In this paper, we review different designs of distributed Raman amplifiers which have been proposed to minimize the signal power profile asymmetry in mid-link optical phase conjugation systems. We demonstrate how the symmetrical signal power profiles along the fiber can be achieved using various distributed Raman amplification techniques in the single-span and more realistic multi-span circumstances. In addition, we show the theoretically predicted results of the Kerr nonlinear product reduction with different Raman techniques in mid-link optical phase conjugator systems, and then in-line/long-haul transmission performance using numerical simulations.
Keywords: Raman amplification; coherent fiber optic communications; optical phase conjugation.