Feature
Raman Amplification for High-Capacity, Long-Haul Networking
The threat of a capacity crunch in the worldwide fiber communications system, and the availability of inexpensive, high-power diodes as pump sources for Raman amplification, has attracted new interest in the virtues of a decades-old technology.
The exponentially growing demand for higher data transmission capacity—driven by expanding Internet traffic, the “Internet of Things,” on-demand video and the rise of cloud-based services—is placing new burdens on the optical transmission infrastructure. Optical fibers form the linchpin of the system across many applications (no more transoceanic voice calls are done via satellite today) and through much of the global network architecture—for example, backhauling traffic from cell towers is achieved with high-capacity fiber links. The development of exabyte-scale data centers has even made geography irrelevant; the content of any website may be stored in another country or continent, requiring ultra-long-haul, ultra-high-capacity connectivity.
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