Four-wave mixing reduction technique based on smart filter approach

Abstract

This paper proposed a new technique to suppress the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect by using a smart filter technique. The behaviour of FWM and the performance of wavelength division multiplexing systems with 4 and 16 channels were simulated in the presence of the proposed technique. The simulation was also performed under different parameters such as input power, number of channels and channel spacing. The FWM power drastically decreases by 12 and 19 dB for the 4 and 16 channels, respectively, when the smart filter is used as compared with the conventional system. In terms of system performance, the suggested approach for 4 and 16 channels at the first channel offers low bit error rate (BER) values of 3.23 × 10⁻²³ and 1.7 × 10⁻²¹, respectively. The smart filter with the channel spacing variation for the 4-channel system subsequently improved the BER value at the fourth channel. Results confirm that the smart filter approach is an active solution that can suppress the FWM effect in optical transmission systems.

Keywords:

• optical network
• wavelength division multiplexing
• four-wave mixing
• smart filter

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Education Malaysia [ERGS/1/2013/STG02/UNITEN/02/01] and the research council of the Sultanate of Oman [research grant agreement number ORG SU ICT 11 002].