Non-parametric Estimation of Mutual Information with Application to Nonlinear Optical Fibers

TL;DR

This paper evaluates various non-parametric mutual information estimators to aid in analyzing the capacity of nonlinear optical channels, a complex and open research problem.

Contribution

It introduces a comparative analysis of non-parametric estimators and demonstrates their application to optical communication channels.

Findings

Non-parametric estimators provide effective capacity analysis tools.

Application to optical channels reveals estimator strengths and limitations.

The study advances understanding of nonlinear optical channel capacity.

Abstract

This paper compares and evaluates a set of non-parametric mutual information estimators with the goal of providing a novel toolset to progress in the analysis of the capacity of the nonlinear optical channel, which is currently an open problem. In the first part of the paper, the methods of the study are presented. The second part details their application to several optically-related channels to highlight their features.