Channel Model and Upper Bound on the Information Capacity of the Fiber Optical Communication Channel Based on the Effects of XPM Induced Nonlinearity

TL;DR

This paper derives an upper bound on the information capacity of fiber optical communication channels considering cross-phase modulation effects, providing insights into how nonlinearities limit data transmission rates at high SNR.

Contribution

It introduces a tractable channel model incorporating XPM effects and establishes an upper bound on capacity, advancing understanding of nonlinear impacts on fiber optics.

Findings

Upper bound on capacity at high SNR derived

Model incorporates cross-phase modulation effects

Insights into nonlinear degradation of capacity

Abstract

An upper bound to the information capacity of a wavelength-division multi- plexed optical fiber communication system is derived in a model incorporating the nonlinear propagation effects of cross-phase modulation (XPM). This work is based on the paper by Mitra et al., finding lower bounds to the channel capacity, in which physical models for propagation are used to calculate statistical properties of the conditional probability distribution relating input and output in a single WDM channel. In this paper we present a tractable channel model incorporating the effects of cross phase modulation. Using this model we find an upper bound to the information capacity of the fiber optical communication channel at high SNR. The results provide physical insight into the manner in which nonlinearities degrade the information capacity.