A decision feedback equalizer for dispersion compensation in high speed optical transmission systems

We investigate a class of decision feedback equalizers, which are suitable for the equalization of dispersion effects in optical fiber channels. Since the widely used standard single mode fiber can be described by a simple linear transfer function for the optical signal, the overall system, including electrical/optical conversion and vice versa is nonlinear. We derive equalizer structures that account approximately for the nonlinear nature. These structures are investigated by simulation. An improvement of approx. 10 dB in the BER is achieved with a simple 1^st order equalizer that may be implemented at high speed systems at 10 Gb/s and beyond