All-optical regenerators

Summary form only given. To face capacity demand in both submarine and terrestrial systems, ever-higher line-rates per channel (e.g., 40 Gbit/s) must be considered, while handling ever-growing propagation impairments. In terrestrial applications, which are subject to more specific networking requirements, a constant and acceptable signal quality throughout the system is mandatory. A possible solution common to both applications is all-optical regeneration, whose effect is to suitably control the data pulse characteristics but also to enhance or restore the signal-to-noise ratio (full 3R regeneration). In this paper, we shall describe the possibilities offered by SOA all-optical regenerators and compare them with those offered by their electronic alternative.