Design rules for dispersion-managed soliton systems

We show that a limiting bit rate exists for dispersion-managed soliton systems and it depends only on the dispersion-map configuration. We introduce a new map parameter that determines the minimum input pulse width that can be launched into a dispersion-managed soliton system. We use this parameter to provide simple design rules and approximate analytic expressions for the three input pulse parameters (pulse width. chirp. and energy) for a two-fiber-section dispersion map and verify their accuracy numerically. The results confirm the known empirical result that pulse interactions are minimized for a map strength of about 1.6. They also explain why dense dispersion management is needed at high bit rates. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.