NOVEL USAGE OF ERBIUM IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: FROM FUNDAMENTALS TO PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS -- NOVEL USAGE OF ERBIUM IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: FROM FUNDAMENTALS TO PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION -- 1.1. ATTENUATION AND THE ROLE OF EDFA -- 1.2. OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLE OF EDFA -- 1.3. EDFA DEVELOPMENT -- NUMERICAL MODELING OF EDFA PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS -- 2.1. GILES AND DESURVIRE MODEL -- 2.2. MODELING OF EDFA WITHOUT ASE -- 2.2.1. Results for EDFA without ASE -- 2.3. MODELING OF EDFA WITH ASE -- 2.3.1. Results for EDFA without ASE -- EXPERIMENTS ON EDFA UNDER DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS -- 3.1. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP -- 3.2. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS -- 3.3. COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS UNDER DIFFERENT SITUATIONS -- 3.4. COMPARISON BETWEEN SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA -- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- INDEX.