Performance Analysis of Fiber Nonlinearity Based Optical 2R-regenerators

Optical signal regenerators are required at regular intervals in a long-haul optical link to re-amplify, re-shape and in some cases re-time the signal that has been distorted by the impairments of the link. A major benefit of all-optical regenerators is that they do not require the optical signal to be converted into the electrical domain for performing the above-mentioned tasks. This study analyzes the performance of our previously proposed optical signal regenerator along with two other regenerators that are based upon cross-phase modulation (XPM) and four wave mixing (FWM), respectively. The aim of the study is to determine the most suitable regenerator for a specific optical link based on its characteristics. The characteristics of the regenerators that are analyzed in this study include capability to reject noise, extinction ratio, reduction in timing jitter, chirp induced over the regenerated signal and energy yield of the regenerator. The analysis shows that each of the three regenerators have different capabilities that make them suitable for different optical links.