Performance Evaluation of Optical Links: With and Without Forward Error Correcting Codes

Optical links play a crucial role in modern communication systems, enabling high-speed data transmission over long distances with minimal loss and interference. As the demand for faster and more reliable networks continues to grow, evaluating the performance of optical links becomes paramount. There are several approaches to developing performance prediction strategies for optical links, including analytical models, numerical simulations, and experimental measurements. Analytical models are based on mathematical equations and can provide quick and accurate predictions of the link performance for simple systems. Numerical simulations use computer software to solve complex equations and simulate the link performance for more realistic systems. The prominent strategies include: link budget analysis; chromatic dispersion compensation; nonlinear impairment mitigation; error correcting codes. This work mainly focusses on analyzing the performance of optical link with various prediction strategies (hard decision-FEC, soft decision-FEC and probabilistic shaping)) using forward error correcting codes (FEC). The symbol error rate, bit error rate and achievable information rates have been analyzed for aforementioned strategies with and without FEC.