Impact of Wavelength-Dependent I/Q Imbalances of Standard C-Band Transceivers in Rate-Adaptive Multiband Systems

We experimentally characterize wavelength-dependent I/Q imbalances when operating standard C-band IQ-modulator and coherent receiver in S-C-L-band systems. We evaluate their impact on the achievable entropy rate for probabilistically shaped PDM-256/64-QAM and show no penalty up to 150 nm bandwidth based on a single calibration.