Constraints on the design of single-channel, high-capacity (>10 Gb/s) soliton systems

We have examined the design constraints of single-channel soliton systems operating at high data rates (>10 Gb/s). While Gordon-Haus timing jitter is the most important effect for 10 Gb/s transoceanic systems, it is fiber perturbations arising from discrete in-line amplification that severely limit the transmission distance and amplifier spacing at higher data rates. Dispersion-decreasing fiber or distributed optical amplification, both of which locally balance dispersion and fiber nonlinearities, could eliminate this constraint and extend the regime of stable soliton transmission.<>