Experimental demonstration and numerical simulation of an optical recirculating loop operating at 10 gb/s

We demonstrate an optical recirculating loop as a tool for performance evaluation of cascades of effects or elements in an optical communication system. We describe the critical issues to operate the recirculating loop properly and we present experimental results on the cascading of a dispersive fiber link and an optical amplifier. Additionally, we conduct a numerical simulation of the recirculating loop experimental conditions. Simulation and experimental results are in good agreement.