Bandwidth-efficient WDM channel allocation for four-wave mixing-effect minimization

A novel channel-allocation method that allows reduction of the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect while maintaining bandwidth efficiency is presented. It is composed of a fractional bandwidth-allocation algorithm, taking into consideration the use of parameters with distinct differences. This proposed technique allows the computation of an optimal channel-allocation set, where degradation caused by interchannel interference and FWM is minimal. Simulation is carried out to show significant performance improvement, such as an average bit-error rate improvement factor of 1.336 for an eight-channel wavelength-division multiplexing system, without the requirement of increased bandwidth, unlike existing channel-allocation methods.