Abstract

Polarization-related impairments have become a critical issue for high-data-rate optical systems, particularly when considering polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization-dependent loss (PDL). In general, polarization effects are stochastic processes and can occur on short or long time scales. Therefore, control and monitoring of these effects may be crucial in any systemslevel mitigation. This tutorial will highlight the following key issues: monitoring schemes, emulation of proper statistics, PMD and PDL interaction, and applications of polarization scrambling. Alan Willner received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, has worked at AT&T Bell Labs and Bellcore, and is Professor of EE at USC. He has received the NSF Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House, Packard Foundation Fellowship, NSF National Young Investigator Award, OSA Fellow, Fulbright Foundation Senior Scholars Award, IEEE LEOS Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Award, USC University-Wide Teaching Award, USC Best Engineering Teacher Award, and Armstrong Foundation Memorial Prize. Prof. Willner has been Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE/OSA J. Lightwave Technology, Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE J. Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, V.P. for IEEE LEOS Technical Affairs, OSA Science and Engineering Council Co-Chair, Elected Member of the IEEE LEOS Board of Governors, CLEO Program Co-Chair, LEOS Annual Meeting General Chair, OSA Annual Meeting Program Co-Chair, OSA Photonics Division Chair, OSA Optical Amplifier Meeting General Co-Chair, and OFC Steering and Program Committee Member. Prof. Willner has 350 publications, including one book.

© 2003 Optical Society of America