Performance evaluation of systems using a novel adjustable first-order PMD compensator and forward error correction

Abstract In this paper, we numerically evaluate the performance of 10 Gbit/s systems with a novel adjustable first-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensator and forward error correction (FEC). The scheme of PMD compensation employs sampled fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) written into a high-birefringence fiber using uniform phase masks. And the technique of FEC is based on the concatenated Reed–Solomon codes of RS(247,239) + RS(255,247), which is also called enhanced FEC (EFEC). The numerical simulation results show that the combined use of PMD compensation and EFEC can increase system PMD tolerance to one bit period of average PMD when keeping the sensitivity penalty (@BER=10 −10 ) below 1 dB.