TCOM 513

Optical Communications
Networks
Spring, 2007
Thomas B. Fowler, Sc.D.
Senior Principal Engineer
Mitretek Systems

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Topics for TCOM 513

Week 1: Wave Division Multiplexing
Week 2: Opto-electronic networks
Week 3: Fiber optic system design
Week 4: MPLS
Week 5: Optical control planes
Week 6: The business of optical networking: economics
and finance
Week 7: Future directions in optical networking

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Where we are
In TCOM 503 we discussed background and components
Physical basis for optical fiber
Types of optical fiber
Physics behind fiber optic devices
Light sources
Major classes of fiber optic devices
In TCOM 513 we will use this knowledge to build fiber optic
networks
Some higher-level technologies
How to design networks
New trends
Economics and finance

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Topics to think about

If you want to sell fiber optic technology, you can
Sell fiber
Sell lasers and other components
Sell custom-built networks
Sell standard services based on fiber optic technology
If you want to buy fiber optic technology, you can
Buy fiber and components, lay the fiber, and make your
own network
Buy a custom-made network
Buy standard services from telecom providers and
hardware from standard suppliers and rely on plug-andplay

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WDM

Overview of WDM
Types of WDM
How WDM works
Light sources
Transmission problems
Amplifier issues
Optical switches

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Virtual Network Service

Application

Application

Virtual Session

Presentation

Presentation

End-to-End Messages

Session

Session

End-to-End Packets

Transport

Logical
portion of
code

Transport

Packets
Network

Network

Network

Network
Physical
portion of code

Frames
DLC

Data Link
Control
Physical

DLC

Physical Physical

DLC

DLC

Physical Physical

Data Link
Control
Physical

Bits
Physical Link, e.g. electrical signals
Originating
site

Subnet
node

Subnet
node

Terminatin
g site

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Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM)

Background
Methods available to carriers to increase capacity
Lay more fiber
Increase bit rate
Increase fiber carrying capacity of existing fiber plant
Need or desire to offer new services

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Wave Division Multiplexing Overview

Method devised to increase data carrying capacity of fiber
Takes advantage of enormous data potential of fiber
while recognizing constraints
Current electrical technology
At 40 Gbps, time division multiplexing probably
at its limit
Increasing bit rate not feasible
Way signals originate and must be switched
Essentially a frequency division multiplexing (FDM)
technology
Each data stream has its own wavelength (or frequency)

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Wave Division Multiplexing Overview

(continued)
Important for several reasons
Overcomes limitations of Opto-electronic systems,
where data rates limited to 10 Gbps or 40 Gbps
Allows fiber to carry far higher data rates by
simultaneously carrying multiple 10 or 40 Gbps
streams
Allows easy segregation of data traffic
Improves security through less time division
multiplexing and demultiplexing
Allows carriers to offer new, secure services
Sell s to customers

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10

Structure of todays networks

1
end user
services

SONET

end user
services

SONET

D
W
D
M

D
W
D
M

SONET

end user
services

SONET

end user
services

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Types of WDM
Simple or Sparse
Sometimes called Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing
or CWDM
Dense
Denoted as DWDM
History

Source: Cisco

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Sparse WDM or CWDM

Use of 2 or small number of different s on same fiber
Has been employed for many years
Key characteristic: use of separate bands (widely spaced s, rather
than closely spaced s in same band
Can be built with commonly available components

Source: Dutton
Full duplex system using sparse WDM

Wide separation means that wavelength selective couplers can be

used to multiplex and demux signal
Typically run at low data rates
Not due to technological limitations
Each can handle high data rates if desired

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13

Sample CDWM component

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Dense Wave Division Multiplexing

Uses closely spaced wavelengths
Each carries high data rate (up to 40 Gbps)
Current state of the art is ~320
Yields 3 terabits per second at OC192
Yields 12 terabits per second at OC768
Physical layer technology
Transparently supports SONET, Ethernet, Fibre channel
and other protocols

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15

History of optical bandwidth

3.5
OC-192, 320
160

Fiber Capacity (Tbps)

3
2.5

WDM ERA

SONET ERA
2

OC-192, 160

1.5
1
0.5

OC-192, 80
135 Mbps
565 Mbps

0
1980

1982

OC-192, 32

1.7 Gbps

1984

1986

OC-48
1988

1990

1992

Year

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

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Dense WDM (DWDM)

Functions required for DWDM
Transmitters
Signal combiners (optical multiplexer)
Transponder
Suitable fiber
Signal separators (optical demultiplexer)
Receivers

Source: Cisco

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Point-to-point DWDM system-detailed view

17

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Transponder
OEO device
Converts optical signal back to electrical form
Does 3Rs
Reamplification
Reshaping
Reclocking
Converts to appropriate ITU frequency for multiplexing

Source: Cisco

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19

Operation of transponder-based
DWDM system

transmitter

Source: Cisco

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Operation of transponder-based
DWDM system (continued)
Transponder accepts laser (modulated light) input from
transmitters
Wavelength of each input signal mapped to DWDM
wavelength
All wavelengths multiplexed together and launched onto
fiber
Amplified before launch
Amplifiers, as necessary, en route to destination
Amplified at receiving end
Wavelength demux at receiving end

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DWDM overview (continued)

Each optical channel allocated its own wavelength
ITU separation 0.8 nm
Closer separation means more channels but more
difficulty in construction
Actually a wavelength range within which modulated
carrier must stay
Width of channel depends on several key factors
Modulation (always 2x modulation frequency)
Stability of signal
Tolerances of all components in system

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DWDM overview (continued)

Bandwidth calculation
At 40 Gbps, signal bw ~ 80 Gbps
ITU spacing is 100 GHz ~ 0.8 nm
1 nm spacing ~ 120 GHz
Indicates that 40 Gbps is limit for ITU spacing
Requires extremely tight tolerances on all
components
Higher modulation rates => wider spacing => less
aggregate bandwidth

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ITU grid for DWDM spacing

Source: Cisco

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Fitting optical channels into allocated

wavelengths
Necessary to fit all channels into allocated wavelengths
with no spillover

Source: Dutton

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Fitting optical channels into allocated

wavelengths
Actually need guard bands to ensure separability of
wavelengths on demux end

Source: Dutton

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DWDM overview (continued)

Multiplexer
Must be able to combine many signals
Y-junctions inadequate because they can only combine
2 signals at a time
Requires large number to combine ~50 or 100
signals
3 db loss with each junction too high
Commonly done with gratings

Source: Dutton

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DWDM overview (continued)

Transmitter
Always a laser
Linewidth must fit within channel, near center
Cannot go outside, so behavior such as chirp, drift
must be small enough that it stays inside

Linewidth

Source: Dutton

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DWDM overview (continued)

Transmission and amplification
Need to control crosstalk and other problems leading to
signal degeneration
Variables that can be adjusted
Channel separation
Channel width
Power levels

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DWDM overview (continued)

Demultiplexer
More difficult than multiplexing
Standard methods
Reflective (Littrow) gratings
Waveguide grating routers
Circulators with in-fiber Bragg gratings
Splitters with Fabry-Perot filters
Receivers
Not so difficult as wavelengths already split
Operate up to 40 Gbps

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DWDM overview (continued)

Add/drop multiplexer
Covered in TCOM 503

Main types
Array waveguide gratings (AWGs)
Circulators and Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs)
Mach-Zehnder Interferometers

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Sparse, DWDM on same fiber

Source: Dutton

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Typical OSA display for DWDM

Source: Tektronix

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33

Real-world hardware: OC-48 (2.5

Gbps) module

Source: Cisco

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Challenges in photonic and allphotonic networks

Stabilizing wavelengths
Temperature
Material ageing
Carrier density fluctuations
Chirp and other transient effects
Wavelength conversion
All-optical networks will require wavelength conversion
in some switches
Because same wavelength may be on two incoming
signals to be switched to a single output
Not yet well developed

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Challenges in photonic and allphotonic networks (continued)

Cascading filters
As signal traverses optical network, it passes through
many devices with filtering characteristics
Can give rise to unexpected effects
Network needs to be compensated for these effects
Bandwidth
Shape
Alignment (center frequency)
Tunable lasers
Required for some proposed and current applications
Tuning times now relatively long, milliseconds
Need to go down to nanosecond range for proposed
applications

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Challenges in photonic and allphotonic networks (continued)

EDFA characteristics
Flattening gain curve
Modifying gain curve to meet particular demands
Equalizing signal power
Keeping power levels equal when signals pass through
many components
E.g., add/drop muxadded signal should leave with
about same power as others just passing through
Dispersion compensation
Chromatic
PMD

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Challenges in photonic and allphotonic networks (continued)

Optical cross-connects and switching elements
Available, but work continues
Newer devices should be considerably better
Faster
Higher capacity

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38

Light sources for DWDM applications

Spectral width and linewidth
Conventional lasers produce narrow band of
wavelengths
May be large number (~20 to 30) present
Jumps among these bands randomly
For WDM, need laser with only one line in its spectrum
Usually means Distributed Feedback laser (DFB) or
Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) laser
Other ways to accomplish this
Linewidth requirement depends on other components in
system (e.g., demultiplexer)

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39

Measuring linewidth with OSA

Source: Tektronix

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Wavelength stability
Extremely high degree of stability required
Drift or change of 1 nm unacceptable
Would disrupt DWDM system
Though little effect on sparse WDM system
Physical parameters of lasers change over time, causing
drift

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Tunable and multiwavelength lasers
Tunable lasers work on principle of varying RI or
parameters of cavity
Relatively slow
Allows for fairly precise setting of center wavelength
Manufacturing process used in ordinary lasers does
not allow tight control of center wavelength
Many are produced and tested, then labeled
Multiwavelength lasers involves synthesizing several on
same substrate, with switch to allow selection of a
single one to operate
Each as different wavelength

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Example

Switch

Difficult to produce commercially

Source: Dutton

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Multiline lasers
Harness undesirable characteristics of F-P lasers
Large number of lines of nearly equal power below
threshold
Equally spaced
Called Amplified spontaneous emission source (ASE)
Stabilizing one stabilizes all
Useful range

Source: Dutton

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Cant modulate individual lines
Requires external modulation for each channel
Amplifier with correct gain characteristics required to
boost and equalize power of each line

Source: Dutton

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
Amplifier

Source: Dutton

Modulation of individual lines can be done by acoustic

modulator
Not yet commercially available

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Light sources for DWDM applications

(continued)
At present, most DWDM systems use separate lasers for
each wavelength

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Transmission problems
Amplifier problems
Noise accumulation
Nonlinearity of gain across frequency band
Polarization dependent effects
Rapid transient power fluctuations
Dispersion
Chromatic
PMD
Nonlinearities
4-wave mixing
Stimulated Brillouin scattering
Stimulated Raman scattering
Carrier induced phase modulation (CIP)
Polarization-dependent degradations
Crosstalk

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48

Amplifier problems: noise

Problem is Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE)
Trivial if only a few stages
Much more serious if large number of stages
Arises because some excited erbium atoms decay to
ground state (undergo spontaneous emission) before
encountering incoming photon
Photon emitted with random phase, direction
Small proportion in direction of fiber
Indistinguishable from signal
Amplified further
Noise proportional to amplifier gain
Ultimately limits amplifier spacing

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Amplifier problems: noise (continued)

Control
Demultiplexing gets rid of noise at non-signal wavelengths
Run amplifier in saturation so excess pump power doesnt
end up as ASE
Filter out unwanted wavelengths
ASE peaks at 1533 nm
Limits to this method
Link design
Do not let signal decay to low level before amplifying
Note that noise levels do not decay with distance,
only signal
Large amplifier gain means large ASE
Keep spacing as small as possible
Large distances may require repeater

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50

Amplifier noise accumulation

Roughly speaking,
SNRoutput = SNRinput Amplifier noise figure
SNR = signal-to-noise ratio
Indicates that with enough amplifiers, SNR will go to 0
Modern EDFAs have noise figure ~ 3 db
If SNR starts at 30 db, can only use 10 amplifiers before
repeater necessary
Modern amplifier spacing is ~ 40-80 km

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Amplifier problems: nonlinear gain

Typical gain profile
3.5 db

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Amplifier gain compensation device

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Amplifier problems: nonlinear gain

(continued)
Less of a problem now
Gain flatness typically on the order of 1 db or less over
amplified range
Regeneration still required for long hauls

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Amplifier problems: polarization

dependent effects
PMD Review: in SMF, light traverses fiber with two polarizations
orthogonal to each other
Energy shifts between them randomly
If wave hits device which does not respond equally to the
polarizations, energy is lost
SNR goes down
Also, pulse smeared out over time, eye diagram closes

Source: Yafo Networks

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55

Amplifier problems: polarization

dependent effects (continued)
In amplifier, gain slightly higher in orthogonal polarization
(PDG)
Causes reduction in SNR of about 0.1 db
In long distance applications, can reduce SNR by 5 db
In addition, ASE is unpolarized and experiences fixed gain
(PDL)
Further reduction in SNR which varies over time
Exacerbates PMD problem

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56

Amplifier problems: Rapid Transient

Power Fluctuations
Rapid change in system load can trigger amplifier gain
changes
Amplifier stores only small amount of energy
If one channel stops, gain of other channels goes up
Transient propagated down line to other amplifiers
Causes saturation and a period of errors which can
last a few milliseconds

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57

Amplifier typical spec sheet

Source: Nortel

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58

Dispersion
PMD
Origin already discussed
Spec quoted in ps/nm/km
Example: 1500 nm wavelength, 17 ps/nm/km dispersion
Assume spectral width of 6 nm, distance 10 km
Dispersion = 17 ps/nm/km x 6nm x 10 km = 1020 ps
At 1 Gbps, pulse is 1 ns
This would yield smearing of 102%, system would fail
20% is usually max allowable = 200 ps
Requires dispersion on order of 2.2 ps/nm/km or
narrower spectral width

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59

Dispersion (continued)
Worse with higher speeds
At 10 Gbps, pulse is 100 ps
If distance is to be 40 km, spectral width 0.2 nm, max
dispersion is 2.5 ps/nm
Yields dispersion of 20 ps
General formula:
dispersion spec x spectral width x distance < 0.2 x 1/data rate
Modern fibers have dispersion on order of 0.5 ps/nm/km

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60

Chromatic dispersion
Index of refraction not constant
Since index of refraction is determined by speed of light in
the medium, follows that speed of light in medium is
function of
Will lead to dispersion of information bearing light
waves over distance
Called material dispersion
Waveguide dispersion
Light travels in both core and inner cladding at slightly
different speeds (faster in cladding)
Material and waveguide dispersion opposite effects
Can be balanced to allow for zero dispersion at a
particular wavelength between 1310nm and 1650 nm
Total effect called chromatic dispersion

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Chromatic dispersion (continued)

Source: Corning

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Chromatic dispersion (continued)

Source: Nortel

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63

Nonlinearities
4-wave mixing
Problem arises when two or more waves propagate in
same direction on SMF
Signals mix to produce new signals at linear
combinations of original frequencies
Example: 2 frequencies (wavelengths): 1 and 2
New frequencies appear at 2 1 - 2 and 2 2 - 1
In WDM systems, new frequencies coincide with
frequencies already in use, appearing as noise
Effect greater with reduced channel spacing, grows
exponentially with increased signal power
Chromatic dispersion mitigates it
Can be reduced by using uneven spacing

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Nonlinearities (continued)

Source: Dutton

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65

Nonlinearities (continued)
Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS): scattering of light
backwards to transmitter
Caused by mechanical (actually acoustical) vibrations
in fiber inducing changes in RI
In effect, fiber becomes a diffraction grating
Mainly a problem at high power levels, narrow
linewidth, small core size
Not usually a problem if power below 5 mw

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66

Nonlinearities (continued)
Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS): similar to SBS
Effect originates in molecular rather than acoustical
vibrations
Primarily a problem with multiple wavelength systems at
high powers
Rule of thumb: total power x total bw < 500 GHz/W
Example: 100 channels, spacing 200 GHz (~1.6 nm)
gives total bw of 20,000 GHz
Total power must be less than 500/20,000 = 25 mw or
about 0.25 mw/channel

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Nonlinearities (continued)
Carrier-induced phase modulation (CIP)
Arises from Kerr effect
Change in refractive index due to E field of light wave
Causes change in phase of pulse as power varies over
pulse time
Generally negligible for On-Off keyed systems
Only a problem for systems requiring coherent
detection
Cross-phase modulation
Arises from same effect, but when different signals
simultaneously present
Power induced changes from one signal affect others

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68

Crosstalk
Arises in devices that filter and separate wavelengths
Small proportion of power that should be in one channel
ends up in others (usually adjacent)
Major problem in WDM systems
Worse with close spacing
Figure of -30 db as minimum

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69

Current state-of-the-art
Alcatel sent 125 channels at OC768 (40 Gbps) over 1500 km
1/8/02)
Aggregate bandwidth of 5 Tbps
Hybrid Erbium/Raman amplifiers
Figure of merit: 7.5 Pb km/sec
Bell Labs sent 64 channels at OC768 (40 Gbps) over 4,000
km (3/22/02)
Aggregate bandwidth of 2.56 Tbps
Figure of merit: 10 Pb km/sec
Used 100 km spacing of amplifiers
Raman amplifiers
Differential phase shift keying (DPSK) encoding
Optimal dispersion compensation

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70

Theoretical limits on fiber capacity

Work at Bell Labs suggests limit of about 100 Tb/sec
Limited by noise, interference
Current systems ~ 2 Tb/sec
Lab work ~ 10 Tb/sec
Not much additional work done in recent years because of
collapse of industry after 2000

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Optical switching for WDM

Optical space-division switches

4x4 switch implemented with

digital optical switch elements

4x4 switch implemented with

cross-connects

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72

Optical switching for WDM

(continued)
Cross-connects can be made with technologies discussed
in 503
Resonant couplers
Mach-Zehnder interferometers

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73

Optical switching for WDM

(continued)
Resonant couplers
Normal operation: coupling length set so that signals
cross
Voltage applied: RI of waveguides changes, effectively
changing coupling length, so that crossover does not
occur

Source: Dutton

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74

Optical switching (continued)

Optical switch is not smart
Switches everything on input port to output
This means all wavelengths multiplexed together
What is needed is smarter switch which can switch
individual wavelengths
Called optical switching node
Switch any input to any output port
No OEO conversion
Bit rate and protocol independent

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75

Optical switching node

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76

Optical switching node (continued)

Can also be implemented with Micro Electro-mechanical
Systems (MEMS)
Extremely tiny mirrors which can pop up and down
under electronic control
Silicon micromirror
Can be fabricated on chips
40 Gbps

Source: Tellium

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77

MEMS

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78

MEMS (continued)

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79

MEMS (continued)

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80

MEMS (continued)

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81

MEMS 3D arrays

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82

MEMS (continued)

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83

Video demo from Onix Microsystems

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84

Optical switching node (continued)

Main problems
May have two of same wavelength switched to same
output WDM multiplexer
Results in garbage
Not a problem in small networks with only a few
nodes
Lots of s to choose from so no duplication
Switching done by network management software, not
through internal information contained in wavelengths
Not a router

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85

Optical switching node (continued)

Solution to wavelength problem: use wavelength converter
to groom traffic for output WDM
Problem: wavelength converters very expensive

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86

Optical switching node (continued)

Most currently available switches utilize electronic fabric
Convert wavelengths to electricity, switch, then convert
back to light at needed wavelength
Examples
Sycamore SN3000
Sycamore SN16000
Tellium
VIP V-MAN 160
Nortel

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87

OEO switch benefits