Quality estimation of the optical n-quadrature amplitude modulation signals utilizing the eye opening penalty

A novel method to estimate n-quadrature amplitude modulation (n-QAM) signal quality using the eye opening penalty is proposed and verified. Operation of the proposed method in the presence of most typical distortions like chromatic dispersion and accumulated noise is evaluated. Further, the proposed method is compared with other well-established methods. The presented results indicate excellent applicability of the proposed method to estimate the n-QAM signal quality and therefore, great potential in applications in the transmission system simulations and the production environment. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:564–569, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26621