We consider a nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT)-based transmission scheme,
where data is embedded into the imaginary part of the nonlinear discrete
spectrum. Inspired by probabilistic amplitude shaping, we propose a
probabilistic eigenvalue shaping (PES) scheme as a means to increase the data
rate of the system. We exploit the fact that for an NFT-based transmission
scheme the pulses in the time domain are of unequal duration by transmitting
them with a dynamic symbol interval and find a capacity-achieving distribution.
The PES scheme shapes the information symbols according to the
capacity-achieving distribution and transmits them together with the parity
symbols at the output of a low-density parity-check encoder, suitably
modulated, via time-sharing. We furthermore derive an achievable rate for the
proposed PES scheme. We verify our results with simulations of the
discrete-time model as well as with split-step Fourier simulations.Comment: Published in IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology, 201
