Transmission of thirty-eight 40 Gb/s channels (>1.5 Tb/s) over transoceanic distance

Thirty-eight 40 Gb/s channels were transmitted over 6,200 km for a total capacity of 1.52 Tb/s. This is the first transoceanic length DWDM demonstration using 40 Gb/s channels. In addition, we show 60% spectral efficiency over 4,500 km without the need of polarization demultiplexing.

1. Introduction

Dense WDM technology with 40 Gb/s channels is attractive since the same capacity can be achieved using a quarter of the channel specific equipment compared to 10 Gb/s DWDM technology. Transmitting 40 Gb/s DWDM channels over transoceanic distances with sufficient system margin presents numerous technical challenges [1]. These challenges include the increased sensitivity to nonlinear effects, chromatic dispersion, dispersion slope, and polarization mode dispersion (PMD). Previously, 40 Gb/s experimental results [2], [3] were limited to 4,500 km for capacities larger than 1 Tb/s.