Methods for the determination and calculation of dispersion properties of multimode fiber waveguides (review)

An analysis was made of the published information on the data-carrying capacity of multimode fiber waveguides. The main mechanisms which influence the dispersion of a pulse in a fiber are discussed and methods for calculating the dispersion are reviewed. The problems encountered in experimental investigations of dispersion properties of fiber waveguides and in quantitative description of these properties are considered. The apparatus needed in various methods for the determination of the dispersion of a pulse and future trends in such methods are discussed. An analysis is made of the relationship between the conditions during measurement of dispersion properties of fiber waveguides and the results obtained. The problem of standardization of the description of fiber waveguides is considered. Much attention is given to the influence on the bandwidth of fiber waveguides of defects of the real refractive index of fiber waveguides due to the characteristic features of the technological processes and methods for compensating this influence are discussed.