Effects of frequency/polarization allocations and the zero-dispersion frequency on FDM lightwave transmission systems

In long-haul frequency-division-multiplexing lightwave transmission systems, transmission characteristics are degraded by four-wave mixing (FWM) generated in optical fibers. To overcome this problem, several FWM suppression techniques have been reported. In this paper, dependence of FWM noises on frequency allocations, polarization allocations, and the zero-dispersion frequency is investigated. It is revealed that FWM noises are drastically decreased in frequency allocations such as equally spaced, repeated unequally spaced (RUS), equally spaced RUS, and unequally spaced RUS allocations by arranging polarization allocations of the channels with an increase in a separation between the channel frequencies and the zero-dispersion frequency.