Nonlinear optics in optical fibers and future prospects for optical soliton communication technologies

With a view to realizing Broadband ISDN, it is becoming more important to achieve ultrahigh-speed optical communication systems. One promising approach for such high-speed communications is the optical soliton communication, which does not change its waveform over long distances. Recently, optical soliton communication has matured considerably through the use of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. In this paper, we review nonlinear optics in optical fibers and discuss future prospects for optical soliton technologies aiming all-optical high-speed transmission.