TY - JOUR

T1 - Nonlinear fourier transform for optical data processing and transmission: Advances and perspectives

AU - Turitsyn, Sergei K.

AU - Prilepsky, Jaroslaw E.

AU - Le, Son Thai

AU - Wahls, Sander

AU - Frumin, Leonid L.

AU - Kamalian, Morteza

AU - Derevyanko, Stanislav A.

N1 - Funding Information: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (UNLOC EP/J017582/1); European Research Council (ERC); Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Minobrnauka) (14.B25.31.0003). Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Optical Society of America.

PY - 2017/3/20

Y1 - 2017/3/20

N2 - Fiber-optic communication systems are nowadays facing serious challenges due to the fast growing demand on capacity from various new applications and services. It is now well recognized that nonlinear effects limit the spectral efficiency and transmission reach of modern fiber-optic communications. Nonlinearity compensation is therefore widely believed to be of paramount importance for increasing the capacity of future optical networks. Recently, there has been steadily growing interest in the application of a powerful mathematical tool-the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT)-in the development of fundamentally novel nonlinearity mitigation tools for fiber-optic channels. It has been recognized that, within this paradigm, the nonlinear crosstalk due to the Kerr effect is effectively absent, and fiber nonlinearity due to the Kerr effect can enter as a constructive element rather than a degrading factor. The novelty and the mathematical complexity of the NFT, the versatility of the proposed system designs, and the lack of a unified vision of an optimal NFT-type communication system, however, constitute significant difficulties for communication researchers. In this paper, we therefore survey the existing approaches in a common framework and review the progress in this area with a focus on practical implementation aspects. First, an overview of existing key algorithms for the efficacious computation of the direct and inverse NFT is given, and the issues of accuracy and numerical complexity are elucidated. We then describe different approaches for the utilization of the NFT in practical transmission schemes. After that we discuss the differences, advantages, and challenges of various recently emerged system designs employing the NFT, as well as the spectral efficiency estimates available up-to-date. With many practical implementation aspects still being open, our mini-review is aimed at helping researchers assess the perspectives, understand the bottlenecks, and envision the development paths in the upcoming NFT-based transmission technologies.

AB - Fiber-optic communication systems are nowadays facing serious challenges due to the fast growing demand on capacity from various new applications and services. It is now well recognized that nonlinear effects limit the spectral efficiency and transmission reach of modern fiber-optic communications. Nonlinearity compensation is therefore widely believed to be of paramount importance for increasing the capacity of future optical networks. Recently, there has been steadily growing interest in the application of a powerful mathematical tool-the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT)-in the development of fundamentally novel nonlinearity mitigation tools for fiber-optic channels. It has been recognized that, within this paradigm, the nonlinear crosstalk due to the Kerr effect is effectively absent, and fiber nonlinearity due to the Kerr effect can enter as a constructive element rather than a degrading factor. The novelty and the mathematical complexity of the NFT, the versatility of the proposed system designs, and the lack of a unified vision of an optimal NFT-type communication system, however, constitute significant difficulties for communication researchers. In this paper, we therefore survey the existing approaches in a common framework and review the progress in this area with a focus on practical implementation aspects. First, an overview of existing key algorithms for the efficacious computation of the direct and inverse NFT is given, and the issues of accuracy and numerical complexity are elucidated. We then describe different approaches for the utilization of the NFT in practical transmission schemes. After that we discuss the differences, advantages, and challenges of various recently emerged system designs employing the NFT, as well as the spectral efficiency estimates available up-to-date. With many practical implementation aspects still being open, our mini-review is aimed at helping researchers assess the perspectives, understand the bottlenecks, and envision the development paths in the upcoming NFT-based transmission technologies.

KW - Coherent communications

KW - Fiber optics communications

KW - Inverse scattering

KW - Nonlinear optical signal processing

KW - DESIGN

KW - SELF-MODULATION

KW - DISPERSION

KW - QUASI-LOSSLESS

KW - INVERSE SCATTERING ALGORITHM

KW - PULSE-PROPAGATION

KW - WAVE-GUIDE FILTERS

KW - FIBEROPTIC COMMUNICATIONS

KW - EFFICIENT NUMERICAL-METHOD

KW - SOLITON

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85015915204&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1364/OPTICA.4.000307

DO - 10.1364/OPTICA.4.000307

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85015915204

VL - 4

SP - 307

EP - 322

JO - Optica

JF - Optica

SN - 2334-2536

IS - 3

ER -