An optical bit-rate flexible transmission system with 5-Tb/s-kmcapacity employing multiple in-line erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

An optical bit-rate flexible transmission system using erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) is proposed, and the system design is discussed. An optical bit-rate flexible system using multiple in-line erbium-doped fiber amplifiers has produced a regenerative repeater spacing of 505 km at 10 Gb/s and 523 km at 5 Gb/s for direct-detection systems. This system proves that an optical bit-rate flexible system with a transmission capacity of 5.05 Tb/s-km can be feasibly constructed. System capacity is clarified both theoretically and experimentally. The power penalties involved are discussed. The related optical and electrical circuits proved operational above 10 Gb/s. The 523 km at 5 Gb/s and 505 km at 10 Gb/s transmission experiments successfully demonstrated that EDFAs effectively enhance a system's transmission capacity