PENALTIES IN LONG-HAUL OPTICAL AMPLIFIER SYSTEMS DUE TO POLARIZATION-DEPENDENT LOSS AND GAIN

The impact of Polarization Dependent Gain (PDG) and Polarization Depen dent Loss (PDL) in long-haul optical amplifier systems is studied by m eans of a power analysis accounting for PDG, PDL and Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) in the saturation regime of the Erbium-Doped Fiber A mplifiers (EDFAs). System penalties are characterized in terms of mean values and standard deviations. Mean penalties on the bit-error-ratio (BER) are directly related to PDG. BER fluctuations are found to be g reatly enhanced when PDG and PDL are combined. The impact of PMD is de pendent on the values for PDG and PDL.