An Optical Amplifier that boosts all channels in the optical signal at the SAME time.

The Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier is a device that boosts the signal in an optical fiber. Introduced in the late 1980s, the EDFA was the first successful optical amplifier. It was a major factor in the rapid development of fiber-optic networks in the 1990s, because it extended the distance between costly regenerators.