1. Department of Informatics, University of Athens, Athens 15784, Greece
2. UMR CNRS 6174, FEMTO-ST / Optics, University of Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
3. Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
4. Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados, (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Campus UIB, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
5. Institute of Applied Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
6. Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, E-08222 Terrassa, Spain
7. Department de Física, Universitat de les Illes Balears, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
8. Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Avd de los Castros s/n, E-39005 Santander, Spain
9. School of Informatics, University of Wales, Bangor LL57 1UT, UK
10. †Present address: Department of Applied Physics and Photonics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Correspondence to: Claudio R. Mirasso⁷ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.R.M. (Email: claudio@galiota.uib.es).

Abstract

Chaotic signals have been proposed as broadband information carriers with the potential of providing a high level of robustness and privacy in data transmission^{1, 2}. Laboratory demonstrations of chaos-based optical communications have already shown the potential of this technology^{3, 4, 5}, but a field experiment using commercial optical networks has not been undertaken so far. Here we demonstrate high-speed long-distance communication based on chaos synchronization over a commercial fibre-optic channel. An optical carrier wave generated by a chaotic laser is used to encode a message for transmission over 120 km of optical fibre in the metropolitan area network of Athens, Greece. The message is decoded using an appropriate second laser which, by synchronizing with the chaotic carrier, allows for the separation of the carrier and the message. Transmission rates in the gigabit per second range are achieved, with corresponding bit-error rates below 10^-7. The system uses matched pairs of semiconductor lasers as chaotic emitters and receivers, and off-the-shelf fibre-optic telecommunication components. Our results show that information can be transmitted at high bit rates using deterministic chaos in a manner that is robust to perturbations and channel disturbances unavoidable under real-world conditions.

1. Department of Informatics, University of Athens, Athens 15784, Greece
2. UMR CNRS 6174, FEMTO-ST / Optics, University of Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
3. Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
4. Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados, (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Campus UIB, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
5. Institute of Applied Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
6. Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, E-08222 Terrassa, Spain
7. Department de Física, Universitat de les Illes Balears, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
8. Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Avd de los Castros s/n, E-39005 Santander, Spain
9. School of Informatics, University of Wales, Bangor LL57 1UT, UK
10. †Present address: Department of Applied Physics and Photonics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Correspondence to: Claudio R. Mirasso⁷ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.R.M. (Email: claudio@galiota.uib.es).

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