Polarization-induced distortions in optical fiber networks with polarization-mode dispersion and polarization-dependent losses

We review the formalism required to investigate the combined effects of pol arization-mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization-dependent losses (PDL) in optical fiber networks. The combination of PMD and PDL may lead to anomalou s dispersion, which is not correctly described by a direct application of t he Jones matrix eigenanalysis (JME) method. This calls for a careful assess ment of PMD measurement methods in the presence of PDL. We also present a t heoretical analysis of distortions in analog transmissions, and computer si mulations of digital transmissions. These show that distributed PDL increas es the power penalty of the transmission more than lumped PDL at the end of the channel.