A 1021 Channel WDM System

We demonstrate a WDM system with 1021 independent wavelength channels within the C- and L-bands of the EDFA. All channels carry RZ data at 74 MB/s and are spaced by only 9.5 GHz. We demonstrate transmission over 60 km of standard single mode fiber with power penalties of less than 1.5 dB. The transmitter uses a single wideband optical source and eight high-speed modulators. With optical demultiplexing and low bandwidth receivers, this system has the potential as a low per- port cost, access grade system.