Amplified 1550-nm CATV lightwave systems

Summary form only given. Transmission of community antenna television (CATV) signals at 1550 nm in standard optical fiber presents both challenges and opportunities. It enables the lowest loss transmission through fiber as well as the use of optical fibre amplifiers. The challenge of 1550-nm transmission is that the standard non-dispersion-shifted fiber, which is widely deployed by the CATV industry, has significant chromatic dispersion. Optical amplifiers boost the power but add noise, thereby degrading the carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the transmitted signal. The technology, design, and perfdrmance of 1550-nm analog CATV systems are presented.