Volterra series transfer function of single-mode fibers

Abstract

A nonrecursive Volterra series transfer function (VSTF) approach for solving the nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) wave equation for a single-mode optical fiber is presented. The derivation of the VSTF is based on expressing the NLS equation In the frequency domain and retaining the most significant terms (Volterra kernels) in the resulting transfer function. Due to its nonrecursive property and closed-form analytic solution, this method can excel as a tool for designing optimal optical communication systems and lumped optical equalizers to compensate for effects such as linear dispersion, fiber nonlinearities and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise from optical amplifiers. We demonstrate that a third-order approximation to the VSTF model compares favorably with the split-step Fourier (recursive) method in accuracy for power levels used in current optical communication systems. For higher power levels, there is a potential for improving the accuracy by including higher-order Volterra kernels at the cost of increased computations. Single-pulse propagation and the interaction between two pulses propagating at two different frequencies are also analyzed with the Volterra method to verify the ability to accurately model nonlinear effects. The analysis can be easily extended to include inter-channel interference in multi-user systems like wavelength-division multiple-access (WDM), time-division multiplexed (TDM), or code-division multiplexed (CDM) systems.