Optimization of a PMD compensator with constant differential group delay using importance sampling

Abstract
Summary form only given. We have studied first-order polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) compensators with a fixed value of DGD/sub c/. We have shown that the optimal value of DGD/sub c/ for realistic power penalties of 2 dB is 2-3 times larger than (/spl Delta//spl pi/). This optimal value of DGD, actually degrades the average penalty somewhat, but it reduces the outage probability by several orders of magnitude. Our results indicate that it is not sufficient to study the impact of PMD compensators on the average penalty when designing realistic systems. It is crucial to accurately model the tails of the distribution function of the penalties. Importance sampling is a technique that makes this sort of study feasible.