On the SNR Statistics in Coupled-Core Multi-Core Fiber Transmissions with Mode-Dependent Loss

We investigate the impact of mode-dependent loss (MDL) on the statistics of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in coupled-core multi-core fiber (CC-MCF) systems. Through numerical and theoretical simulations, we present an in-depth analysis of the impact of MDL on received amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and nonlinear interference (NLI), as well as their joint contribution to the SNR. We show that MDL induces different statistics on the two noises and discuss the differences with single-mode polarization-dependent loss. Moreover, we investigate the impact of spatial mode dispersion (SMD) on the MDL-induced impairment, offering insights on their joint effects on ASE and NLI.