In order to enable optical systems to operate with a high degree of compactness and reliability it is necessary to combine large number of optical functions in small monolithic structures. A development, somewhat reminiscent of that that took place in Integrated Electronics, is now beginning to take place in optics. The initial challenge in this emerging field, known appropriately as "Integrated Optics", is to demonstrate the possibility of performing basic optical functions such as light generation, coupling, modulation, and guiding in Integrated Optical configurations. The talk will review the main theoretical and experimental developments to date in Integrated Optics. Specific topics to be discussed include: Material considerations, guiding mechanisms, modulation, coupling and mode losses. The fabrication and applications of periodic thin film structures will be discussed.

Integrated optics

We introduce a traffic model for circuit switched all-optical networks (AONs) which we then use to calculate the blocking probability along a path for networks with and without wavelength changers. We investigate the effects of path length, switch size, and interference length (the expected number of hops shared by two sessions which share at least one hop) on blocking probability and the ability of wavelength changers to improve performance. Our model correctly predicts unobvious qualitative behavior demonstrated in simulations by other authors.

Models of blocking probability in all-optical networks with and without wavelength changers

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Optics Express, this paper reviews the evolution of optical fiber communication systems, and through a look at the previous 20 years attempts to extrapolate fiber-optic technology needs and potential solution paths over the coming 20 years. Well aware that 20-year extrapolations are inherently associated with great uncertainties, we still hope that taking a significantly longer-term view than most texts in this field will provide the reader with a broader perspective and will encourage the much needed out-of-the-box thinking to solve the very significant technology scaling problems ahead of us. Focusing on the optical transport and switching layer, we cover aspects of large-scale spatial multiplexing, massive opto-electronic arrays and holistic optics-electronics-DSP integration, as well as optical node architectures for switching and multiplexing of spatial and spectral superchannels.

Fiber-optic transmission and networking: the previous 20 and the next 20 years [Invited]

It is shown both analytically and with numerical simulation, and confirmed experimentally in transmission over distances up to approximately 10000 km, that solitons maintain a high degree of polarization over an ultra-long distance transmission system consisting of birefringent dispersion-shifted fiber segments and erbium amplifiers. Based on that fact, the authors propose a polarization/time division multiplexing technique which should allow the single-wavelength bit-rate capacity of an ultra-long distance soliton transmission system to be doubled with little or no significant increase in bit error rate. >

Polarization multiplexing with solitons

By gradually translating the peak frequency of guiding filters along its length, we create a fiber transmission line that is substantially opaque to noise while remaining transparent to solitons. This trick allows the use of stronger filters, and hence greater jitter reduction, without incurring the usual penalty of exponentially rising noise from the excess gain required to overcome filter loss.

The sliding-frequency guiding filter: an improved form of soliton jitter control

By transmitting trains of 213 bit pseudorandom words in a recirculating loop, we demonstrate ‘error-free’ (measured BER ≥10−10) soliton transmission at 5 Gbit/s, single channel, and at 10 Gbit/s in a two channel WDM, over paths as great as 15 400 km and 11 250 km, respectively.

Demonstration of error-free soliton transmission over more than 15000 km at 5 Gbit/s, single-channel, and over more than 11000 km at 10 Gbit/s in two-channel WDM

Error-free (bit error rate ≤ 10−10) soliton transmission at 2.5 Gbit/s over paths greater than 14,000 km, measured by a novel technique suitable for use in a recirculating loop, is reported.

Demonstration of error-free soliton transmission at 2.5 Gbit/s over more than 14000 km

An experimental technique was developed for measuring bit error rates in multi-thousand kilometre fibre amplifier systems using a circulating loop. A transmission distance of 14,300 km at 5 Gbit/s and 21,000 km at 2.4 Gbit/s was achieved using a non-return-to-zero pseudorandom data pattern. The bit rate distance product of the 5 Gbit/s result was 71 Tbit km/s.

Bit error rate measurements of 14000 km 5 Gbit/s fibre-amplifier transmission system using circulating loop

The transmission of 60 ps solitons at 2.4 Gbit/s over paths as great as 12,000 km in a recirculating loop of dispersion shifted fibre and erbium fibre amplifiers is reported. With a mode-locked diode laser as signal source, at each distance, a measurement is made of the effective pulse width that is very close to that predicted from jitter in pulse arrival times from the Gordon-Haus effect. With a gain-switched and optically filtered laser as source, however, gross excess pulse broadening is observed for distances greater than a few thousand kilometres.

Demonstration of soliton transmission at 2.4 Gbit/s over 12,000 km

340 Gb/s (seventeen 20-Gb/s 2/sup 31/-1 PRBS NRZ channels) were transmitted through 150 km of fiber with 50 km amplifier spacing. Chromatic dispersion penalties and four-photon mixing effects were minimized by dispersion management. >

B.M. Nyman

Papers

Demonstration of error-free soliton transmission over more than 15000 km at 5 Gbit/s, single-channel, and over more than 11000 km at 10 Gbit/s in two-channel WDM

Demonstration of error-free soliton transmission at 2.5 Gbit/s over more than 14000 km

Bit error rate measurements of 14000 km 5 Gbit/s fibre-amplifier transmission system using circulating loop

Demonstration of soliton transmission at 2.4 Gbit/s over 12,000 km

One-third terabit/s transmission through 150 km of dispersion-managed fiber