Minimizing Bit Error Probability for Chromatic and Polarization-Mode Dispersion by Optimized Receiver Filters for Various Optical Modulation Formats

The scope of this paper is two-fold: First, we show how to extend the Karhunen-Loève series expansion method to calculate the bit error probability in optical transmission systems with direct detection. The extension allows us to take account of not only chromatic dispersion but also polarization-mode dispersion. Second, we investigate the impact of receiver filter bandwidths on the chromatic and polarization-mode dispersion tolerance of various modulation formats. We show that the chromatic dispersion tolerance can be significantly increased by narrow optical filtering for all investigated modulation formats especially if return-to-zero impulse shaping is applied.