Soft forward error correction with higher-order modulations is often
implemented in practice via the pragmatic bit-interleaved coded modulation
paradigm, where a single binary code is mapped to a nonbinary modulation. In
this paper, we study the optimization of the mapping of the coded bits to the
modulation bits for a polarization-multiplexed fiber-optical system without
optical inline dispersion compensation. Our focus is on protograph-based
low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes which allow for an efficient hardware
implementation, suitable for high-speed optical communications. The
optimization is applied to the AR4JA protograph family, and further extended to
protograph-based spatially coupled LDPC codes assuming a windowed decoder. Full
field simulations via the split-step Fourier method are used to verify the
analysis. The results show performance gains of up to 0.25 dB, which translate
into a possible extension of the transmission reach by roughly up to 8%,
without significantly increasing the system complexity.Comment: This paper was published in Optics Express and is made available as
an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at
the following URL on the OSA website:
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-22-12-1454