Dynamic Performance and Speed Requirement of Polarization Mode Dispersion Compensators

To study the dynamic performance of a polarization mode dispersion compensator (PMDC), a continuous polarization mode dispersion (PMD) model and a dynamic PMDC model are presented. The continuous PMD model generates continuous PMD and state of polarization (SOP) variations. The statistics of the SOP variation generated by the continuous PMD model follows the Rayleigh distribution and the SOP variation amplitude scales with the square root of sampling time interval. The results are compared with those of a numerical and a commercial polarization scrambler and the difference of the SOP variation characteristics between the PMD model and the polarization scramblers are explained. The continuous PMD model and the dynamic PMDC model are used to study the dynamic performance and speed requirement of a two-stage PMDC. The speed requirement of the PMDC is quantified in the SOP variation in one PMDC loop cycle. We find that when the SOP variation is within 3 degrees in one PMDC loop cycle, the dynamic PMD and SOP changes virtually does not cause any degradation in the PMDC performance.