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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Quasi-light Storage for Optical Data Packets
Published on: February 6, 2014
Capacity limits of information transport in fiber-optic networks
René-Jean Essiambre1, Gerard J Foschini, Gerhard Kramer
1Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, 791 Holmdel-Keyport Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733, USA. rjessiam@alcatel-lucent.com
Abstract:
The instantaneous optical Kerr effect in optical fibers is a nonlinear phenomenon that can impose limits on the ability of fiber-optic communication systems to transport information. We present here a conservative estimate of the "fiber channel" capacity in an optically routed network. We show that the fiber capacity per unit bandwidth for a given distance significantly exceeds current record experimental demonstrations.
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