Robustness of 40-Gbit/s, 8/spl times/100 km-span soliton transmission with respect to fiber dispersion map over amplification span

In this communication, we report a straight-line transmission experiment at 40 Gbit/s over 800 km without any in-line soliton control nor local dispersion management and with enhanced amplifier span to 100 km. Q factors >6.5 were measured at 800 km. Two fiber configurations were investigated for which the chromatic dispersion was respectively decreasing and increasing over the amplification span. The two dispersion maps, which correspond to two extreme cases in local fluctuations.