Demonstration of massive wavelength-division multiplexing over transoceanic distances by use of dispersion-managed solitons

By combining a special dispersion map that has nearly constant path-average dispersion, a hybrid amplification scheme involving backward-pumped Raman gain, and sliding-frequency guiding filters, we have demonstrated massive wavelength-division multiplexing at 10 Gbits/s per channel, error free (bit-error rate, less than or equal to 1 x 10(-9) for all channels), without the use of forward error correction, over greater than 9000 km, using dispersion-managed solitons. The number of channels (27) was limited only by a temporary lack of amplifier power and gain flatness. Terabit capacities are to be expected in the near future. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.