Performance improvement of space-division multiplexed 128-Gb/s PDM-QPSK signals by constructive superposition in a single-input-multiple-output configuration

We propose digital constructive-superposition to improve the performance of space-division-multiplexed (SDM) signals, and demonstrate a Q2-factor improvement of 2.2 (3.6) dB by constructively-superimposing 2 (3) SDM copies of a 128-Gb/s PDM-QPSK signal after 2688-km transmission over a seven-core-fiber.