45 dB power budget in a 30-channel AM-VSB distribution system with three cascaded erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

Abstract
The authors demonstrate the distribution of 30 AM-VSB channels using three cascaded erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, with a power budget of 45 dB for a carrier-to-noise ratio of 48 dB. The power budget for a single postamplifier system is 20 dB for a 52-dB CNR. These high power budgets are obtained through an optimization of the erbium-doped fiber amplifiers' gain and noise characteristics in the saturated regime.