The Analysis of Crosstalk in Multichannel Wavelength Division Multiplexed Optical Transmission Systems and Its Impact on Multiplexer Design

An analysis of crosstalk in multichannel wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems is presented, deriving new expressions for system degradations and taking into account both receiver design and the practical limitations of regenerator electronics. This theoretical study is corroborated by measured results obtained on a commercially available digital transmission system and is then used to determine the optimum multiplexer design for multichannel wavelength division multiplexed systems. From this study, the optimum multiplexer design for giving acceptable transmission performance is determined. >