The SL Undersea Lightguide System

A digital optical fiber undersea cable system targeted for transatlantic service in 1988 is now under development at Bell Laboratories. The system uses single-mode fibers to carry data at a bit rate of 280 Mbits/s. Using digital speech compression techniques, a total system capacity of over 35 000 two-way voice channels can be realized. With laser transmitters at 1.3 μm, repeater spacings are expected to exceed 35 km. This paper discusses system parameters, repeaters, fiber and cable design, terminal equipment, and system measurements.