Inter-Channel FWM Mitigation Techniques for 800G-LR4, 1.6T-LR8, 400G-ER4 and 5G Fronthaul Applications Based on O-Band WDM

We review recent advances in the mitigation of inter-channel four-wave-mixing (FWM) based on “XYYX” input polarization alignment, statistical fiber zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) distribution, real-world fiber cable installation with randomized fiber ZDW for every fiber segment of typically 2∼3km during fiber cabling to enable high-performance O-band WDM transmission for 800G-LR4 with four 800GHz-spaced 200Gb/s PAM-4 channels reaching up to 10km, 1.6T-LR8 with eight 800GHz-spaced 200Gb/s PAM-4 channels reaching up to 10km, and 400G-ER4-30km with four 400GHz-spaced 100Gb/s PAM-4 channels reaching up to 30 km. In addition, a novel unequal channel spacing scheme for co-propagating wavelength channels is shown to effectively mitigate the FWM impairment in a bidirectional 5G fronthaul transmission system with twelve 800GHz-spaced 25Gb/s NRZ channels reaching up to 20 km. These inter-channel FWM mitigation techniques are expected to aid the standardization of intensity-modulation and direct-detection (IM/DD) based high-speed O-band WDM systems in both IEEE and ITU-T, aiming to cost-effectively and energy-efficiently support future data center, 5G, and metro-access networks.