INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF FIBER-OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS DUE TO DECREASING DISTANCES BETWEEN BEARING

The load on transport networks based on fiber-optic transmission systems is increasing at an accelerating rate. This paper discusses the possibility and limitations of increasing the throughput of fiber-optic transmission systems by reducing the distance between carriers. A comparison is made between fixed and flexible grids in terms of the spectral bandwidth efficiency. It is concluded that the use of flexible mesh technology is promising when switching to channel speeds above 100 Gbit/s.