Device development for terabit systems

This paper discusses the technology developments necessary for the introduction of fiber systems with capacity exceeding 1 Terabit per second per fiber. Such systems will be installed early in the next century. In many respects, fiber systems have followed the evolution of radio systems, albeit with very much higher data rates; the challenge of terabit systems will drive fiber systems into considerations of the effective use of spectrum, and in this case, as before, radio analogies will prove useful.