A product-coded WDM coding system

Forward error correction is a feasible approach for reducing the bit error floor of lightwave systems, arising from the fact that a simple single-error-correcting code can reduce the error floor from O(P/sub e/) to O(P/sub e//sup 2/). We propose a novel wavelength demultiplexer (WDM) coding system using a product code to improve the performance of WDM systems with an error floor caused by fiber dispersion or system noise.