On the Benefits of Probabilistic Constellation Shaping in Flex-Grid/MCF Dynamic Optical Backbone Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel methodology for estimating the worst-case spectral efficiency (b/s/Hz) of end-to-end paths across a Multi-Core Fiber (MCF)-enabled Flex-Grid optical network, accounting for physical link and intra-node noise, together with the inter-core crosstalk impairment appearing during the transmission of optical signals over MCFs. In particular, we employ the proposed methodology to quantify the benefits of Probabilistic Constellation Shaping (PCS) versus traditional polarization-multiplexed modulation formats in two reference backbone networks. From the obtained results, PCS yields admissible offered load gains close to 13% under 1% bandwidth blocking probability.