Summary
Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) has become one of the major limiting factors for high‐bit‐rate optical transmission systems. This paper evaluates the performance of dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) system with PMD at 80 Gb/s in the presence of Kerr‐nonlinear effects. Orthogonally modulated signals have been investigated and compared for tolerance against PMD in a DWDM transmission system with direct detection receivers. The optimized combinations of orthogonal polarization (OP) with carrier‐suppressed return‐to‐zero (CSRZ) and CSRZ differential‐phase‐shift‐keying signals are shown to improve PMD tolerance over high bit rates and long transmission lengths. Improved performance greater than 4 dB is observed for CSRZ modulated signal with OP because of less channel cross talk and reduced power transfer between adjacent bits over different PMD values. The numerical results demonstrate that our proposed orthogonally modulated signals perform better with lesser complex direct detection receivers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.