Soliton communications systems: the concept is alive

Solitons are the natural bits for optical communications. This key concept has been at the heart of extensive and intensive research for twenty years. During that time the optical soliton idea has evolved, revolved and converged to such an extent that many modern long distance transmission systems are deploying an almost unrecognisable version of the original soliton concept. Indeed there are many who feel that the modern variants of nonlinear RZ should not be designated as soliton based and that their operation owes nothing to soliton effects. This presentation will discuss the role of soliton concepts in the design of ultra-long DWDM systems.