Polarization-division multiplexing

Polarization-division multiplexing (PDM) is a physical layer method for multiplexing signals carried on electromagnetic waves using the polarization of the electromagnetic waves to distinguish between the different orthogonal signals.

Radio

Polarization techniques have long been used in radio transmission to reduce interference between channels, particularly at VHF frequencies and beyond.

Photonics

Polarization-division multiplexing is typically used together with phase modulation or optical QAM, allowing transmission speeds of 100 Gbit/s or more over a single wavelength. Sets of PDM wavelength signals can then be carried over wavelength-division multiplexing infrastructure, potentially substantially expanding its capacity.

The major problem with the practical use of PDM over fiber-optic transmission systems are the drifts in polarization state that occur continuously over time due to physical changes in the fibre environment. Over a long-distance system, these drifts accumulate progressively without limit, resulting in rapid and erratic rotation of the polarized light's Jones vector over the entire Poincaré sphere. Polarization mode dispersion, polarization-dependent loss. and cross-polarization modulation are other phenomena that can cause problems in PDM systems.

For this reason, PDM is generally used in conjunction with advanced channel coding techniques, allowing the use of digital signal processing to decode the signal in a way that is resilient to polarization-related signal artifacts. Modulations used include PM-QPSK and PM-DQPSK.

Companies working on commercial PDM technology include Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Huawei and Infinera.

See also

• Polarization scrambler
• Wavelength-division multiplexing
• Orbital angular momentum multiplexing