High-Speed Operation of Fiber-Optic Link Impaired by Wind Gusts

The fast signal transmission is critical long-haul communication systems. They represent the key advancements, shaping information-communication technologies. Fiber-optic transmission suffers from many degradation effects, and of particular concern are stochastic fiber impairments represented by polarization mode dispersion (PMD). The PMD is critical as it limits link operation at data rates higher than 10 Gbps. In this work, we report on experimental measurements and theoretical analysis characterization for PMD-based propagation effects in optical fibers influenced by wind gusts. The study was performed on fiber-optic link that runs through 111-km-long optical power ground wire cables. Measured maximum of DGD was up to 10 ps for a wind speed of 20 m/s. This wind condition, the optical link maintained a reliable operation only for established 10 Gbps, while considerable link degradation was seen for data rates of between 40 and 100 Gbps.