1000-km 7-core fiber transmission of 10 x 96-Gb/s PDM-16QAM using Raman amplification with 6.5 W per fiber

We demonstrate 7-core fiber transmission of 10 x 96-Gb/s PDM-16QAM signals over 1000-km using distributed Raman amplification (DRA). DRA gain of 9-12 dB and equivalent noise figure of less than 1 dB are achieved in all cores. We also prove the feasibility of high power multi-core fiber transmission with per fiber power of 6.5 W. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America