Effect of span loss increase on the optically amplified communication system

In optical fiber communication systems using Er/sup 3+/ doped fiber amplifiers operating in their compression region, the optical signal power is known to be restored by the self-healing effect in the case of the span loss increase. In this paper, the influence of such excess loss on the system transmission performance is experimentally and numerically investigated from the point of view of the system signal-to-noise ratio and Q-factor. The results show that the system SNR is not completely recovered although the signal power is restored after several stages of amplifiers and that there exists the residual degradation of the system SNR. Through a 5.3 Gb/s data transmission experiment over 3000 km, the transmission penalty due to the excess span loss is confirmed to be decided by this residual degradation of the system SNR. The obtained results can be used for system design and a plan of maintenance for the optical amplifier communication system.