Abstract
Communications of tens of gigabits per second of data over distances of many thousands of kilometres using optical-fibre solitons has been predicted and demonstrated experimentally. This paper reviews the history, physics and engineering of optical-fibre solitons and assesses the problems encountered in realising the concept for high-capacity transatlantic telecommunications. The possibilities of communications inherent in the transmission of pulses which do not suffer dispersion were recognised almost immediately after the mathematical clarification of the soliton, and in 1973 a proposal was initiated by Hasegawa and Tappert for the use of this phenomenon for high-capacity digital communications along optical fibres. The technical issues involved in a proper understanding of this idea are discussed and the impact on technology that has followed the proposal is considered.
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