Modeling of Nonlinear Signal Distortion in Fiber-Optical Networks

A low-complexity model for signal quality prediction in a nonlinear fiber-optical network is developed. The model, which builds on the Gaussian noise model, takes into account the signal degradation caused by a combination of chromatic dispersion, nonlinear signal distortion, and amplifier noise. The center frequencies, bandwidths, and transmit powers can be chosen independently for each channel, which makes the model suitable for analysis and optimization of resource allocation, routing, and scheduling in large-scale optical networks applying flexible-grid wavelength-division multiplexing.