Pre- and post-compensation of dispersion and nonlinearities in 10-Gb/s WDM systems

We analyze 10-Gb/s nondispersion-managed and dispersion-managed wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) systems that use pre-compensation, post-compensation, or dual-compensation of each channel to minimize dispersion and nonlinear effects. We find that dual-compensation gives the minimal penalty for each channel in dispersion-managed WDM systems. Furthermore, we find that the optimal amount of pre- or post-compensation depends upon the specific dispersion map used in the WDM system.