Abstract

The erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) will provide a technology platform for a variety of undersea-cable transmission systems, including long nonrepeatered systems, multiple-wavelength undersea networks, and the traditional transoceanic-length long-haul transmission systems. The newest generation of cable systems, which are using EDFAs in the repeaters and terminals, will operate at a bit rate of 5 Gbit/s, nearly eight times as fast as the previous generation of undersea systems. Wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) techniques coupled with the EDFA repeaters will permit additional growth of this transmission capacity and more flexible design options in the future.

© 1995 Optical Society of America