5.2. DESIGN GUIDELINES 191
index fibers. The first commercial system became available in 1980 and operated at a
bit rate of 45 Mb/s with a repeater spacing of less than 10 km.
The second generation of lightwave systems used primarily single-mode fibers near
the minimum-dispersion wavelength occurring at about 1.31μm. The most limiting
factor for such systems is dispersion-induced pulse broadening dominated by a rela-
tively large source spectral width. As discussed in Section 2.4.3, theBLproduct is then
limited by [see Eq. (2.4.26)]
BL≤( 4 |D|σλ)−^1 , (5.2.2)whereσλis the root-mean-square (RMS) width of the source spectrum. The actual
value of|D|depends on how close the operating wavelength is to the zero-dispersion
wavelength of the fiber and is typically∼1 ps/(km-nm). Figure 5.4 shows the dis-
persion limit for 1.3-μm lightwave systems by choosing|D|σλ=2 ps/km so that
BL≤125 (Gb/s)-km. As seen there, such systems are generally loss-limited for bit
rates up to 1 Gb/s but become dispersion-limited at higher bit rates.
Third- and fourth-generation lightwave systems operate near 1.55μm to take ad-
vantage of the smallest fiber losses occurring in this wavelength region. However, fiber
dispersion becomes a major problem for such systems sinceD≈16 ps/(km-nm) near
1.55μm for standard silica fibers. Semiconductor lasers operating in a single longitu-
dinal mode provide a solution to this problem. The ultimate limit is then given by [see
Eq. (2.4.30)]
B^2 L<( 16 |β 2 |)−^1 , (5.2.3)whereβ 2 is related toDas in Eq. (2.3.5). Figure 5.4 shows this limit by choosing
B^2 L=4000 (Gb/s)^2 -km. As seen there, such 1.55-μm systems become dispersion-
limited only forB>5 Gb/s. In practice, the frequency chirp imposed on the optical
pulse during direct modulation provides a much more severe limitation. The effect of
frequency chirp on system performance is discussed in Section 5.4.4. Qualitatively
speaking, the frequency chirp manifests through a broadening of the pulse spectrum.
If we use Eq. (5.2.2) withD=16 ps/(km-nm) andσλ= 0 .1 nm, theBLproduct is
limited to 150 (Gb/s)-km. As a result, the frequency chirp limits the transmission dis-
tance to 75 km atB=2 Gb/s, even though loss-limited distance exceeds 150 km. The
frequency-chirp problem is often solved by using an external modulator for systems
operating at bit rates>5 Gb/s.
A solution to the dispersion problem is offered bydispersion-shifted fibersfor
which dispersion and loss both are minimum near 1.55μm. Figure 5.4 shows the
improvement by using Eq. (5.2.3) with|β 2 |=2ps^2 /km. Such systems can be operated
at 20 Gb/s with a repeater spacing of about 80 km. Further improvement is possible
by operating the lightwave system very close to the zero-dispersion wavelength, a task
that requires careful matching of the laser wavelength to the zero-dispersion wave-
length and is not always feasible because of variations in the dispersive properties of
the fiber along the transmission link. In practice, the frequency chirp makes it difficult
to achieve even the limit indicated in Fig. 5.4. By 1989, two laboratory experiments had
demonstrated transmission over 81 km at 11 Gb/s [19] and over 100 km at 10 Gb/s [20]
by using low-chirp semiconductor lasers together with dispersion-shifted fibers. The
triangles in Fig. 5.4 show that such systems operate quite close to the fundamental