Polarization sensing for optical network security: a comparative study of 1G and 200G systems

Polarization state changes in optical fibers provide a valuable tool for enhancing optical network security. This paper uses a robotic arm to compare the polarization sensing capabilities of 1G SFP and 200G CFP2 transceivers under controlled fiber manipulations. Stokes vectors extracted from a 4-diode polarization analyzer are evaluated against a reference signal using mean squared error (MSE). Results show that the 1G system is more sensitive to fiber manipulations, achieving lower MSE overall, but is affected by signal spikes during force application. The 200G system demonstrates greater stability but reduced sensitivity to fine birefringence changes, resulting in higher MSE values.