Super-dense WDM transmission of spectrum-sliced incoherent light for wide-area access network

This paper presents a detailed study on superdense wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission of spectrum-sliced incoherent light used for a wide-area access network. The transmission performance possible with this approach is evaluated numerically with regard to the following items: the transmission limit due to the chromatic dispersion, optimized signal-to-noise ratio design for the optical spectral width taking into account the adjacent-channel crosstalk, and the nonlinear effect generated by four-wave mixing at around the zero-dispersion wavelength. Superdense WDM transmission is also performed experimentally using 25-GHz channel-spaced, 15-GHz wide, up-to 156-Mb/s signals through up to 120 km of dispersion-shifted fiber.