9000 km, 5 Gb/s NRZ Transmission Experiment Using 274 Erbium-Doped Fiber-Amplifiers

The next generation of undersea transmission systems will use Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) to boost signals periodically as the signals travel across the world’s oceans[1] [2] AT&T and KDD have constructed a joint experiment to aid in the design of the first trans-Pacific optical amplifier cable[3] To date, straight line experiments have been reported up to 4500 km.[4] [5] This memorandum reports error- free performance at 5 Gb/s, through 9000 km of dispersion shifted fiber and 274 EDFAs.