All-optical fiber 2+1 auxiliary carrier transponder-regenerator

The authors report simulations and experimental results about a new kind of all-optical reamplification and reshaping (2R) regenerator. The novelty is based on the principle that the ordinary four-wave-mixing process, inside a particular dispersion-shifted fiber, is able to induce input signal replicas on a third copropagating auxiliary carrier even if its state of polarization is orthogonal to that of the pump. Test results on a deployed cable showing improved 2R function and wavelength conversion capability are reported.