Multimode system simulation as an alternative to spreadsheet analysis for the study of Gb/s optical communication systems

This paper describes the disadvantages of spreadsheet-based analysis for high-speed multimode systems and presents multimode system simulation as an alternative. An example is depicted in which the system power margin calculated by the spreadsheet model was overly pessimistic relative to that predicted by system simulation. The higher degree of accuracy and flexibility afforded by multimode system simulation should enable component tolerances to be relaxed, resulting in an overall reduction in system cost.