance in few-mode fiber transmission

In this work the impact of mode-dependent loss (MDL) from optical amplifiers in few-mode fibers with weak and strong mode coupling is analyzed. For a 409-Gbit/s 3MDM-DP-QPSK system it is shown that strong mode coupling reduces the impact of MDL in a similar manner polarization-dependent loss is reduced by polarization-mode dispersion.