Coherent detection method using DSP for demodulation of signal and subsequent equalization of propagation impairments

A new approach to coherent detection is demonstrated which achieves the same high sensitivity as homodyne detection but without the need to phase lock the local oscillator laser. In addition, 1470 ps/nm of chromatic dispersion is compensated with zero net penalty by electronic domain equalization, a result which has not been achieved before because zero-penalty equalization is not possible after direct detection. The method proposes the use of high-speed digital signal processing technology, and the experimental results are obtained using burst-mode sampling followed by offline signal processing.