In this paper, a detailed model of a hybrid dual-stage Raman/erbium-doped fiber (EDF) amplifier is presented. This model takes into account the impact of double Rayleigh backscattering (DRB) noise, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and Kerr-nonlinearity induced impairments in the amplification process. Using this model, we present a comprehensive analysis of the operation of hybrid dual-stage Raman/EDF amplifiers under above impairments. We show that under fixed total gain conditions for the amplifier module, high Raman gain causes the introduction of increased DRB noise to the amplified signals whereas low Raman gain causes the introduction of high ASE noise power through EDF amplifier. Therefore a balance between the Raman amplifier gain and EDF amplifier gain is required for optimal operation. These observations are then combined to show an optimization process, which could be applied to improve the design of hybrid dual-stage Raman/EDF amplifiers.

In this paper, amplified double Rayleigh backscattering noise (DRB) in the optical fiber Raman amplifier is analyzed. Expressions are present for both forward pumping and backward pumping schemes, respectively. Calculation is performed to show the effective suppression of DRB noise by employing an optical isolator. The best isolator position is determined as 13 km away from the signal input end for forward pumping, and 9 km from the output end for backward pumping. The best position is found insensitive to the fiber length, pump power, and signal power. When the isolator is on the best position, the DRB noise can be reduced by almost 2 to 3 orders.

In a bidirectional wavelength-reused system, polarization control is used to reduce power penalty induced by coherent mixing of the signal with Rayleigh backscattering. The reduction of the effect of Rayleigh backscattering is theoretical study and experimental demonstration. For a 50km, 10Gb/s bidirectional transmission system, an error floor of about 510-10 under the worst polarization state is occurred. Nevertheless, the power penalty is reduced from 3.5dB to only 0.3dB when the signals are under optimum polarization control. The results indicate that the proposed technique may find vast applications in bidirectional ring networks with add/drop as well as cross-connect nodes using wavelength-reused technology.