Abstract

The advent of the Er³⁺-doped fiber amplifier for optical amplification in the 1550 nm window has revolutionized optical telecommunications. One must, however, keep in mind that most of the existing networks are based on standard fibers (SF) which are not well suited for operation at 1550 nm due to their large group velocity dispersion (GVD) at that wavelength. Upgrading existing networks to higher capacity at 1550 nm has therefore become a major challenge for researchers. A very promising approach in this respect is the use of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) in combination with dispersion management techniques which allow to compensate the large GVD of the SF at 1550 nm (D=16 ps/(km nm)).

© 1998 IEEE