Due to the presence of Kerr nonlinearities, a closed-form expression for the input-output relation of the fiber-optic channel cannot be derived, rendering the channel capacity indeterminate. Digital signal processing techniques, such as digital back-propagation, have been proposed as a means of mitigating nonlinear and linear fiber effects.

However, in wavelength switched networks, where receivers are only able to access their specific channel of interest and not interfering channels, only intra-channel effects, such as self-phase modulation, can be mitigated. As a result, cross-phase modulation remains a significant source of distortion in the received signal.

The nonlinear distortions that remain are typically modeled as correlated phase noise and inter-symbol interference within the channel of interest. My research focuses on developing coding schemes and receivers capable of mitigating these distortions.