Space-Division Multiplexing for Optical Fiber Communications

Today's commercial optical fiber network relies on single mode fibers for long-haul communications, so that only the two polarizations of the fundamental guided mode are excited through independent data streams. Space-Division Multiplexing (SDM) aims at exploiting the spatial (or modal) dimension for the transmission of information, thanks to the use of multimode fiber structures, like multimode or multicore fibers. Ideally, many of the already existing techniques for single-mode fiber transmission (like wavelength division multiplexing or high-cardinality modulation formats) can be extended to the SDM architecture. However, new linear and nonlinear impairments arise in this scenario, which need to be modeled, analyzed, and, possibly, compensated. 

My current research is focused on physical models for optical signal propagation, from the nonlinear Schrödinger equation for multimode structures, to the different flavors of Manakov equations. I am curious about simplified numerical and analytical models for the signal propagation in multimode structures, and, for future research, in possible DSP and optical compensation techniques for linear and nonlinear impairments. I am developing a simulator based on a numerical solver for system level analysis for the SDM architecture.

Finally, I am interested in understanding which multimode fiber geometries could better suit the different SDM scenarios, depending on the linear coupling regimes and on the significance of nonlinear effects.

If you would like to work together, feel free to contact me!