Optical amplifiers - A telecommunications revolution

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Description/Abstract

Until recently, optical telecommunications networks relied on electrical amplifiers to boost optical signals which had suffered losses either after transmission over long distances, or by division between multiple subscribers. As a result, optical fibres were essentially used as point-to-point optical conduits and were designed specifically for a given data rate and format. Moreover, little use of the extraordinarily-wide optical window could be made, since if multiple optical channels were employed, they had to be demultiplexed into their constituent wavelengths and electrically amplified separately. Despite this, optical fibres now occupy some 60% of trunk networks in the developed countries.