PMD fundamentals and a general review of PMD compensation techniques

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) is one of the most important factors of signal broadening in optical fibers and power loss at the receiver at transmission rates exceeding 10 Gbps. In this work, PMD has been investigated for not only existing but also novel communication systems. Firstly, complex Jones matrix representations are given. Then, mathematical model of PMD is described, and lastly, electrical and optical compensation methods for minimizing PMD have been investigated and proposed.