Cross-phase modulation resonances in wavelength-division-multiplexed lightwave transmission

We have observed cross-phase-modulation-impairment resonances in wavelength-division-multiplexed lightwave transmission. The resonances occur in a system with equal amplifier span lengths when channels have an integral number of bit walk-throughs per amplifier span. In a five-channel experiment over 8/spl times/80 km of standard single-mode fiber at 2.5 Gb/s with +7 dBm/channel, Q measurements predict on-resonance error rates several orders of magnitude higher than off-resonance error rates.