Soliton-based optical communications: an overview

Multiterabit/s, ultrahigh-speed optical transmissions over several thousands of kilometers on fibers are becoming reality. Most use return-to-zero (RZ) format, only stable waveform in the presence of fiber Kerr nonlinearity and dispersion in an all-optical transmission line with loss compensated by periodic amplifications. The nonlinear Schrodinger equation, assisted by the split-step numerical solutions, is commonly used as the master equation to describe the information transfer in optical fibers. All these facts are the outcome of research on optical solitons in fibers in spite of the fact that the commonly used RZ format is not always called a soliton format. The overview presented here attempts to incorporate the role of soliton-based communications research on present-day ultrahigh-speed communications.