1. Official Vendor Documentation: Huawei Technologies, HCIP-Transmission V2.5 Training Material. In the section covering "WDM System Transmission Technologies," it is explained that while higher optical power improves OSNR, it also increases the impact of non-linear effects. The documentation states, "When the optical power is excessively high, the non-linear effect occurs, which deteriorates system performance." This confirms that power should not be "as high as possible." (Reference: Huawei Certified ICT Professional Learning Guide, HCIP-Transmission V2.5, Chapter on WDM Principles).
2. Official Vendor Documentation: Huawei Technologies, OptiX OSN 8800/6800/3800 Product Documentation, WDM System Basic Concepts. This documentation details the physical limitations of optical transmission. In the section on "Non-linear Effect," it explicitly states that these effects are triggered when optical power density in the fiber exceeds a certain threshold, leading to signal degradation. This directly contradicts the idea that power should be maximized. (Reference: Huawei OptiX OSN Product Documentation, Section: WDM Principles > Transmission Impairments > Non-linear Effects).
3. Peer-reviewed Academic Publication / Foundational Textbook: Agrawal, G. P. (2021). Fiber-Optic Communication Systems (5th ed.). Wiley. In Chapter 5, "Nonlinear Impairments," Agrawal explains, "Although an increase in signal power improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver, it also enhances the impact of fiber nonlinearity, which becomes a limiting factor for lightwave systems... In fact, system performance can be degraded by increasing channel powers beyond a certain optimum level." (Reference: Chapter 5, Section 5.1, Introduction). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119737339
4. University Courseware: MIT OpenCourseWare, Course 6.453J / 2.717J - Topics in Optical Communications, Spring 2006. Lecture notes on "Nonlinear Effects in Optical Fibers" describe how effects like SPM and XPM are dependent on optical intensity (power). The materials demonstrate that these effects induce phase shifts and spectral broadening that degrade signal quality, establishing that there is an upper limit to useful optical power in a transmission system. (Reference: MIT OCW, 6.453J, Lecture 10-12 Notes on Fiber Nonlinearities).