High-capacity undersea long-haul systems

Abstract

This paper reviews technologies and techniques that have been used in deployed long-haul wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems and emerging technologies that could be used for the next generation of cost-reduced systems. The overview of current generation technologies starts with a discussion of modulation formats, focusing on the superior properties of the chirped return to zero on-off shift keying (CRZ-OOK) modulation format. The use of 10-Gb/s CRZ-OOK modulation format together with advanced fiber types, more powerful forward error correction (FEC), and broadband erbium-doped fiber amplifiers resulted in the deployment of dense WDM systems with capacities per fiber in terabits per second range and trans-Pacific reach. Demand for the systems with large design capacity led to further development of broadband optical amplifiers. Laboratory demonstrations successfully expanded transmission into the full C-band and later in the C and L transmission bands. The current market conditions dictate the need for reducing the first cost of an installed system rather than reaching record capacity per fiber. Reducing first cost can be achieved by reducing the amount of optical amplifiers in the cable by utilizing an excess performance margin provided by available RZ-OOK technology. Further improvements would be possible if more powerful FEC and modulation formats with better receiver sensitivity are used. For example, the RZ differential phase-shift keying (RZ-DPSK) modulation format with 3-dB better receiver sensitivity and better nonlinear tolerance to large amounts of accumulated dispersion is a very promising technology. This paper will review long-haul transmission results using RZ-DPSK and will compare the transmission properties of RZ-DPSK signals versus RZ-OOK signals. Due to superior receiver sensitivity, the RZ-DPSK modulation format can be an enabling technology for 40-Gb/s per channel transoceanic transmission