6. From coherent receivers to coherent transmission systems

6.1 Forty years of laboratory experiments

To gauge the most innovative transmission systems, the scientific community has taken to comparing them by multiplying the total capacity transported in a single fiber by the distance covered. This product best reflects the challenges involved in designing a high-performance transmission system. This is the criterion summarized in figure 20 since the advent of optical fibers. It features the best experiments published by researchers around the world. Each one has marked a milestone in the history of telecommunications, by proposing an original concept, testing a technology or algorithm, or simply demonstrating the impact...