SNR analysis of crosstalk and filtering effects in an amplified multichannel direct-detection dense-WDM system

An SNR analysis is presented for multichannel dense-WDM (wavelength-division-multiplexed) networks using optical amplifiers and optical filters. By using Lorentzian approximations for the amplified spontaneous emission and the optical and electrical bandwidths, simple expressions are derived for the relevant noise sources and crosstalk and filtering effects. Guidelines are stated for choosing appropriate optical filter widths and channel spacings to reduce power penalties. For any experimental system easily measurable quantities can be inserted into the analytical solutions to obtain close approximations for minimizing SNR degradation due to filtering and crosstalk.<>