Performance analysis and comparison of optical 3R regenerators utilizing self-phase modulation in fibers

Performance of fiber-based optical signal regenerators consisting of a synchronous amplitude modulator, a highly nonlinear fiber, and an optical bandpass filter is analyzed. The regenerators are operated in two different schemes: one utilizes solitonlike pulse compression in anomalous-dispersion fiber and subsequent filtering, and the other utilizes spectrum broadening in normal-dispersion fiber and subsequent spectrum slicing. Regeneration performance is compared for the two schemes in terms of the shape of energy transfer function and abilities of noise and timing-jitter reduction. Although both types of regenerators show good regenerator performance, the one based on spectrum broadening and slicing has better ability to stabilize signal amplitude while requiring larger signal power launched into the nonlinear fiber. The effectiveness of the regenerators in single-channel quasi-linear highly dispersed pulse transmission and dispersion-managed soliton transmission is also numerically examined.