Abstract

An accepted advantage of soliton transmission systems is the low level of inter channel crosstalk. ^1,2 During collisions strong interactions occur, with the solitons being alternately accelerated and retarded through the collision. In an ideal fiber, the soliton properties remain completely unaffected, baring a small change in the pulse arrival time. Realistically, however, fiber perturbations and initial pulse overlap may cause an asymmetry in the collision which results in a net pulse acceleration (or retardation), i.e., a change in carrier frequency. This has been confirmed experimentally in both short linear systems³ of ≈100 km, and recirculating loops with effective propagation distances of ≈ 10,000 km.⁴

© 1992 Optical Society of America