Optical channel model for system outage probability analysis based on pmd measurements of installed WDM links and its components

The opportunity to address special future client interfaces, i.e. IP router interfaces, and to reduce CapEx and OpEx in network domains with highly aggregated traffic are arguments for network operators to insist on the principal option to employ 40G in their backbone network. The fiber infrastructure of most network operators is adequate for a 40G introduction if parameters such as chromatic dispersion, fiber attenuation, nonlinear fiber effects are considered. Already the transition from 2.5Gbit/s to 10Gbit/s per channel the Polarization Modem Dispersion (PMD) for many operators proved to be a limiting factor. The heterogeneous distribution of PMD of cable and fiber segments enabled the operators to install 10 G systems by measuring and selecting the fibers. The migration towards 40G is limited mainly by the PMD of the fiber infrastructure. Again the heterogeneous distribution of PMD values means that only fraction of the possible links are feasible for 40G transmission. To extend the usable part of the infrastructure it is very important to define accurately the PMD limit which is acceptable for 40 G transmission.