Impact of Low-OSNR Operation on the Performance of Advanced Coherent Optical Transmission Systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates how operating at low optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNR) significantly reduces the maximum reach of advanced coherent optical transmission systems due to non-linear effects caused by ASE noise.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the impact of low-OSNR operation on system performance, highlighting the importance of considering non-linear noise effects in predictions.

Findings

Low-OSNR operation causes substantial reach penalties.

Non-linear noise from ASE noise affects system performance.

Neglecting these effects leads to prediction errors.

Abstract

We find evidence that low-OSNR operation causes substantial penalty on system maximum reach due to non-linearity generated by ASE noise and due to signal-power conversion into non-linear noise. Neglecting these effects may lead to a quite substantial performance prediction error.