WDM Principle Overview

OTC000003
WDM Principle
ISSUE1.1
Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd

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OTC000003 WDM Principle ISSUE1.1 Contents
Contents
Course Explanation......................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction to the Course.......................................................................................................... 1
Course Structure........................................................................................................................ 1
Course Objectives...................................................................................................................... 1
References................................................................................................................................. 1
1 WDM Overview......................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 WDM Optical Transmission Technology......................................................................3
1.1.1 WDM Conception................................................................................................3
1.1.2 WDM Technology Background.............................................................................3
1.2 Overview of DWDM Principle......................................................................................5
1.3 Transmission Methods of WDM Equipment................................................................6
1.3.1 Unidirectional WDM.............................................................................................6
1.3.2 Bi-directional WDM.............................................................................................. 7
1.4 Open and Integrated System......................................................................................8
1.5 WDM System Compositions:.......................................................................................8
1.6 Advantages of WDM................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Brief Introduction to CWDM.......................................................................................10
1.8 Questions.................................................................................................................. 11
2 WDM Transmission Media..................................................................................................... 12
2.1 Optical Fiber Structures............................................................................................ 12
2.2 Modes of Fiber.......................................................................................................... 14
2.2.1 Concept of Propagation Mode...........................................................................14
2.2.2 Multimode Fiber................................................................................................. 14
2.2.3 Single-mode Fiber (SMF)..................................................................................15
2.3 Mode-Field Diameter (MFD) and Effective Area........................................................15
2.4 Types of Optical Fiber............................................................................................... 16
2.5 Basic Features of Optical Fiber.................................................................................17
2.5.1 Loss of Fiber...................................................................................................... 17
2.5.2 Absorption Loss................................................................................................. 17
2.5.3 Scattering Loss.................................................................................................. 18
2.5.4 Bending Loss..................................................................................................... 18
2.5.5 Attenuation Coefficient.......................................................................................19
2.6 Dispersion of Fiber.................................................................................................... 19
1.1.2 Mode Dispersion...................................................................................................... 20
2.6.1 Chromatic Dispersion........................................................................................ 20
2.6.2 Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD).................................................................21
2.6.3 Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)..........................................................................21
2.7 Non-linearity Effects of SMF......................................................................................22
2.7.1 Stimulated Non-elastic Scattering Effect............................................................22
2.7.2 Kerr Effect........................................................................................................ 24
2.7.3 Four Wave Mixing (FWM)..................................................................................25
2.8 Questions.................................................................................................................. 26
3 DWDM Key Technologies...................................................................................................... 27
3.1 Light source............................................................................................................... 27
3.1.1 Modulation Mode Of A Laser.............................................................................28
3.1.2 Wavelength Stability of the Laser......................................................................30
3.2 Photoelectric Detector............................................................................................... 32
1.1.1 Positive Intrinsic Negative Photodiode (PIN)...........................................................32
3.2.1 Avalanche Photo Diode (APD)...........................................................................32
3.3 Optical Amplifier........................................................................................................ 33
3.3.1 Optical Amplifier Overview.................................................................................33
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OTC000003 WDM Principle ISSUE1.1 Contents
3.3.2 Erbium Doped Fiber (EDF)................................................................................34

3.3.3 EDFA Flat Gain Control.....................................................................................34
3.3.4 EDFA Gain-Lock................................................................................................ 36
3.3.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of EDFA..........................................................37
3.3.6 Raman Fiber Amplifier.......................................................................................37
3.3.7 Related Technical Features...............................................................................39
3.4 Optical Multiplexer and Optical Demultiplexer...........................................................39
1.1.1 Optical Grating Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer.............................................39
3.4.1 Dielectric Film Wavelength Division Multiplexer.................................................41
3.4.2 Fused Conical Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer........................................42
3.4.3 Integrated Optical Waveguide Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer...............42
3.4.4 Performances of Wavelength Division Multiplexing Components......................43
3.4.5 Basic Requirements to Optical Multiplexing Components.................................43
3.5 Optical Supervisory Channel.....................................................................................44
3.5.1 Requirements on Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC)......................................45
3.5.2 Interface parameters for supervisory channel....................................................45
3.5.3 Frame Structure of Supervisory Channel...........................................................46
3.6 New technologies...................................................................................................... 46
3.6.1 New coding technologies...................................................................................46
3.6.2 FEC technologies.............................................................................................. 54
Questions................................................................................................................................. 56
4 Technology Specifications for DWDM Optical Transmission System...............................57
4.1 ITU-T Recommendations on WDM...........................................................................57
4.2 Definition of Transmission Channel Reference Points..............................................58
4.3 Distribution of Optical Wavelength Areas..................................................................58
Questions................................................................................................................................. 60
Terms and Abbreviations................................................................................................................. 61
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Course Explanation
Introduction to the Course

This course mainly introduces the basic knowledge of WDM technologies, expounds
key technologies and optical transmission specification of DWDM. Through this
course, you will have a relatively complete understanding of the WDM knowledge and
the development orientation of optical transmission networks.
Course Structure
This course is divided into four sections as follows:
Section 1 WDM Overview
This section tells you what WDM is, how it derives, the operation modes, structure
and characteristics of DWDM. After reading this book, you will have a basic idea of
the advancing front technology of optical transmission network -WDM.
Section 2 WDM Transmission Media

This section tells us the basic structures and types of optical fibers,and we will learn
the characteristics of optical fibers,including attenuator,dispersion and so on.
Section 3 DWDM Key Technologies
From the aspect of hardware, how to implement DWDM when converting it into
commercial product? Reading this section with the question, you'll know the key
technologies and implementation methods of DWDM, including light sources,
components for optical amplification and wavelength division multiplexing, etc.
Section 4 Technical Specifications of DWDM Optical Transmission System
This chapter mainly introduces some proposals and specifications of ITU-T to WDM,
and gives us a basic understanding of some of the ITU-T knowledge involved in the
WDM system.
Course Objectives
1) To know the basic conception, principle, transmission mode and structure of
WDM;
2) To know the basic structures,types and characteristics of optical fibers;
3) To know the technical principle of DWDM and the method to implement its key
technologies.
4) To know the technical specifications of DWDM optical transmission system.
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References
(1) Basis for Optical Communication
(2) Guide to DWDM Technologies
(3) DWDM Transmission System Principle and Testing
(4) High Speed Optical Communication ITU-T Specification and System Design
(5) Metropolitan Area Fiber Network
(6) TA052401 Optical Supervisory Channel and Its Application in DWDM ISSUE 1.0
(7) TC000001 Fiber and Optical Components ISSUE1.0
(8) TC000001 Optical Amplifier ISSUE1.0
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OTC000003 WDM Principle ISSUE1.1 here.
1 WDM Overview
 Objectives:
To master the basic concepts of WDM
To master the basic principle, communication method and component of WDM
To understand the DWDM background and technical features.
1.1 WDM Optical Transmission Technology
1.1.1 WDM Conception

Optical communication system can be classified according to different modes. If it is
classified according to signal multiplex mode, it can be classified into FDM (FDM-
Frequency Division Multiplexing), TDM (TDM-Time Division Multiplexing), WDM
(WDM- Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and SDM (SDM-Space Division
Multiplexing). FDM, TDM, WDM and SDM refer to optical communication systems
classified according to the frequency, time, wavelength and space. It can be said that
frequency is closely connected with the wavelength. Frequency division is wave
division. But in optical communication system, WDM system adopts optical spectral
component that is different from filter adopted in the common communication. So we
still classify them into two different systems.
WDM is a kind of transmission technology of fiber communication. Depending on the
fact that a fiber can transmit several optical carrier of different wavelengths at the
same time, it divides wavelength possibly used by fiber into several bands. As an
independent channel, each band transmits a kind of optical signal with a preset
wavelength. Optical and wavelength division multiplex is in fact the optical and
frequency division multiplex on fiber (OFDM), but optical wave usually use
wavelength instead of frequency, to describe, supervise and control. Along with the
development of the electric-optical technology, the wavelength density in the same
fiber will become very high. Compared with DWDM (DWDM-Dense Wavelength
Division Multiplexing), there are still WDM with low densities that are called CWDM
(CWDM-Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing).
A fiber can be regarded as a road with several driveways here. The traditional TDM
system just uses one of driveways. To increase bit rate is to increase the driving
speed in the driveway in order to increase the transportation burden in unit time. To
use DWDM technology is similar to using the driveway not yet used, so as to obtain
the large transportation capacity to be developed in fiber.
1.1.2 WDM Technology Background
With the rapid development of science and technology, information transmission in

communication area expands with accelerated speed. Information Age requires
transmission network with larger and larger capacity. In recent years, companies and
manufacturers worldwide have paid more and more attention to WDM technology,
and been more concerned about it. There are many methods to increase the capacity
and flexibility of fiber network, and increase the transmission speed and expand
capacity. We shall compare the different expansion methods in the following.

1.1.2.1 SDM (Space Division Multiplexing)
The SDM method increases the transmission capacity linearly by adding the number
of optical fibers, and the transmission equipment will be increased linearly, too.
At present, the optical cable manufacturing technology is very much matured, the
multi-core band optical cables are widely used, the advanced optical fiber connection
technology makes the construction easier, but the increase in the number of optical
fibers will inevitably complicate the cable layout and maintenance. If there are not
enough optical fibers in the existing optical cable tunnel, you will have to lay down
additional cables to expand the capacity, and this method will multiply the engineering
cost. This means doesn’t make full use of transmission bandwidth of fibers as well
and results in the waste of fiber bandwidth resources. As the construction of
communication networks, it is impossible to expand capacity by laying down new
fibers all the time. In fact, it is very hard to estimate the increasing business demand
and the number of fibers that should be laid down at the beginning of the project.
Therefore, the method to expand capacity in SDM is very limited.
1.1.2.2 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)
TDM is also a commonly used method for capacity expansion, e.g. multiplexing of the
primary group to the fourth group of the traditional PDH, and STM-1, STM-4, STM-16
and STM-64 of current SDH. TDM technology can enhance the capacity of optical
transmission information in duplication and greatly reduce the circuit cost in
equipment and line. Moreover, it is easy to extract specific digital signals from the
data stream via this multiplexing method. It is especially suitable for networks
requiring the protection strategy of self-healing rings.
However, TDM method has two disadvantages. Firstly, Upgrading affects services. An
overall upgrade to higher rate levels required to replace the network interfaces and
equipment completely. Thus the equipment in operation must be interrupted during
the upgrade process. Secondly, rate upgrade lacks flexibility. Let's take SDH as an
example, when a system with a line rate of 155Mbit/s is required to provide two
155Mbit/s channels, the only way is to upgrade the system to 622Mbit/s even though
two 155Mbit/s are idle.
Presently, TDM equipment of higher rate costs much more, and the 40Gbit/s TDM
equipment has reached the rate limit of the electronic component. Even for the rate of
10Gbit/s, its non-linear effect in different types of optical fibers will exert various
limitations on the transmission.
Currently, the TDM technology is widely used for the capacity expansion since it can
expand the capacity by constantly upgrading the system rate. But when the rate
reaches a certain level, the limitation due to the component and line features will drive
you to look for other solutions.
All the basic transmission networks, whether using SDM or TDM to expand the
capacity, adopt traditional PDH or SDH technology, i.e. utilizing optical signals on a
single wavelength for transmission. This transmission method is a great waste of
optical capacity because the bandwidth of optical fiber is almost infinite when
compared to the single wavelength channel we currently use. We are worrying about
the jam of networks, on the other hand huge network resources are being wasted.

1.1.2.3 WDM ( Wavelength Division Multiplexing)
WDM utilizes the large bandwidth of low loss band section in single-mode fibers to
transmit by mixing optical signals with various rates (wavelengths). The digital signals
carried by optical signals with different wavelengths can be either the format of the
same rate and protocol or the format of different rates and protocal. We can
determine the network capacity according to requirement of the users by adding new
features of wavelength. For the WDM with rate under 2.5Gb/s, the current technology
can completely overcome the limitation due to the fiber dispersion and fiber non-linear
effect. It can satisfy various requirements for transmission capacity and transmission
distance. The disadvantage of WDM is that it needs many fiber components and
increases the failure probability.
1.1.2.4 Technology combination of TDM and WDM
It is the application direction to make use of the technology advantages of TDM and
WDM for network capacity expansion. We can choose the highest transmission rate
of TDM according to fibers of different types. On this basis, we can choose the
number of WDM optical channels according to the transmission capacity and use the
maximum optical carriers under the possible condition. Undoubtedly the transmission
capacity of multi-channel is forever bigger than that of single channel and is more
economical.
1.2 Overview of DWDM Principle

Based on such features as bandwidth and low loss of the single mode optical fiber,
the DWDM technology uses multiple wavelengths as carriers and allows the signals
to be transmitted simultaneously over the carrier channels in the optical fiber.
Compared with the general single channel system, the dense WDM (DWDM) not only
drastically increases the communication capacity of the network system and fully
uses the bandwidth of the optical fiber, but also has many advantages, such as
simple expansion and reliable performance, especially it can directly access multiple
services, so it enjoys bright prospects.
In analog carrier communication systems, the frequency division multiplexing (FDM)
method is often adopted to make full use of the bandwidth resources of cables and
enhance the transmission capacity of the system. That is, to transmit several signals
of different frequencies simultaneously in the same cable and, at the receiver end, to
utilize band-pass filters to filter the signal on each channel according to the frequency
differences among the carriers.
In the same way, in optical fiber communication systems, optical frequency division
multiplexing method can also be used to enhance the transmission capacity of the
systems. In fact, this multiplexing method is very effective in optical communication
systems. Unlike the frequency division multiplexing in analog carrier communication
systems, optical fiber communication systems utilize optical wavelengths as signal
carriers, divide the low attenuation window of optical fibers into several channels
according to the frequency (or wavelength) difference of each wavelength channel
and implement multiplexing transmission of multi-channel optical signals in a single
fiber.
Since some optical components (such as narrow-bandwidth optical filters and
coherence light source) are currently very immature, it is difficult to implement the
ultra-dense optical frequency division multiplexing (coherence optical communication

technology) of optical channels. However, alternate-optical-channel frequency division

multiplexing can be implemented based on the current component technical level.
Usually, multiplexing with a larger channel spacing (even in different windows of
optical fibers) is called optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and DWDM in
the same window with smaller channel spacing is called dense wavelength division
multiplexing (DWDM). With the progresses of sciences & technologies, the
multiplexing of the nanometer level wavelength spacing can be implemented by using
modern technologies. Even the multiplexing of sub-nanometer level wavelength
spacing can be implemented, only need stricter component technical requirements .
Hence, multiplexing of 16, 40, 80 or more wavelengths with smaller wavelength
spaces is called DWDM.The frequency grid defined by ITU-T G.694.1 supports a
variety of channel spacings ranging from 12.5 GHz to 100 GHz and wider (integer
multiples of 100 GHz). Uneven channel spacings are also allowed..
Diagram of DWDM system structure and spectrum is shown in figure 1-1.
λ
OTU１ λ１
M D
λ
O TU ２ U M λ２
O TU X U
… …
X
Optical booster Optical line Optical line

amplifier amplifier amplifier Optical pre-amplifier
λＮ
OTU
λＮ
Single λ１λ２λ３λ４λ５λ６　　　　　λＮ
Optical Optical ＷＤＭ
channel spectrum
spectrum
Wavelength Wavelength
Figure 1.1 Composition and spectrum illustration of the DWDM system
At the transmitting end, the optical transmitter sends out the optical signals whose
wavelengths are different but whose accuracy and stability satisfy certain
requirements, such signals are multiplexed together through the optical wavelength
multiplexer and sent to the EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier) (the EDFA is used
mainly to compensate for the optical power loss caused by the multiplexer and
improve the transmitting power of the optical signal), then the amplified multi-channel
optical signals will be sent to the optical fiber for transmission, when they get to the
receiving end through or not through the optical line amplifier, where they will be
amplified by the preamplifier (used to improve the receiving sensitivity to extend the
transmission distance), then they will be sent to the optical wavelength demultiplexer
to split the channels of optical signals.

1.3 Transmission Methods of WDM Equipment
1.3.1 Unidirectional WDM
As shown in Figure 1-2, the unidirectional WDM system adopts two optical fibers.
One only implements the transmission of signals in one direction while the other
implements the transmission of the signals in the opposite direction.
Figure 1.2 Unidirectional transmission mode of WDM
This kind of WDM system can fully exploit the huge bandwidth resources of the
optical fiber and expand the transmission capacity of a single optical fiber to several
or tens of times. In long-haul networks, capacity can be expanded by adding
wavelengths gradually according to the demands of practical traffic, which is very
flexible. Under the prerequisite that the actual fiber dispersion is unknown, it is also a
means to use multiple 2.5Gbit/s systems to implement the ultra-large capacity
transmission to avoid adopting ultrahigh speed optical systems.
1.3.2 Bi-directional WDM
As shown in Figure 1-3, bi-directional wave WDM system utilizes only one optical
fiber. The single fiber transmits optical signals in both directions simultaneously, and
the signals in the different directions should be assigned on different wavelengths.
The single fiber bi-directional transmission mode allows a single fiber to carry full
duplex channels and, usually, saves a half of the fiber components of unidirectional
transmission. Since signals transmitted in both directions do not interact and create
FWM (Four-Wave Mixing) products, its total FWM effect are much less than that of
the two-fiber unidirectional transmission. However, the disadvantage of this system is
that it requires a special measure to deal with the light reflection (including discrete
reflection resulted by optical connectors and Rayleigh backward reflection of the fiber)
to avoid multi-path interference. When the optical signal needs to be amplified to
extend the transmission distance, components such as bi-directional optical fiber
amplifier and optical circulator must be adopted, but their noise coefficients are a bit
poor.

Figure 1.3 WDM bi-directional transmission mode
In the ITU-T recommendations G.692 document, no clear opinion is given on

adopting the single fiber bi-directional WDM transmission mode or double fiber
unidirectional WDM transmission mode. Most feasible WDM systems adopt the
double fiber unidirectional transmission mode.
1.4 Open and Integrated System

The DWDM is usually applied in two modes:
 Open DWDM
 Integrated DWDM
The feature of open DWDM system is that it has no special requirements for multiplex
terminal optical interfaces, the only requirement is that these interfaces meet the
optical interface standards defined in ITU-T.DWDM system adopts wavelength
conversion technology to convert the optical signal of the multiplex terminal into the
specific wavelength. Optical signals from different terminal equipment are converted
into different wavelengths meeting the ITU-T recommendation, which are then
multiplexed.
The integrated DWDM system does not adopt the wavelength conversion technology,
instead, it requires that the wavelength of the optical signals at the multiplex terminal
conforms to the specifications for the DWDM system, and that different multiplex
terminal equipment sends different ITU-T wavelengths complying with ITU-T
recommendation, so that the wavelengths can occupy different paths to enter the
coupler, thus they can be combined together.
Different application modes can be adopted according to the demands of engineering.
In practical applications, open DWDM and integrate DWDM can be mixed.
1.5 WDM System Compositions:

The overall structure of the WDM system of N-channel wavelength is composed of
transmission optical multiplexing terminal unit, receiving optical multiplexing terminal
(OMT) unit and optical relay line advanced (OLA) unit. If it is classified by composition
modes, there are:
 Optical tansponder unit(OTU)

 Wavelength division multiplexer: optical demultiplexer unit/optical multiplexer

(ODU/OMU)
 Optical amplifier( BA/LA/PA)
 Optical Supervisory Channel( OSC)
Optical wavelength transfer unit converts wavelength into standard wavelength
specified in ITU-T. System utilizes the conversion of optical/electricity/optical (O/E/O),
i.e. uses photodiode to convert optical signal received into the electrical signal, and
then electrical signal will converted into optical signal with specfic wavelength, so as
to get the new optical wavelength signal that meets the requirements.
Wavelength division multiplexer can be classified into transmitting optical multiplexer.
Optical multiplexer is used in the transmitting end of the transmission system. It is a
component with several input ports and one output port. Each of its input port inputs
optical signal of a preset wavelength. Input lightwaves of different wavelengths export
from the same output port. Optical demultiplexer is used in the receiving end of
transmission system. Opposite to optical multiplexer, it has an input port and several
output ports which classify different wavelength signals.
Optical amplifier not only can directly amplify the optical signal but also features the
all optical amplifier of real time, high gain, broadband, online, low noise. It is the
indispensable key component in the new fiber communication system. The fiber
amplifier currently used mainly has the EDFA (Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier), SOA
(Semiconductor Optical Amplifier), and FRA (Fiber Raman Amplifier) etc. Among
them, EDFA is widely used in fiber communication system of long distance, big
capacity and high rate and is used as preamplifier, line amplifier and power amplifier.
Optical supervisory channel is set for the supervision of WDM optical transmission
system.The 1510nm wavelength, capacity of 2Mbit/s should be preferentially
adopted. Receiving sensitivity ( better than 50dBm) of low rate can still work normally.
But it must go down optical path before EDFA and go up optical path after EDFA.
1.6 Advantages of WDM

The capacity of optical fiber is huge. However, traditional optical fiber communication
systems, with one optical signal transmitted in a single fiber, only exploited a little part
of the abundant bandwidth of optical fiber. To fully use the huge bandwidth resources
of optical fiber and increase its transmission capacity, a new generation optical fiber
communication technology based on the dense WDM (DWDM) has emerged.
The DWDM technology has the following features:
1.6.1.1 Super-large capacity
The transmittable bandwidth of the current widely used conventional fiber is very
wide, but the utilization ratio is still low. By using DWDM technology, the transmission
capacity of a single optical fiber is increased by several, tens of or even hundreds of
times when compared to the transmission capacity of single wavelength systems. The
current highest commercial transmission capacity is 1.6 T bit/s.
1.6.1.2 Data transparency transmission
DWDM systems conduct multiplexing and de-multiplexing in terms of optical

wavelength differences and are independent of signal rates and modulation modes,
which is transparent to the data. A WDM system service can carry “service” signal of

many formats, such as ATM, IP or signals that may appear in the future. WDM
implements the transparent transmission. For signal at the “service” layer, each
optical wavelength channel in the WDM system is like the “virtual” optical fiber.
1.6.1.3 Utmost protection of the existing investment during system upgrade
In expanding and developing the network, it is not necessary to make changes to the
optical cable lines, instead, you can just change the optical transmitter and receiver,
so this is an ideal expansion method and also a convenient way to introduce the
broadband services (such as CATV, HDTV and B-ISDN etc). With an additional
wavelength, you can add any new service or new capacity you want.
1.6.1.4 High networking flexibility, economy and reliability
When compared to the traditional networks using electrical TDM networks, new
communication networks based on the WDM technology are greatly simplified in
architecture and have clear network layers. Dispatching of various services can be
implemented simply by adjusting the corresponding wavelengths of the optical
signals. Because of the simple network architecture, clear layers and convenient
service grooming, the flexibility, economy and reliability of networking are obvious.
1.6.1.5 Compatible with all optical switching
It is foreseeable that, in the all optical networks realizable in the future, processing of
telecommunication services adding/dropping and cross connections is implemented
by changing and adjusting the optical signal wavelengths. So WDM technology is one
of the key technologies to implement all optical networks. Moreover, WDM systems
can be compatible with future all optical networks. It is possible to implement
transparent and highly survivable all optical networks based on the existing WDM
system.
1.7 Brief Introduction to CWDM

DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) is undoubtedly the preferable
technology in the current fiber application area, but on the other hand it is very
expensive. Is it possible to enjoy the WDM technology at a low cost? To meet this
demand, CWDM (coarse wavelength division multiplexing) emerges.
Telling from the name, CWDM is the close relative of DWDM. They are different in two
aspects: (1) Carrier channel spacing of CWDM is wide, so a single optical fiber can
multiplex 2 to 16 optical wavelengths. That is why they are called “coarse” or “dense”;
(2) CWDM modulate laser adopts the uncooled laser, while DWDM adopts the cool
laser and needs the cooldown technology to stabilize the wavelength, which is very
hard to implement and costs too much. CWDM avoids this difficulty. The DFB laser
adopted by CWDM system does not need cooling, so it greatly reduces the cost. The
cost of whole CWDM system is only 30% of the cost of DWDM. As more and more
metropolitan area network operators begin to seek for more reasonable transmission
methods, CWDM is more and more widely used in the industry.
The spacing between different wavelengths in the same optical fiber is the main
parameter to separate DWDM from CWDM. The CWDM currently used generally
works from 1270nm band to 1610nm, the spacing is 20nm, and can multiplex 16
wavelength channels.

Compared with the DWDM system, the CWDM greatly reduces the system cost while
providing certain amount of wavelength and transmission distance within 100
kilometers. It is also very flexible. Hence the CWCM system is mainly applied to
metropolitan area network. With very low cost, CWDM provides very high access
bandwidth that is suitable for all kinds of popular network architecture such as point to
point, Ethernet, SONET ring etc. It is especially suitable for the communication
occasion of short distance, high bandwidth and dense access point such as network
communication inside a building or between buildings.
However CWDM is the compromise of cost and performance and inevitably has some
limitations on performance. The experts within the industry point out the following
Three disadvantages that currently exist in CWDM: (1) there are a few multiplexing
wavelengths supported by CWDM in the single fiber, which cause the high cost in the
future capacity expansion; (2) the cost of equipment such as multiplexer and
multiplexing modulator etc should be further reduced. These equipment should be
more than simple modification of the corresponding DWDM equipment; (3) No
standard has yet been formulated for CWDM.
To summarize, in the middle of 1990s, driven by the market demand and technology
development, WDM developed quickly both in China and abroad. DWDM is mainly
applied to the long distance transmission network and CWDM system that is applied
to metropolitan area network and Ethernet are widely used in commerce. At the same
time, development of system depends on the breakthrough of key technology and
relevant standard formulation, which is proved by the development of past years.
1.8 Questions
1) What are WDM, DWDM and CWDM?
2) Briefly introduce two transmission modes of WDM equipment.
3) What is the open and integrated system?
4) Briefly introduce the composition of the WDM system.

2 WDM Transmission Media
 Objectives:
To master basic structures and types of optical fibers.
To know basic characteristics of optical fibers.
2.1 Optical Fiber Structures

The kernel of optical fiber used in communication systems consists of a cylindrical
glass core and a glass cladding. The outermost layer is a plastic wear-resisting
coating. The whole fiber is cylindrical. The typical structure of optical fiber is shown in
Figure 1.4
Coating Cladding Core
n2 n1
Figure 1.4 The typical structure of optical fiber

n2
n1
2a
2b
n2
n1
2a
2b
n2
n(r)
2b
2a
Figure 1.5 Three typical types of optical fibers
Thickness of the core and refractive indexes of the core material and cladding
material are critical to the properties of the fiber. Figure 1.5 shows three typical optical
fibers. As can be seen from this figure, there are two typical refractive index
distributions in the fiber core-cladding cross-section. One is that the refractive index
radial distributions of the core and the cladding are uniform, and the change of
refractive index at the core-cladding boundary is a step function. This fiber is called
step-index fiber. The other one is that the refractive index of the core is not a
constant. It gradually decreases as the radial coordinate of the core increases until it
equals to the index of the cladding. Hence this fiber is called graded-index fiber. The
common feature of this two fiber cross-section is that the refractive index of the core
n1 is larger than that of the cladding n2. This is also a necessary condition for the
optical signal to transmit in the fiber. For a step-index fiber, total internal reflection can
occur at the core-cladding boundary and the light wave can propagate along the core.
For a graded-index fiber, the continuous refraction occurs to the light wave in the
core, forming a light ray similar to the sine-wave through the fiber axis and guiding the
light wave to propagate along the core. The tracks of the two light rays are shown in
Figure 1.5. With the difference of the diameter size of the core of step-index and
graded-index fibers, the number of modes transmitted in the fiber is different. Hence,
step-index fiber or graded-index fiber can be classified into single mode fiber and
multimode fiber according to the number of transmission modes. This is also a
classification method of optical fiber. The core diameter of a single mode fiber is very
small and, generally, less than 10m, and the core diameter of a multimode fiber is
relatively large and often equal to 50m. However, there is little difference between
the profiles of these two types of fiber. The diameters of fibers with a plastic jacket are
less than 1mm.

2.2 Modes of Fiber
2.2.1 Concept of Propagation Mode
Light is a kind of high-frequency electromagnetic wave. On the basis of wave-optics

and electromagnetic field theories as well as complicated computation of Maxwell’s
equations, it is found out that, when the light propagates through fiber, and the size of
the core is far larger than the optical wavelength, the light will propagate in the fiber in
tens of or even hundreds of modes.
In fact, light is propagated in the fiber as an independent group of light ray. In other
words, we will find out, if we could look into the fiber, that a group of light beam
propagates at different angles ranging from zero to critical angle αc. The light with an
angle larger than αc will pass through the core into the cladding (don’t meet the
conditions of total reflection) and the energy is ultimately absorbed by the coating, as
shown in Figure 1.6.These different light beams are modes. In short, the smaller the
propagation angle of the mode, the lower the mode order. As such, the mode of
propagation strictly following the central axis of the fiber is called zero-order mode, or
fundamental mode; other beams which propagate along an angle from the central
axis are called high-order modes.
αc
Figure 1.6 Light propagation in step index fiber
2.2.2 Multimode Fiber
The number of transmission modes in the fiber varies with the size of diameter of the
core. Therefore, both step index fiber and graded index fiber can be classified into
single-mode fiber and multimode fiber according the number of transmission modes.
2b
2a
Figure 1.7 Light propagation in multimode fiber with step index

When the size of the fiber (mainly the diameter of core d1) is far larger than the
optical wavelength (about 1 micrometer), there will be tens of or even hundreds of
transmission modes in fiber. Such fiber is called multimode fiber. The propagation
tracks of light in step index multimode fiber and graded index multimode fiber are
shown in Figure 1.7 and Figure 1.8 respectively.
d2
d1
Figure 1.8 Light propagation in graded index fiber
Since different propagation modes have different propagation velocities and phases,
time delay difference will occur over long-distance transmission and result in
consequent broadening of optical pulse. This phenomenon is known as mode
dispersion. Mode dispersion will make bandwidth narrower and reduce transmission
capacity. For this reason, multimode fiber is applicable to low-rate, short-distance
fiber communication only.
2.2.3 Single-mode Fiber (SMF)
When the size of the fiber (mainly the diameter of core d1) is comparatively small and
at the same order of magnitude as the optical wavelength (e.g. d1 is within the range
of 5 to 10 micrometers), the fiber allows only one propagation mode (fundamental
mode) and cuts off other high-order modes. Such fiber is called single-mode fiber. In
short, the propagation track in the SMF is linear propagation in the form of being
parallel to the central axis of the fiber, as shown in Figure 1.9.
n2
n1
n2
Figure 1.9 Light propagation in SMF
Since light propagates in the SMF in only one mode (fundamental mode) and other
high-order modes are cut off, the problem of mode dispersion is solved. So, SMF is
applicable for large-capacity, long-distance transmission.
There are four types of Single-Mode Fibers specified in ITU-T recommendations,
namely, G.652, G.653, G.654 and G.655. The following text provides a description of
the features of these four fibers.

2.3 Mode-Field Diameter (MFD) and Effective Area

In fiber, not all luminous energy is transmitted via core, but some luminous energy is
transmitted via cladding. Since the diameter of core cannot reflect the distribution of
luminous energy in the core (as shown in Figure 1.10), the concept of MFD is
proposed. MFD is the parameter used to describe the concentration of luminous
energy in SMF. Physically, effective area has the same meaning as the MFD.
Effective area can be figured out on the basis of the MFD and the formula for the area
of a circle.
MFD and effective area mainly relate to the density of energy passing through the
fiber. The smaller the MFD, the greater the energy density passing through the cross
section of the fiber. Excessively large energy density of the fiber will lead to the non-
linear effects, lower the optical SNR, and greatly affect the system performance.
Therefore, as for the MFD (or effective area) of the transmission fiber, the larger the
better.
MFD
Core
Figure 1.10 Mode-field diameter
2.4 Types of Optical Fiber

Since the single-mode optical fiber has advantages of low internal attenuation, large
bandwidth, easy upgrade and capacity expansion and low cost, it is internationally
agreed that DWDM systems will only utilize single mode fiber as transmission media.
At present, ITU-T has defined four types of single mode optical fiber with different
design in Recommendations G.652, G.653, G.654 and G.655.
G.652 fiber is currently a single mode fiber for extensive use, called 1310nm property
optimal single mode fiber and also called dispersion unshifted fiber. According to the
refractive index cross section of the core, it can also be divided into two categories:
matched cladding fiber and depressed cladding fiber. They have similar properties.
The former is simple in manufacturing but has relatively larger macrobend loss and
microbend loss while the later has larger connection loss.

G.653 fiber is called dispersion shifted fiber or 1550nm property optimal fiber. By
designing the refractive index cross section, the zero dispersion point of this kind of
fiber is shifted to the 1550nm window to match the minimum attenuation window. This
makes it possible to implement ultrahigh speed and ultra long distance optical
transmission.
G.654 fiber is cut-off wavelength shifted single mode fiber. This kind of fiber is mainly
designed to reduce the attenuation at 1550nm. Its zero dispersion point is still near
1310nm. The dispersion at 1550nm is relatively high, up to 18ps/(nm.km). So single
longitudinal mode laser must be used to eliminate the affect of the dispersion. G.654
fiber is mainly used for submarine optical fiber communication with very long
regenerator section distance.
G.655 fiber, a nonzero dispersion shifted single mode optical fiber, is similar to G.653
fiber and preserves certain dispersion near 1550nm to avoid four-wave mixing
phenomenon in DWDM transmission. It is suitable for DWDM system applications.
Except for the above-mentioned four types of standardized fiber, a large effective
area fiber suitable for higher capacity and longer distance has emerged. Its zero
dispersion point is near 1510m and its effective area is up to 72 square
mTherefore, it can effectively overcome the nonlinear affects and is especially
suitable for DWDM system applications based on 10Gbit/s.
 Thought:
Which type of optical fiber is widely laid at present?
2.5 Basic Features of Optical Fiber
2.5.1 Loss of Fiber
Attenuation or loss is an important constraint factor of fiber for the propagation of

optical signal. Loss of fiber restricts the propagation distance of optical signal without
optical amplification. Loss of fiber mainly depends on absorption loss, scattering loss
and bending loss.
2.5.2 Absorption Loss
Absorption loss of fiber results from the material of fiber, which includes ultraviolet
absorption, infrared absorption and impurity absorption.
2.5.2.1 Ultraviolet and infrared absorption loss
In the atomic system of fiber material, some electrons at low energy level will absorb
the energy of light wave and move to high energy level status. The central
wavelength of such absorption is around the 0.16µm of ultraviolet with a high
absorption peak and extends to fiber communication wave band: absorption peak in

low wavelength region reaches 1dB/km and that in high wavelength region drops
significantly to 0.05dB/km.
In infrared wave band, Si-O bond of quartz glass, the basic material of fiber, absorbs
energy because of vibration and the peak of such absorption band loss may reach
over 10dB/km at 9.1µm, 12.5µm and 21µm. Therefore, it constitutes the upper limit of
the operating wavelength of quartz fiber. The end of infrared absorption band also
extends to fiber communication band, but the influence is not up to that of ultraviolet
absorption band. When λ=1.55µm, infrared absorption loss is less than0.01dB/km.
2.5.2.2 Hydroxide ion (OH-) absorption loss
In quartz fiber, basic resonance wavelength of O-H bond is 2.73µm, which interacts
with the resonance wavelength of Si-O bond and produces a series of absorption
peaks in the transmission band of fiber. Most severely affected wavelengths are
at1.39, 1.24 and 0.95µm and the low-loss areas between peaks form three
transmission windows of the fiber communication. At present, with the improvement of
technology, the concentration of OH - is reduced to such an extent that the influence of
these absorption peaks becomes negligible.
2.5.2.3 Metal ion absorption loss
The electron structure of such metal ions in the fiber material as Fe 3+, Cu2+, Mn3+,
Ni3+, Co3+ and Cr3+ will produce sideband absorption peaks (0.5~1.1µm) and result in
loss. Presently, with the improvement of technology, the content of such impurities is
below 10-9 their influence is insignificant. ,
Impurities in the fiber material such as OH - and transition metal ions (such as Cu 2+,
Fe3+ Cr3+, etc.) have strong light absorption capacity and they are the contributing
factors for fiber loss. To turn out low-loss fiber, material of fiber such as silicon dioxide
should undergo strict chemical purification to achieve a purity of over 99.9999%.
2.5.3 Scattering Loss
Scattering loss resulting from the inhomogeneity of materials is called Rayleigh

scattering loss. Rayleigh scattering loss is the intrinsic loss of silicon dioxide, the
material of fiber. It is caused by the small-scale random inhomogeneity of the
refractive index of the material. I n the manufacture of fiber, silicon dioxide is in the
melt-out state and molecules are in irregular thermal motion. The motion will die down
in cooling. When it is hardened into solid, the random positions of molecules become
‘frozen” in the material, resulting in uneven material density and uneven distribution of
refractive indices. Such inhomogeneity is like adding many particles whose dimension
are much smaller than the wavelength to the homogenous material. .Some photons
will be scattered by such particles when the light wave passes through, and the
resulting loss is Rayleigh scattering loss, just as the scattering of light by particles in
the air makes the sky look blue. The magnitude of Rayleigh scattering is inversely
proportional to the biquadratic of the optical wavelength. Thus, it has considerable
impact on low wavelength window.
Besides, there may be some defects, bubbles and marks left at the interface between
core and cladding in the process of manufacture. The dimensions of fiber with such
structural defects are much larger than optical wavelength, causing resulting
scattering loss irrelevant to wavelength and increasing the total loss of the fiber.

2.5.4 Bending Loss
Bending of fiber tends to cause radiation loss. In actual applications, there are two
kinds of bending: one is the bending with a curvature radius much larger than the
diameter of fiber (E.g., such bending may occur in laying optical cables); and the
other is slight bending, with many possible causes covering the one caused by
technological limits in the process of fiber and optical cable manufacturing. Slight
bends of different curvature radii are randomly distributed along the fiber. Bending
fiber with large curvature radius has less transmission modes than straight fiber for
part of modes are radiated to the outside of the fiber and lead to loss; fiber with
randomly distributed slight bends will produce mode coupling in the fiber and result in
energy radiation loss. Bending loss of fiber is unavoidable for it is impossible to
eliminate any bends of fiber in the course of manufacture and application.
Bending loss relates to mode field diameter. Bending loss of G.652 fiber in 1,550nm
wavelength region should be no more than 1dB, and that of G.655 fiber in the same
region should be no more than 0.5dB.
Bending loss has little effect on the attenuation constant of the fiber and the
contributing factors of the attenuation constant are mainly absorption loss and
scattering loss.
2.5.5 Attenuation Coefficient
Loss is one of major characteristics of fiber and the major parameter used to describe
such loss is attenuation coefficient.
Dispersion (ps/nm Km)

OH -
Attenuation(dB)
absorption
G.652 fiber G.655 G.653
17
1310 1550 λ(nm)

C_band L_band
Figure 1.11 Characteristics of fiber
Attenuation coefficient refers to the attenuation loss of the light in the unit length of
fiber in transmission, and its unit is usually dB/km. Attenuation coefficient is one of the
most important characteristic parameters of fiber. To a large extent, it determines the
transmission distance of fiber communication. In single-mode fiber, there are two low-
loss areas around 1310nm and 1550nm respectively. And they are often known as

1310nm region and 1550nm region, and the latter is further divided into C-band
(1525nm~1562nm) and L-band (1565nm~1610nm).
2.6 Dispersion of Fiber

Different frequencies and modes in the optical pulse have different group velocities.
Therefore, these frequency components and modes reach the fiber terminals at
different time, and result in optical pulse stretching, which is the dispersion of fiber.
Dispersion is usually expressed in time delay difference, which refers to the difference
of time required for signal components of different frequencies to travel over the same
distance.
pulse pulse
Fiber cladding
λ1 Fiber core λ1
λ2 λ2
Fiber cladding
λ3 λ3
... ...
Figure 1.12 Schematic diagram of pulse broadening resulting from dispersion
Dispersion of fiber can be divided into mode dispersion, chromatic dispersion and
polarization mode dispersion. Chromatic dispersion, also known as intra-mode
dispersion, is divided into material dispersion and waveguide dispersion. Mode
dispersion is also called inter-modal dispersion. In general, no mode dispersion exists
in SMF.
2.6.1 Mode Dispersion
Light beams of different modes in multimode fiber have different group velocities and
they have different time delays in transmission, dispersion arising from which is called
mode dispersion. Mode dispersion is mainly associated with multimode fiber.
2.6.2 Chromatic Dispersion
Since different frequency (wavelength) components of the light source have different
group velocities and light beams with different frequencies have different time delays
in transmission, dispersion arising from which is called chromatic dispersion. It
includes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion.
Material dispersion: Since refractive indices of materials vary with the frequency
(wavelength) of optical signal, and different frequencies (wavelengths) correspond to
different group velocities, the dispersion arises, which is called material dispersion.
Waveguide dispersion: The dispersion resulting from the waveguide structure of fiber
is known as waveguide dispersion, with a size comparable to that of material
dispersion.
Generally, only material dispersion and waveguide dispersion are taken into account
in the case of SMF.

Dispersion coefficient refers to the time delay generated when optical wavelength
signal in unit wavelength interval passes through a unit length of fiber. It is expressed
in D and its unit is ps/nm.km.
2.6.3 Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)
Fast
ellipse
core
The Profile
of fiber
Slow
Time Delay
Figure 1.13 Polarization mode dispersion
The dispersion resulting from different propagation velocities of two states of cross
polarization of optical signal in fiber is known as PMD. It is an important parameter of
fiber.
In a fiber, the cross section of the core may take the form of ellipse due to fiber
manufacturing technology, and the anisotropic stress of the cross section of the fiber
resulting from the inhomogeneous thermal expansion coefficient of the material may
lead to the anisotropy of refractive indices of the fiber. Both of these circumstances
may result in the difference of two polarization mode propagation velocities and
different group delays and lead to polarization mode dispersion, as shown in Figure
1.13.Since its causes are random, polarization mode dispersion is a random quantity.
2.6.4 Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)
In an fiber-optic digital communication system, dispersion may result in Inter-Symbol

Interference (ISI). The following section provides a description of ISI.

T
T+ΔT
λ3 λ1 λ 3 λ1 λ3 λ 3λ 1 λ1
Figure 1.14 Inter-symbol interference
Fiber-Optic communication adopts pulse coding mode (PCM), that is, to transmit a
series of “1” and “0” optical pulse. Actual light source is of non-zero spectral width,
and the optical signal from the light source will undergo intensity modulation
performed by electrical pulse. Intensity of light (light intensity) refers to the optical
power of a unit area. Intensity modulation refers to that the intensity of optical wave
changes in proportion to modulating signal current. Modulating signal possesses
every wavelength component of modulating light source. Two optical pulses are
described in Figure 1.14, in which the optical pulse width is T and the input pulse
waveform of the fiber is rather narrow. Suppose the fastest and slowest wavelengths
areλ1 and λ3 respectively, and the spectral width of optical pulse is? λ=λ3-λ1.Different
wavelengths have different transmission speeds in the fiber. Suppose λ1 and λ3 are
fastest and slowest wavelengths respectively. Transmission speeds of other
wavelengths are between these two extremities. Different wavelengths reach the fiber
terminal at different times over long distance transmission, that is, time delay
difference T exists.
Difference of arriving time of various wavelengths extends the fiber (T+T), and this is
called pulse stretching. The broader the transmission distance of the pulse, the
greater the impulse stretching. Superposition of the former and subsequent optical
pulse resulting from pulse stretching is called ISI. Generally, ISI is leading to bit error
and restricting the transmission bit rate and transmission distance.
Polarization mode dispersion will also result in ISI, but its impact usually becomes
obvious in a rate of 10GBit/s or above.
2.7 Non-linearity Effects of SMF

All media are non-linear in nature. However, on most occasions, the non-linear
characteristics are rather negligible to be perceived. Linear characteristics of the fiber
will be present if the incident power of fiber is small. However, the non-linear
characteristics of the fiber will become stronger and stronger when an optical
amplifier or laser is employed in the fiber communication system. The reason is that
the optical signal of SMF is confined to the mode field and the effective area of SMF
is rather small (e.g., the effective area of G.652 fiber is around 80μm 2). As a result,

optical power density is very high and such high power density will remain over a long
distance due to low loss.
Non-linear effects of SMF is usually divided into: stimulated non-elastic scattering,
Kerr effect and four-wave mixing.
2.7.1 Stimulated Non-elastic Scattering Effect
Stimulated non-elastic scattering refers to the energy transfer from the incident wave
to the scattering wave. It is called “non-elastic scattering” because the wavelength
(frequency) of the incident wave is different from that of the scattered wave. Incident
photons have high frequency (high energy) and short wavelength, while scattered
photons have low frequency (low energy) and long wavelength. The energy difference
between incident photons and scattered photons is released in the form of phonons.
Stimulated Raman scattering and stimulated Brillouin scattering fall in stimulated non-
elastic scattering.
2.7.1.1 Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
Stimulated Raman scattering is a very important non-linear process in optic fibers. It

can be regarded as the modulation of incident light (also called pump light) by
molecular vibration in the medium, which results in scattering of incident light.
Assume that the frequency of incident light is ω 1, and the molecular vibration
frequency of the medium is ω v, then the frequency of scattered light ω s=ω1-ωv and
ωas=ω1+ωv. This phenomenon is called stimulated Raman scattering. The produced
scattered light with the frequency of ω s is called Stokes wave, and the scattered light
with the frequency of ωas is call reverse Stokes wave. Stokes wave can be described
with a physical image as follows: an incident photon disappears, which result in the
generation of a photon with down-shifted frequency (namely Stokes wave) and a
photon with appropriate energy and momentum, leading to conservation of energy
and momentum. As the influence of stimulated Raman scattering on multi-channel
fiber communications, when light with certain intensity shoots into a fiber, it will cause
molecular movement of the fiber material, and the modulated incident light intensity
produces a sideband with an interval being exactly the molecular vibration frequency.
The intensity of Stokes waves with low-frequency sidebands is higher than that of
reverse Stokes wave with high-frequency sidebands. When two light waves with
frequencies between which the interval happens to be the Stokes frequency shoot
into the fiber simultaneously, the low-frequency wave (with longer wavelength) will
obtain optical gain, while the high-frequency wave (with shorter wavelength) will
attenuate, and its energy is transferred to the low-frequency wave. As a result, the
short-wavelength optical signals (namely high-frequency waves) in the system will
attenuate and long-wavelength optical signals (namely low-frequency waves) will be
intensified.
In a multi-channel system, as the result of stimulated Raman scattering effect, short-
wavelength channels act as pump sources and transfer their energy to long-
wavelength channels, leading to crosstalk between different channels in the system,
which affects the communications performance; on the other hand, stimulated Raman
scattering effect can be used to make Raman fiber laser and Raman fiber amplifier,
etc.

For a single-channel fiber system, the incident optical power is far smaller than the
threshold power of stimulated Raman effect in the fiber. Therefore, stimulated Raman
effect will not seriously affect the system performance.
2.7.1.2 Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS)
Stimulated Brillouin scattering is very similar to stimulated Raman scattering in the

physical process. The pump with the incident frequency of ω p transfers part of the
energy to the Stokes wave with the frequency of ω s, and emits phonons with the
frequency of Ω.
Ω=ωp-ωs
SBS frequency shift (10 to 13 GHz) and gain bandwidth (20 to 100 MHz) are far
smaller than those of SRS. Secondly, peak SBS gain is two magnitudes bigger than
that of SRS. In addition, stimulated Raman scattering in a fiber occurs in the forward
direction, that is, its Stokes wave and pump propagation are in the same direction,
whereas stimulated Brillouin scattering occurs in the backward direction, that is, its
Stokes wave goes against the pump propagation direction. The threshold power of
stimulated Brillouin scattering is much lower than that of stimulated Raman scattering.
In a fiber, once stimulated Brillouin scattering reaches the threshold, a large number
of backward Stokes waves will occur, and this will produce adverse effect upon the
optical communications system. On the other hand, it can be used to compose fiber
elements like Brillouin amplifier and Brillouin laser. In case continuous waves,
stimulated Brillouin scattering is likely to occur, because it threshold is relatively low.
Things are a little different under pulse work mode. Id the pulse width T 0<10ns,
stimulated Brillouin scattering will become weaker or will be suppressed, almost
unlikely to occur.
2.7.2 Kerr Effect
We call the phenomenon that the refractive index of a medium changes with the
variation of light intensity “Kerr effect”. In a single-mode fiber, Kerr effect appears as
self-phase modulation and cross phase modulation.
2.7.2.1 Self-Phase Modulation
Due to Kerr effect, an instant change of signal light intensity tends to lead to the
phase change of optical pulse. This effect is called self-phase modulation (SPM). In a
single-wavelength system, when light intensity causes phase change, the SPM effect
will gradually broaden the signal spectrum, as shown in Figure 1.15. In the normal
dispersion area of a fiber, owing to the chromatic dispersion effect, once the SPM
effect leads to broaden spectrum, optical pulses will be a largely broaden when
transmitted far along the fiber. In the normal dispersion area, at the same time, the
chromatic dispersion effect and SPM effect of the fiber may compensate each other,
and signals will less broadened. Figure 1.15 shows that the SPM of the modulation
signal with low chirp intensity in a G.652 fiber causes compression of transmission

pulses.
Figure 1.15 SPM causes compress of transmission pulses and spectrum broadening
In normal cases, the SPM effect is obvious only in highly accumulated dispersion or a
ultra long-haul system. A dispersion limited system may be unable to tolerate the
SPM effect. In a multi-channel system with narrow channel spacing, the spectrum
broadening caused by SPM may produce interference between adjacent channels.
2.7.2.2 Cross Phase Modulation (XPM)
In a multi-channel system, when changes of the light intensity cause phase changes,
the phase modulation will generally broaden the signal spectrum as a result of
interaction between adjacent channels. The extent of spectrum broadening caused by
XPM is related to the channel spacing, because dispersion caused by different group
velocities will lead to interaction of pulses to be separated that propagate along the
fiber. Once XPM causes spectrum broadening, the signals will undergo a large
instantaneous broadening due to the chromatic dispersion effect when propagating
along the fiber length.
XPM can be controlled by selecting appropriate channel spacing. Research shows
that the signal distortion in a multi-channel system caused by XPM only occurs in
adjacent channels. The SNR of the central channel of a multi-channel system will be
close to the single-channel SNR. This is because of the increase of channel spacing.
Therefore, appropriate spacing is available between channels, which makes the
influence of XPM neglectable. Simulated tests on a system with per-channel power
consumption of 5mw showed that the 100GHz channel spacing is enough to lessen
the influence of XPM. The price of dispersion caused by XPM can also be controlled
by means of dispersion compensation at appropriate spacing along the fiber length.

2.7.3 Four Wave Mixing (FWM)
When three light waves with different wavelengths propagate simultaneously in a

fiber, a new wavelength will be generated due to the interaction of quartz media. The
frequency of the new wavelength is the combination of the tree, as shown in the
following formula:
flnm=fl±fn±fm
This phenomenon is called FWM, as illustrated in Figure 1.16.
FWM causes the transfer of power (optical energy) from channels of one wavelength
to channels of another. This phenomenon has two adverse effects on multi-channel
system performance: (1) The loss optical energy of the existing wavelengths will
occur due to the power transfer, which will affect such performances as BER and
SNR of the system; (2) if the newly generated wavelength is the same or overlaps
with an existing wavelength, serious cross will occur.
Theoretic research showed that the occurrence of FWM requires phase match of
signal lights. When various signal lights are transmitted near zero dispersion of the
fiber, the group velocities of optical signals with different wavelengths are nearly the
same. Therefore, the phase match condition is quite easy to satisfy, and thus FWM
effect is likely to occur.
F123,213 F132,312 F231,

F321
F113 F112 F223 F221 F332 F331
F1 F2 F3
Figure 1.16 FWM caused by interaction of three light waves
Experiment result also showed that the FWM effect is much more serious on a G.653
fiber than on G.652 and G.655 fibers, and the transmission loss caused thereby is
bigger. Appropriate dispersion can suppress the occurrence of FWM.
In addition, FWM is also sensitive to channel spacing. Such means as uneven
channel spacing and larger channel spacing can lessen the effect of FWM. Thus, the
DWDM system can run even in a G.653 fiber. With uneven channel spacing, the
product of frequency mixing of three or more channels will not happen to fall on other
channel wavelengths; however, the power transfer from the signals to the frequency
mixing product (namely signal power loss) still exists, and the BER and SNR
performances are still affected.
 Technical details:
The following figure shows the dispersion characteristics of several types of fiber.

G.655 fiber with positive

dispersion coefficient
Dispersion coefficient G.653 fiber
(ps/nm¡ ¤km)
17
G.652 fiber
G.655 fiber with negative

dispersion coefficient
1310 Wavelength¦ Ë
(nm)
1550
2.8 Questions
1) What are the basic structures and types of optical fibers?
2) What kinds of dispersion are there in the optical fiber?
3) What kinds of non-linearity effects are there in the optical fiber?

3 DWDM Key Technologies
 Objective:
To understand the requirements and solutions of DWDM light sources
To understand the DWDM optical amplification technology.
To understand the DWDM Multiplex/Demultiplex technology
To understand the DWDM Optical Supervisory Channel
3.1 Light source

The function of light sources is to generate laser or fluorescent light, and light sources
are important devices to constitute the optical fiber communication system. The
semiconductor laser LD (Laser Diode) and semiconductor LED (Light Emitting Diode)
used as light sources for optical fiber communication are both semiconductor devices.
Their common features are small in dimension, light in weight and low in power
consumption.
The major difference between LD and LED is that LD generates laser and LED
generates fluorescent light. So, LED has a wider spectrum bandwidth with low
modulation efficiency and low coupling efficiency with optical fiber; but its output
characteristics curve is of better linearity, and it has a long service life and low cost,
thus it is suitable for short-distance and small-capacity communication systems. And
LD is typically applicable to long-distance and large-capacity communication systems,
and is widely used in high-speed PDH and SDH equipment.
The light sources used in high-speed optical fiber communication systems are
classified into two categories: MLM lasers and SLM lasers. The major difference
between the two types of semiconductor lasers in terms of their performance lies in
their emitting spectrum. The emitting spectrum bandwidth of MLM laser is
comparatively wider and of the nm order, and multiple harmonic peaks can be
observed. The emitting spectrum bandwidth of SLM laser is of 0.1 nm order, and only
single harmonic peak can be observed. The monochromatism of SLM laser is better
than that of MLM laser.
The operating wavelengths of DWDM systems are relatively dense. Generally, the
wavelength spacing is from several nanometers to sub-nanometers. Hence, the laser
diode is required to operate at a standard wavelength and possess good stability. On
the other hand, the non-electrical regeneration relay distance of DWDM systems is
increased from 50~60km transmitted by a single SDH system to 500~600km. The
light sources of the DWDM system are required to use lasers more advanced in
technology and more excellent in performance in order to elongate the dispersion
limited distance of the transmission system and to overcome the nonlinear effects of
the fiber {such as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), stimulated Raman scattering
(SRS), self-phase modulation (SPM), cross-phase modulation (XPM), modulation
instability and four-wavelength mixing (FWM)}.
To sum up, the light source of the DWDM system has two outstanding features:
1) Larger dispersion tolerance value;
2) Standard and stable wavelength.

3.1.1 Modulation Mode Of A Laser
At present, the optical fiber communication systems in wide use employ intensity
modulation — direct detection system. There are two types of intensity modulation for
light sources, i.e. direct modulation and indirect modulation.
3.1.1.1 Direct modulation
Direct modulation is also called internal modulation, i.e. to modulate the light source
directly and change the output light wave intensity by controlling the injection current
into the semiconductor laser. LED or LD sources used in traditional PDH and SDH
systems under the rate of 2.5Gbit/s employ this modulation mode.
One characteristic of direct modulation is that the output power is in proportion to the
modulation current. It has the advantages of simple structure, low loss and low cost.
However, changes of the modulation current will result in the changes of the length of
the laser resonant cavity, which will cause a linear variation of the emitting laser
wavelength corresponding to the current. This variation, called modulation chirp, is
actually a kind of wavelength (frequency) jitter inevitable for direct modulation of the
sources. The chirp broadens the bandwidth of the emitting spectrum of the laser,
deteriorates its spectrum characteristics and limits the transmission rate and distance
of the system. Generally, for conventional G.652 optical fiber, the transmission
distance is ≤ 100km and the transmission rate ≤ 2.5Gbit/s.
For DWDM systems without optical line amplifiers, direct modulation of the lasers can
be considered to save the cost.
3.1.1.2 Indirect modulation
Indirect modulation:This modulation method is also called external modulation, i.e. not
to modulate the laser directly but to add an external modulator in the laser output path
to modulate the light wave. In fact, this modulator works as a switch. Its structure is
shown in Figure 1.17.
The constant light source is a highly stable source which continuously emits a fixed
wavelength and power. It is not affected by the electric modulation signal during light
emision, so no modulating frequency chirp occurs and the bandwidth of its optical
spectrum keeps at minimum. According to the electric modulation signal, the optical
modulator processes the highly stable laser light from the constant light source in an
“enabled” or “disabled” manner. During the modulation process, the spectrum
characteristics of the light wave will not be affected, ensuring .the quality of the
spectrum.
Lasers adopting indirect modulation are relatively complex with big loss and high cost,
but its modulating frequency chirp is very low. It can be used in systems with the
transmission rate ≥2.5Gbit/s and transmission distance longer than 300km. Hence, in
DWDM systems with optical line amplifiers, the lasers for transmission are generally
indirectly modulated.

Figure 1.17 Structure of the external modulated laser
External modulators frequently used are electro-optic modulators, acoustic-optical

modulators and waveguide modulators.
The basic operating principle of the photoelectric modulator is the crystal linear
electric-optical effect. The electric-optical effect refers to the phenomenon that the
electric field causes the variation of the refractive index of a crystal. A crystal that is
able to generate the electric-optical effect is called electric-optical crystal.
The acoustic-optical modulator is made by utilizing the acoustic-optical effect of the
medium. Acoustic-optical effect refers to the phenomenon that the medium changes
under the pressure of an acoustic wave when it propagates through the medium. This
change causes the variation of the refractive index of the medium, thus affecting the
transmission characteristics of the light wave.
The waveguide modulator is manufactured by diffusing titanium (Ti) into LiNbO 2
substrate material, then making the specific waveguide dimensions by the
photolithography process. It has many advantages such as small in size, light in
weight and easy for optical integration.
According to the integration or separation conditions of the light source and the
external modulator, external modulated lasers can be classified into two categories:
integrated external modulated laser and separated external modulated laser.
As a maturing technology, integrated external modulation becomes the development
trend of DWDM light sources. The commonly used modulators are electro-absorption
modulators which, small and compact and integrated with the light source, meet most
application requirements in their performances.
Electro-absorption modulator, a kind of loss modulator, operates at the boundary
wavelength of the material absorption region. When the modulator isn't biased, the
wavelength from the laser is out of the absorption range of the modulator material.
Thus the launched power of this wavelength is maximum and the modulator is turned
on. When the modulator is biased, the boundary wavelength of the material
absorption region shifts and the wavelength from the laser is within this region. Thus
the launched power is minimum and the modulator is turned off, as illustrated in
Figure 1.18.

Figure 1.18 Variation of the absorption wavelength of the electro-absorption modulator
The electro-absorption modulator can be manufactured with the same technological

process as for the semiconductor laser. Therefore, it is easy to integrate the laser and
the modulator, suitable for batch production. So its development is fast. For example,
An InGaAsP photoelectric integrated circuit is to integrate a laser and an electro-
absorption modulator on a single chip, which is then put on a thermoelectric cooler
(TEC). This typical photoelectric integrated circuit is called electro-absorption
modulated laser (EML). It can support the signal transmission of 2.5Gbit/s over
600km, far beyond the transmission distance of directly modulated lasers. Its
reliability is similar to that of standard OFB lasers with an average service life of 20
years.
The separated external modulated laser generally uses the constant output laser (CW
+ LiNbO3} Mach-Zehnder external modulator, as illustrated in Figure 1.19.
LD
Figure 1.19 M-Z external modulator
This modulator separates the light input into two equal signals which enter the two
optical branches of the modulator respectively. These two optical branches employ an
electro-optical material whose refractive index changes with the magnitude of the
external electrical signal applied to it. Changes of the refractive index of the optical
branches will result in the change variation of the signal phases. Hence, when the
signals from the two branches recombine at the output end, the combined optical
signal is an interference signal with varying intensity. With this method, the
information of the electrical signal is transferred onto the optical signal and optical
intensity modulation is implemented. The frequency chirp of the separated external
modulated laser can be equal to zero. Moreover, its cost is relatively low compared to
the electro-absorption modulated external laser.

3.1.2 Wavelength Stability of the Laser
In the DWDM system, wavelength stability of the laser is a critical problem. According
to the requirement of recommendation, the deviation of the central wavelength should
not be greater than one fifth of the optical channel interval.
Because the optical channel interval is very small (possibly as low as 0.8nm), the
DWDM system has strict requirements to the wavelength stability of the lasers. For
example, a 0.5nm variation of the wavelength can shift an optical channel to another
one. In practical systems, the variation should be controlled within 0.2nm. The
specific requirement is determined according to the wavelength spacing, i.e. the
smaller the interval, the higher the requirement. So the lasers should adopt strict
wavelength stabilization technology.
Fine tuning of the wavelength of the integrated electro-absorption modulated laser is
mainly implemented by adjusting the temperature. The temperature sensitivity of the
wavelength is 0.008nm/°C. The normal operating temperature is 25°C. By adjusting
the chip temperature in the range of 15°C to 35°C, the EML can be adjusted to a
specific wavelength with an adjustable range of 1.6nm. The chip temperature is
adjusted by changing the drive current of the cooler and then stabilized at a basically
constant value by using a thermal resistance as feedback.
According to the corresponding characteristics of the wavelength and chip
temperature, the distributed feedback laser (DFB) controls its wavelength by
controlling the temperature of the laser chip to achieve wavelength stability. For the
1.5ųm DFB laser, the wavelength-temperature coefficient is about 0.02nm/°C and its
central wavelength meets the requirement within the range of 15°C-35°C. This
temperature feedback control method completely depends on the chip temperature of
the DFB laser. At present, MWQ-DFB laser technology can guarantee that the
wavelength deviation meets the requirements of the DWDM system during the
service life (20 years) of the laser.
In addition to the temperature, the drive current of the laser can also affect the
wavelength. The sensitivity is 0.008nm/mA, smaller than the effect of the temperature
in one order. In some cases, this effect can be ignored. Additionally, encapsulation
temperature may also affect the device wavelength (e.g. temperature conduction by
connection wires from the encapsulation to the laser platform and inward radiation
from the encapsulation package will also affect the device wavelength). In well-
designed encapsulation, its effect can be controlled to minimum.
The above methods can effectively solve the problem of short-term wavelength
stability. However, they are incapable of dealing with long-term wavelength variations
caused by factors such as laser aging. It is ideal to directly utilize a wavelength
sensitive component for wavelength feedback control of the light source. The principle
diagram is shown inFigure 1.20. Standard wavelength control and reference
frequency disturbance wavelength control in this type of control solutions are under
development and quite promising.

Figure 1.20 Wavelength control principle
 ? Think It Over:
Why does the DWDM system set strict requirements to the wavelength stability?
3.2 Photoelectric Detector

The function of photoelectric detector is to convert the received optical signal to
corresponding electric signal. Generally, the optical signal sent from the optical fiber is
rather weak, so very high requirements are put forward to the photoelectric detector.
1) Its responsivity in operating wavelength range should be high enough.
2) The additional noise caused by the photoelectric conversion process should be
as low as possible.
3) It should work at a high response speed, with good linear properties and wide
frequency range, the signal distortion should be as less as possible.
4) It should work stably and reliably, and has comparatively satisfactory stability and
long service life.
5) Small in size and convenient in use
There are two types of semiconductor photoelectric detectors that can satisfy the
above requirements: positive intrinsic negative (PIN) photodiode and avalanche
photodiode.
3.2.1 Positive Intrinsic Negative Photodiode (PIN)
PIN photodiode is a semiconductor device, it is composed of an intrinsic (light doped)

area between the P type and the n type, When this device is inversely biased, an
almost infinite internal resistance appears (just like open circuit), and the output
current is in proportion to the input optical power.
PIN photodiode has the advantages of low cost and easy use, but its response speed
is slow.
3.2.2 Avalanche Photo Diode (APD)
In long-distance optical fiber communication systems, optical power of only several

milliwatts is emitted from lasers and through long-distance fiber transmission to reach
the receiving end. The optical signal received at the receiving end is very weak,
generally only about several nanowatts. If a PIN photodiode is used for detection, the
output current will be of only several nanowatts. The output current must go through
multistage amplification in order to make the judgment circuit of the photoreceiver
work normally. In the signal amplification process, various types of circuit noise will
be inevitably introduced thus decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the photoreceiver
and degrades its sensitivity. Another kind of photodiode with the internal current
amplification function is adopted in optical fiber communication systems in order to
overcome the above shortcomings of PIN photodiode, that is APD. APD multiplies the
optical current utilizing the avalanche multiplication effect of photo-generated carriers
in the depletion region. The avalanche multiplication effect means that a strong
electric field will be formed in the depletion region when a high reverse bias voltage is
applied to the P-N junction. When photons are absorbed in the depletion region,
photo-generated carriers are excited and accelerated by the strong electric field, and
collide with the crystal lattice in the depletion region at a very high speed. Thus new
photo-generated carriers are generated, forming a chain reaction. Therefore, the
optical current is multiplied in the photodiode.
The gain and response speed of the avalanche photodiode is better than those of the
PIN photodiode, but the noise characteristic of the avalanche photodiode is not so
satisfactory.
3.3 Optical Amplifier

We know that there is attenuation of the optical fiber, optical signals will attenuate
during transmission along the optical fiber, and the transmission distance is thus
limited by attenuation. So, we have to amplify optical signals in order to transmit them
through a longer distance. A traditional way to amplify optical signals is to use
regenerators. But there are several disadvantages with this method. First, a
regenerator can only work under a determined signal-bit rate in a determined signal
format, different bit rates and signal formats require different regenerators. Second,
every channel needs a regenerator, which results in high network cost. So, people
wish to find a way to amplify optical signals without regenerators, that is the optical
amplification technology.
3.3.1 Optical Amplifier Overview
Optical amplifiers amplify optical signals in a simply way, as illustrated in Figure 1.21:
Figure 1.21 OA
Optical amplifiers do not need to convert optical signals into electric signals and then
convert them back into optical signals. Compared to regenerators, optical amplifiers
have two major advantages thanks to the above feature. First, optical amplifiers
simply amplify any signal they receive, so they support any bit rate and signal format.
This property is often described as that optical amplifiers are transparent to any bit
rate and signal format. Second, optical amplifiers support not only the amplification of

single signal wavelength – like a regenerator, but also the amplification of optical
signals in a certain wavelength rage. And only optical amplifiers support the time-
division multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing networks with various bit
rates, various modulation formats and different wavelengths. In fact, WDM technology
did not play an important role in optical fiber communication until optical amplifiers,
especially EDFA, appeared. EDFA is the most popular optical amplifier, its
appearance has turned the wavelength-division multiplexing and all-optical network
theory into reality.
At present, there are two major types of optical amplifier in use: semiconductor optical
amplifier (SOA) and fiber optical amplifier (FOA). SOA is actually the active medium
of the semiconductor laser. In another word, a semiconductor amplifier is a laser
diode without or with little optical feedback.
FOA is different from SOA, the active medium (or gain medium) of FOA is a segment
of special optical fiber or transmission optical fiber which is connected to the pumping
laser. An optical signal will be amplified when it goes through this fiber segment. FOA
can be classified into Rare Earth Ion Doped Fiber Amplifier and Non-linear Fiber
Amplifier. Just like SOA, the operation theory of the rare earth ion doped fiber
amplifier is also the stimulated radiation. And the non-linear fiber amplifier utilizes the
non-linear effect of the fiber to amplify the optical signal. EDFA and Raman fiber
amplifier are fiber amplifiers in practical application.
As a key component of new generation optical communication systems, EDFA
(Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier) has many advantages such as high gain, large output
power, wide operating optical bandwidth, polarization independence, low noise figure
and the amplifying characteristic independent of the system bit rate and data format.
It is an indispensable key component in large capacity DWDM systems.
According to its location in the DWDM optical transmission network, an EDFA can be
a booster amplifier (BA), a line amplifier (LA) or a preamplifier (PA).
The gain wavelength of Raman Fiber Amplifier is determined by the pump light
wavelength. Theoretically, signal amplification of any wavelength can be achieved
only if the pump source wavelength is proper. Its gain medium is the transmission
fiber itself, and its noise figure is low. When it is used together with conventional
EDFA, it will greatly decrease the system noise figure and increase the transmission
span.
3.3.2 Erbium Doped Fiber (EDF)
EDF is the kernel of the optical fiber amplifier. It is a kind of optical fiber doped with a
certain concentration of Er3+. To illustrate its amplification principle, we need to begin
with the energy level diagram of Er ions. The outer electrons of Er ions have a
structure of 3 energy levels (E1, E2 and E3 inFigure 1.22), where E1 is the basic
state energy level, E2 is the metastable state energy level and E3 is the high energy
level, as shown inFigure 1.22.

Figure 1.22 EDFA energy level diagram
When high-energy pump lasers are used to excite the EDF, lots of bound electrons of
the erbium ions are excited from the basic state to the high energy level E3. However,
the high energy level is not stable and erbium ions are soon dropped to the
metastable state E2 via a non-radiation decay process (i.e. no photon is released). E2
level is a metastable energy band on which particles' survival span is relatively long.
Particles excited by the pump light continuously gather on this level in the form of
nonradiative transition. Thus, inverse distribution of the particle number is achieved.
When an optical signal with the wavelength of 1550nm passes through this erbium-
doped fiber, particles in the metastable state are transited to the basic state via
stimulated radiation and generate photons identical to those in the incident signal
light. This greatly increases the quantity of photons in the signal light, i.e.
implementing the function of continuous amplifying the signal light transmitted in the
EDF.
3.3.3 EDFA Flat Gain Control
In DWDM systems, there are more and more optical channels to be multiplexed, and
there are more and more optical amplifiers needed to be in serial connection. This
requires that a single amplifier occupy a wider and wider bandwidth.
However, EDFA based on ordinary pure silicon optical fiber has a very narrow flat
gain region only between 1549 and 1561nm, a range of approximately 12nm. And the
gain fluctuation between 1530 and 1542nm is very large, up to about 8dB. When the
channel arrangement of the DWDM system exceeds the flat gain region, channels
near 1540nm will suffer severe signal-to-noise deteriaration and normal signal output
can't be guaranteed.
To solve the above-mentioned problem and adapt to the development of DWDM
systems, a gain flattened EDFA based on aluminum-doped silicon optical fiber is
developed. It greatly improves the operating wavelength bandwidth of the EDFA and
suppresses gain fluctuation. With the currently mature technology 1dB gain flattened
range can be achieved which almost expands to the whole erbium pass-band
(1525nm~1560nm), basically solving the problem of gain unflatness of ordinary
EDFA. Figure 1.23 compares the gain curves of non-aluminum-doped EDFA and
aluminum-doped EDFA.
Technically, the range of 1525nm~1540nm in EDFA gain curve is called blue band
area and the range of 1540nm ~1565nm is called red band area. Generally, the red
band area is preferred when the transmission capacity is less than 40Gbit/s.

1525nm-1565nm 1525nm-1565nm
non-aluminum-doped EDFA aluminum-doped EDFA
Gain Gain
Wavelength Wavelength
Figure 1.23 Improvement of EDFA gain curve flatness
Performance comparison between EDFA gain unflatness and flatness is given in Figure 1.24.
Cascading amplification of amplifier gain unflatness
Cascading amplification of amplifier gain flatness
Figure 1.24 Diagram of EDFA gain flatness
3.3.4 EDFA Gain-Lock
EDFA gain-locking is an important issue because the WDM system is a multi-

wavelength working system. When signals of certain wavelengths are lost , their
energy will be transferred to those unlost signals due to gain competition, thus the
power of other wavelengths increases. At the receiving end, abrupt increase of the
electrical level may result in error codes. In limiting case, if seven out of the eight
wavelengths are lost, all the energy will concentrate to the one wavelength left and its
power may be up to about 17dBm. This will result in strong nonlinear effects or
receiving power overload of the receiver, and this will also cause lots of error codes.
There are many gain-locking technologies for EDFA. One typical method is to control
the gain of the pump light source. The internal monitoring electric circuit of the EDFA
controls the output of the pump source by monitoring the input-output power ratio.
When some signals of the input wavelengths are lost, the input power will decrease
and the output-input power ratio will increase. Via the feedback circuit, the output

power of the pump source will be reduced in order to keep the gain (output/input) of
the EDFA unchanged. Hence, the total output power of the EDFA is reduced and the
output signal power is kept stable, as illustrated in Figure 1.25.
OUTPUT
INPUT
TAP PUMP TAP
PIN PIN
Non-linear
control
Figure 1.25 Gain-locking technology of controlling the pump light source
Furthermore, there is a saturation wavelength method. At the transmit end, in addition

to the eight operating wavelengths, the system sends another wavelength as the
saturation wavelength. In normal cases, the output power of this wavelength is very
small. When some line signals are lost, the output power of the saturation wavelength
will automatically increase in order to compensate the energy of the lost wavelengths
and maintain the output power and gain of the EDFA to be constant. When the multi-
wavelength line signals are restored, the output power of the saturation wavelength
will correspondingly decrease. This method directly controls the output of the
saturation wavelength laser, so its speed is faster than controlling the pump source.
Performance comparison between gain-locking EDFA and non-gain-locking EDFA
falling
wavelength >1dB
adding
wavelength
>1dB
Figure 1.26 Gain variation diagram of no-gain-locking EDFA dropping and adding wavelengths
Falling <0.5dB
wavelength
adding
<0.5dB
wavelength

Figure 1.27 Gain variation diagram of gain-locking EDFA dropping and adding wavelengths
3.3.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of EDFA
3.3.5.1 Major advantages of EDFA:

1) Its working wavelength is consistent with the minimum attenuation window of the
single mode optical fiber.
2) High coupling efficiency. As a fiber amplifier, it can be easily coupled with the
transmission fiber.
3) High energy conversion efficiency. The core of EDF is smaller than that of
transmission fiber, signal light and pumping light are transmitted in EDF at the
same time, highly centralizing the light energy. This results in a thorough
interaction between the light and the gain medium Er ion, and higher light energy
conversion efficiency if added with EDF of appropriate length.
4) High gain, low noise figure, large output power and minimum cross-talk.
5) Stable gain characteristics: EDFA is insensitive to temperature and polarization
independence
6) Gain characteristic independent to system bit rate and data format.
EDFA is an indispensable key component in high capacity DWDM systems.
3.3.5.2 Major disadvantages of EDFA:

1) The gain wavelength range is fixed: the energy level difference between the
energy levels of Er ion confines the working wavelength range of EDFA to a fixed
1550nm window. This is also the limitation of rare mental doped fiber amplifiers.
For instance, Praseodymium doped fibers can only work on 1310nm window.
2) Gain bandwidth unflatness: EDFA has a wide gain bandwidth, but its gain
spectrum is not flat. Special measures must be adopted in WDM system
applications in order to flatten the gain of EDFA.
3) Optical surge problem: EDFA can enlarge the input optical power rapidly.
However, since its dynamic gain changes slowly, optical surge will occur at the
moment when the input signal power jumps, i.e. a peak occurs to the output
optical power. The optical surge phenomenon is especially obvious in the case of
EDFA cascading. The peak power can be up to a few watts and is possible to
damage the O/E converter and the end surface of the optical connector.
3.3.6 Raman Fiber Amplifier
In normal fiber system, the optical power is not high, and the fiber is characteristic of
linear transmission. When very high optical power is injected into optical fiber---non-
linear optical medium, the pumping light of high energy (shorter wavelength) scatters
and shifts a small portion of incident power to the lowering light of another frequency.
The frequency lowering scale is determined by the vibration mode of the medium.
Quantum mechanics describes the phenomenon as that a photon of incident light is
scattered by a molecule into another photon of lower frequency and the molecule
implements its transition between vibration states. The incident photons are called
pumping light, and the frequency-shifting photons of lower frequency are called
stokes wave. Normal Raman scattering needs very high laser power. However, in
fiber communication, the diameter of the core of monomode optical fiber as a non-
linear medium is very small (generally under 10μm). As a result, the monomode
optical fiber can limit the interaction between high-intensity laser field and medium in
a quite small section and thus increases the optical power intensity of incident optical
field. In low attenuation fiber, the interaction between the optical field and the medium
can keep for a long distance, allowing for adequate energy coupling in the meantime,
and for the use of stimulated Raman scattering in fiber.
Experiments prove that quartz fiber has wide SRS gain spectrum and a wide gain
peak around a frequency 13THz lower than that of the pumping light. If a weak signal
and a strong pumping light wave are transmitted through the fiber at the same time,
and the wavelength of the weak signal is set within the Raman gain bandwidth of the
strong pumping light, the weak signal can be amplified. Such SRS-based OA is call
Raman optical amplifier. Raman optical amplifier’s gain is the switch gain, that is, the
difference between the output power when the amplifier is on and that when the
amplifier is off.
Raman optical amplifier has three outstanding features:
1) Its gain wavelength is determined by the pumping light wavelength. Theoretically,
it can produce signal amplification of any wavelength if the pump source
wavelength is proper, as illustrated in Figure 1.28, in which the dotted lines are
the gain spectrum of the three pump sources. This feature enables Raman fiber
amplifiers to amplify in the wavelength range beyond EDFA. The usage of
multiple pump sources can also get much wider gain bandwidth than that of
EDFA (Being limited by energy level transition mechanism, EDFA has a gain
bandwidth of 80nm only.) Therefore, it is irreplaceable in the development in the
whole low attenuation region (1270nm – 1670nm) of the fiber.
GAIN
PUMP1 PUMP2 PUMP3
30nm
70~100nm
Figure 1.28 Raman gain spectrum of multiple pumps
2) The gain medium is the transmission fiber itself. This enables Raman fiber
amplifiers to amplify optical signals online and constitute distributed amplification,
and thus implement long-distance trunk-free transmission and remote pumping.
It is especially suitable for cases disallowing repeaters, e.g. sea fiber-optic cable
communication. As the amplification is distributed along the fiber instead of
centralized in a section, the signal light power is comparatively low along the
fiber, thus reducing the interference from non-linear effect, especially FWM
effect.
3) Low noise fact. When it is used together with ordinary EDFA, it will largely
decrease the system noise figure and increase the transmission span.
3.3.7 Related Technical Features

 The maximum optical power electrical level of single channel or multiple channel
fiber is +17dBm or +20dBm. The optical joint and optical connector should be
kept clean.

 There must be obvious safety warning signs on OA to ensure personal safety.

When the fiber is disconnected, the pump source should automatically shut down
or decrease the EDFA output power down to firm power.
 The service life of the optical component (pump source) of OA should be at least
300,000 h.
3.4 Optical Multiplexer and Optical Demultiplexer

Wavelength division multiplexing components, that is, optical multiplexer and optical
demultiplexer, are the core parts in wavelength division multiplexing systems. All of
which are actually optical filters, and their performance determines that of the whole
system to a great extent,. as illustrated in Figure 1.29. Optical multiplexer is mainly
used to combine multi-signals into a single fiber for transmission; optical
demultiplexer is mainly used to separate multiple wavelength signals transmitted in a
single fiber. The performance of WDM systems depends on the WDM components.
The requirements of which are enough channels, little insertion loss, large crosstalk
attenuation and wide pass band range.
Theoretically, optical multiplexer and optical demultiplexer are the same, only
differentiated by the directions of input and output.
Figure 1.29 DWDM components
The performance of wavelength division multiplexing components used in WDM

systems meets the requirements of ITU-T G.671 and the relevant recommendations.
There are many kinds of optical wavelength division multiplexers, approximately
including four types: interferometric optical filter, fiber coupler, fiber grating and
arrayed waveguide grating (AWG).
3.4.1 Optical Grating Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer
Optical grating type wavelength division multiplexer, a kind of angular dispersion type
component, employs the angular dispersion component to separate and combine
optical signals of different wavelengths. The most prevalent diffraction grating is made
by depositing epoxy resin on a glass substrate and then making grating lines on the

epoxy resin, forming the reflective-type blazed diffraction grating. When the incident
light reaches the optical grating, the optical signals with different wavelengths are
reflected in different angles due to the angular dispersion function of the grating. Then
these signals are converged to different output optical fibers via lenses in order to
implement wavelength selection function. The inverse process is also correct, as
shown in Figure 1.30. The advantage of the blazed optical grating is high-resolution
wavelength selection function, which can separate most energy of specific
wavelength from other wavelengths and focus it in centralized directions.
The blazed grating type filter has excellent wavelength selectivity and can reduce the
wavelength spacing to about 0.5nm. Moreover, the grating type component works in
parallel and its insertion loss doesn't increase with the number of wavelengths
multiplexed, hence acquiring large number of multiplexing channels. At present, 131
0.5nm-spacing wavelengths can be multiplexed at good isolation. For a wavelength
spacing of 1nm, the isolation is up to 55dB. The disadvantage of blazed grating is
relatively large insertion loss, generally as high as 3~8dB. Moreover, it is very
sensitive to polarization and its optical channel bandwidth-to-spacing ratio is not
satisfactory. Therefore the optical spectrum utilization is low and the wavelength fault-
tolerance requirement for the light source and the wavelength division mutiplexer
component is relatively high. Additionally, its temperature drift varies with the thermal
expansion coefficient and refractive index of the material. Typically, the component
temperature shift is approximately as high as 0.012nm/°C. If temperature control
measures are adopted, the temperature shift can be reduced to 0.0004nm/°C, making
it necessary and feasible to adopt temperature control measures.
¦ Ë
1¦ Ë
2¦ Ë
3¦ Ë
4¦ Ë
5¡ ¦ Ë
n output (in)
Diffraction
grating
¦ Ë
1¦ Ë
2¦ Ë
¡ ¦ Ë
n input (out)
Figure 1.30 Principle of blazed optical grating wavelength division mutiplexer
This optical grating requires high manufacturing accuracy and is not suitable for mass
production. Hence, it is generally applied in experimental scientific research.
Except for the above traditional optical fiber component, the manufacturing
technology for optical fiber Bragg grating filter is getting more sophisticated. It is
manufactured employing the interference of high power ultraviolet light beams to form
periodic variation of refractive index at the optical fiber core. The accuracy can be up
to 10000 lines per centimeter, as shown in the following figure. Fiber Bragg grating
can be feasibly designed and manufactured at low cost. It has very low insertion loss
and stable temperature characteristic. Its filtering characteristic is flat inband and very
steep out-of-band (rolling slope is better than 150dB/nm and out-of-band suppress
ratio is up to 50dB). This component can be directly melted with the optical fiber of the
system. So it can be fabricated into band-pass or band-stop filter with small channel
spacing. At present, it is extensively applied in DWDM system.

Ultraviole light interference
¦ Ë
1¦ Ë
2¦ Ë
3 ¦ 2Ë
Periodic variation of the refractive index (grating)

Figure 1.31 Optical fiber Bragg grating filter
However this kind of optical fiber grating has relatively narrow wavelength range,
confining it to single wavelength. The benefit it brings forth is that the filters can be
added or removed according to the number of wavelength used, allowing flexible
applications.
3.4.2 Dielectric Film Wavelength Division Multiplexer
Dielectric film filter type wavelength division multiplexer is a kind of core interactive
wavelength division multiplexer consisting of dielectric film (DTF). DTF interference
filter is composed of tens of dielectric films of different materials, different refractive
indexes and different thickness combined according to design requirements. Each
film layer is 1/4 wavelength in thickness. Layers of high refractive index and low
refractive index are alternatively overlapped. When the light incidents on the high
refractive layer, the reflected light has no phase shift. However, when the light
incidents on the low refractive layer, the reflected light undergoes a 180 0 phase shift.
Since the layer thickness is 1/4 wavelength (90 0), the light reflected by the low
refractive layer undergoes a 360 0 phase shift and in-phase superposes with the light
reflected by the high refractive layer. Thus, reflected lights of the layers superpose
near the central wavelengths and form intensive reflected light at the front-end
surface of the filter. In the highly backward reflecting area, the reflected light suddenly
decreases and most light becomes transmitted light. Accordingly, the film interference
type filter can be made to band pass certain wavelength range and band stop the
other wavelength range, forming the required filter characteristics. The structural
principle of the film interference type filter is shown in the following figure.
The main features of dielectric film filter wavelength division multiplexer are as
follows: miniaturization and structural stability of the component can be implemented
via design, the signal pass-band is flat and polarization-independent, and its insertion
loss is low and channel isolation is good. The disadvantage is that the limited number
of channels. The specific characteristics are related to its structure. For instance, if
the film filter type wavelength division multiplexer is made of soft materials, its
wavelength may be changed under the environmental influence because the filter can
easily absorb moisture. When employing hard dielectric film material, the temperature
stability is better than 0.0005nm/°C. Additionally, this component has relatively long
design and manufacturing process and low output of production. And if epoxy resin is
used along the light path, it is hard to achieve high isolation and narrow bandwidth.
In wavelength division multiplexing systems, when only 4 to 16 wavelengths are
involved, this type of wavelength division multiplexing component is relatively ideal.

¦ Ë1-4 ¦ Ë1 filter
Self-focusing lens
¦ Ë1
¦ Ë3 filter
¦ Ë2
¦Ë
3
¦ Ë4 Glass
Figure 1.32 Principle of film interference filter type de-multiplexer
3.4.3 Fused Conical Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer
There are two types of optical fiber coupler. The extensively used one of which is
fused biconical tapered coupler, i.e. drawing multiple fibers under hot-melt condition
to form a cone and slightly twisting and fusing them together. Because the cores of
different fibers are extremely close to each other, the required coupling power can be
obtained via evanescent wave coupling on the conical region. The second type of
coupler removes part of cladding of the optical fiber by grinding and polishing, leaving
only a thin cladding layer. Then two optical fibers processed via the same method are
butt jointed and coated with a layer of index matched solution between them. Thus
the two fibers can couple via the evanescent wave in the cladding and obtain the
expected coupling power. Fused conical type wavelength division multiplexing
component is simple to manufacture and is extensively applied.
3.4.4 Integrated Optical Waveguide Type Wavelength Division Multiplexer
Integrated optical waveguide type wavelength division multiplexer is a plane

waveguide component based on optical integration technology. The typical
manufacturing process is to deposit a thin layer of silica glass on the silicon substrate,
and form the expected pattern by utilizing photetch and etch. This component
supports integration manufacture and has great application prospective in future
access networks. Moreover, except for wavelength division multiplexer, it can be
fabricated into matrix structure to add/drop optical signal channels (OADM). Therefore
it will become a preferred option for implementing optical switching in future optical
transport networks.
A typical component which uses integrated optical waveguide wavelength division
multiplexer is Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) optical multiplexer/de-multiplexer
manufactured by NTT Company, Japan. It has many advantages, including small
wavelength spacing, large number of channels and flat pass-band, making it

especially suitable for ultrahigh-speed and large capacity wavelength division

multiplexing systems. Its structure is sketched in Figure 1.33.
Waveguide
grating
λ1¡ ¡ λ2
Free space
Fan-like
Fan-like
waveguide
waveguide
Figure 1.33 Principle of AWG wavelength division multiplexer
3.4.5 Performances of Wavelength Division Multiplexing Components
Table 33.1 Comparison of various wavelength division multiplexing components

Component Mechanism Mass Channel Number Noise(dB) Insertion Main
type production spacing of loss (dB) disadvantages
(nm) channels
Diffractive Angular Common 0.5~10 131 ≤-30 3~6 Temperature
grating type dispersion sensitive
Dielectric Interference/ Common 1~100 2~32 ≤-25 2~6 Small number
film type absorption of channels
Fusible Wavelength Relatively 10~100 2~6 ≤-(10~45) 0.2~1.5 Small number
cone type dependent easy of channels
Integrated Plane Easy 1~5 4~32 ≤-25 6~11 Large insertion
optical waveguide loss
waveguide
type
3.4.6 Basic Requirements to Optical Multiplexing Components
Wavelength division multiplexing components are important in wavelength division

multiplexing systems. In order to insure the performance of the wavelength division
multiplexing systems, the following basic requirements to optical multiplexing
components are needed: low insertion loss, large isolation, flat in band, steep
insertion loss variation out band, good temperature stability, large number of
multiplexing channels and small size.
3.4.6.1 Optical multiplexer (OMU)
The optical multiplexer of WDM system can be implemented via various technologies.
At present, there are two commonly used types of 16-channel and 32-channel optical
multiplexer, integrated optical waveguide type and dielectric film filter type. Their

relevant parameters should meet optical multiplexer parameters requirements in

Table 3-2.
Table 33.2 Requirements of the optical multiplexer parameters

Item Unit 16-channel index 32-channel index
Insertion loss DB <10 <12
Reflection coefficient DB >40 >40
Operating Wavelength nm 1548-1561 1530-1561
Range
Polarization DB <0.5 <0.5
dependence loss
Adjacent channel DB >22 >22
isolation
Non-adjacent channel DB >25 >25
isolation
Maximum difference of DB <2 <3
each channel insertion
loss
3.4.6.2 Optical demultiplexer (ODU)
The optical demultiplexer of WDM system can be implemented via various

technologies. At present, there are three commonly used types of 16-channel and
WDM system optical demultiplexer, optical fiber Bragg grating type, dielectric film filter
type, and integrated optical waveguide type. Their relevant parameters should meet
the requirements in Table 3-3.
Table 33.3 Requirements of the optical demultiplexer parameters

Item Unit 16-channel index 32-channel index
Channel spacing GHz 100 100
Insertion loss DB <8 <10
Reflection coefficient nm 40 40
Adjacent channel DB >25 >25
isolation
Non-adjacent channel DB >25 >25
isolation
Polarization DB 0.5 0.5
dependence loss
Maximum difference of DB <2 <3
each channel insertion
loss
Temperature nm/℃ * *
characteristics
-1dB bandwidth nm >0.2 >0.2
-20dB bandwidth nm * *
3.5 Optical Supervisory Channel

In SDH system, the network administrator can manage and monitor network
equipment via the overhead bytes in SDH frame structure (such as E1, E2, D1-D12),
no matter TM, ADM or REG. Differed from SDH system, line amplifier equipment in
DWDM system only performs optical amplifying to service signals. As service signals
have only a light-to-light process instead of add/drop of service signals, a signal must
be added to monitor the OA running status. Next, if wavelength bears overhead bytes
in SDH, it is still a problem which SDH signal is to be used. Moreover, what if the
service bearing in DWDM channel is otherwise service and not SDH signals? And

management and monitoring information cannot depend upon services. That is why a
separate channel must be used to manage DWDM equipment. A special wavelength
channel can be added to DWDM system for system management, which is called the
Optical Supervising Channel (OSC). For the optical line amplifiers adopting Erbium
doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) technology, the gain area of EDFA is 1530 nm -1565 nm,
the OSC must lie outside the available gain bandwidth of EDFA (out band OSC),
being 1510 nm. Coded Mark Inversion (CMI) for supervisory channel is used as the
line code type.
3.5.1 Requirements on Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC)
The requirements on DWDM to optical supervisory channel are as follows:

 The optical supervisory channel doesn't limit the pump wavelength of the optical
amplifier;
 The optical supervisory channel doesn't limit the distance between two line
amplifiers;
 The optical supervisory channel doesn't restrict the traffic in the 1310nm
wavelength;
 The optical supervisory channel is still available when the line amplifier fails.
According to the above requirements:
1) The wavelength of the optical supervisory channel should not be 980nm and
1480nm, for Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) uses the laser with these
wavelengths as the pump source and Raman optical amplifier uses the laser with
the wavelength around 1480nm as the pump source at the same time.
2) The wavelength of the optical supervisory channel should not be 1310nm, for
which will occupy bandwidth resources of 1310 window, hindering the traffic in
1310nm window.
3) The receiving sensitivity for the optical supervisory channel can be set very high,
so that the distance between stations will not be confined due to the power of
OSC, and such distance may be the distance between optical amplifiers. Hence
the optical supervisory channel needs to use low rate optical signals to insure
high receiving sensitivity.
4) The wavelength of the optical supervisory channel is located beyond the gain
area bandwidth of the optical amplifier, so that the optical supervisory channel
will not be affected when the optical amplifier fails. For optical line amplifiers
adopting erbium-doped optical fiber amplifier (EDFA) technology, the gain
spectrum area is 1528-1610nm. Therefore, the wavelength of the optical
supervisory channel must be located beyond the gain bandwidth of EDFA.
Usually, the wavelength of the optical supervisory channel is 1510nm or 1625nm.
According to the recommendations of ITU-T, the optical supervisory channel of
DWDM system should be completely independent of the main channel, while such
independence between the two channels is embodied fully in signal flow directions. In
the OTM site, the supervisory channel is combined and amplified in the sending
direction before put into the main channel; while in receiving direction, the supervisory
channel is separated before the main channel is pre-amplified and demultiplexed by
the system. Likewise, in the OLA site, the supervisory channel is combined in the end
in the sending direction; while in receiving direction, the supervisory channel is
separated in the first place. As seen from the above, the supervisory channel does
not take part in amplifying in the whole transmission, but it is terminated and
regenerated in every site This is contrary to the main channel, as it does take part in
the amplifying of the optical power in the whole process, and is not terminated and

regenerated in the whole line. The wavelength division equipment only provides it
with transparent optical channels.
3.5.2 Interface parameters for supervisory channel
The interface parameters for supervisory channel are shown in Table 3-4.
Table 33.4 Interface parameters for supervisory channel
Supervisory wavelength 1510nm
Supervisory ratio 2Mbit/s
Signal code pattern CMI
Signal transmitting power (0~-7dBm)
Source type MLM LD
Spectral characteristics *
Minimum receiving sensitivity -48 dBm
3.5.3 Frame Structure of Supervisory Channel
2Mbit/s system physical interface of the supervisory channel should conform to G.703
requirements, with the frame structure and bit rate compliant to G.704 specification,
as shown in Figure 1.34.
0 1 2 3 ........ 16 17 ....... 29 30 31
Figure 1.34 The frame structure of supervisory channel
Time slot 0: frame synchronization byte.

There are at least 2 time slots used as the orderwire channels in a frame structure.
One of which acts as the optical regenerator section service contact and can be
combined in the optical amplifier repeater site, while the other acts as an orderwire
between optical multiplexing bands and can be combined in the end of WDM system.
In a frame structure, there is only 1 time slot provided for users (usually the network
provider), which can be combined in the optical line amplifier repeater site.
In a frame structure, there must be 4 bytes used as the DCC channel of the optical
repeating band and 8 bytes as the DCC channel of the optical multiplexing band. Both
are used to transmit network management information of the related WDM system.
Terminal Equipment has two interfaces, for orderwire and user channel respectively.
At least it must be free bytes made available for future expansion.

3.6 New technologies
3.6.1 New coding technologies
For low-speed and short-and-medium distance optical fiber transmission system,

Nonreturn-to-Zero (NRZ) has the following advantages:
 Cost effective
 Mature technology
 High spectrum usage
 Complete signals
NRZ is widely applied to commercial long-distance DWDM transmission system.
NRZ, however, is not applied to high-speed long-distance optical signal transmission
because:
 NRZ elements do not return to zero.
 NRZ codes are sensitive to transmission damage.
With the increasing in transmission distance and transmission efficiency, the following
factors that can be neglected in low-speed and short-distance transmission prevent
the development of service capacity and coverage:
 OSNR tolerance
 Chromatic dispersion
 PMD effects
 Optical fiber non-linear effects
Therefore, multiple modulation formats that are different from NRZ are developed in
recent years. These modulation formats, which are called coding technologies, have
the following features:
 Increasing OSNR tolerance
 Increasing the distance of dispersion limited
 Overcoming non-linear effects and PMD effects
Currently, the coding technologies, working with FEC, Raman amplification, and
dispersion compensation technologies, constitute the key technology of DWDM
transmission.
In normal cases, coding technologies of the DWDM system consist of:
 Nonreturn-to-Zero (NRZ)
 Return-to-Zero (RZ)
 ChirpedReturn-to-Zero (CRZ)
 Differential Return to Zero (DRZ)
 Carrier-Suppressed Return-to-Zero (CS-RZ)
 CSRZ-DPSK
 Phase-Shaped Binary Transmission (PSBT)
 Optical Duobinary (ODB)
 Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK)
 Duobinary Carrier-Suppressed Return-to-Zero (DCS-RZ)
 Differential Quarter-phase Shift Keying (DQPSK)
3.6.1.1 NRZ Codes and Normal RZ Codes
As shown in Figure 1.35, logic 1s of NRZ codes are indicated by a high level and
logic 0s are indicated by a low level.
Logic 1s of RZ codes consist of two parts. The first half part is indicated by a high
level and the second half part is indicated by a low level. Logic 0s of RZ codes are
indicated by a low level.
Figure 1.35 shows that RZ codes have lower duty ratio than NRZ codes. That is, the
pulse of RZ codes is narrower than that of NRZ codes with the same rate.
NRZ
codes
RZ
codes
Figure 1.35 Comparison of RZ codes and NRZ codes
In normal cases, the RZ optical pulse is used to carry service signals because RZ
codes have a better clock jittering and a higher extinction ratio.
In a normal RZ burst,
 The electronic amplitude in the transition area with continuous logic 1s
returns to zero.
 The electronic amplitude of every logic 1 has an independent time envelope,
which benefits the clock recovery at the receiving end.
For NRZ codes, the continuous logic 1s are taken as a whole. Therefore, when the
average receiving power is the same,
 The pulse power of RZ codes is higher than that of NRZ codes.
 The eye diagram of RZ codes is wider than that of NRZ codes.
 RZ codes have a lower bit error rate than NRZ codes.
In the case of back to back, suppose that the loss caused by optical fibers is
neglected and the RZ duty ratio is 50%. The power of logic 1s of RZ codes is one
time of that of NRZ codes. In this case, theoretically speaking, the OSNR can obtain 3
dB margin. (In fact, the OSNR, however, cannot obtain 3 dB margin because of
different factors.) Therefore, in the case of back to back, the OSNR margin of RZ
codes is 2 dB to 3dB higher than that of NRZ codes.
In addition,
 The bits of RZ codes are poorly associated.
 RZ codes have a better immunity to SPM effects.
 RZ codes have narrower time domain pulse. Thus, the non-linear effects
between DWDM channels and PMD effects are decreased.
RZ codes, however, have the following disadvantages:
 The spectral width is wide and dispersion tolerance is low.
 The modulation structure of RZ codes is complicated than that of NRZ codes

because, in application, RZ amplitude and data modulation are used to
generate RZ bit sequence.
 If a modulator is added, the system becomes complex and the cost
increases.
3.6.1.2 SuperWDM
SuperWDM, which consists of SuperCRZ and SuperDRZ, is Huawei patent

technology.
3.6.1.2.1 SuperCRZ
SuperCRZ has two stages of modulation.
 At the first stage of modulation, a chirped RZ pulse is generated through
clock signals.
 At the second stage of modulation, the chirped RZ pulse is modulated by the
signals and the information is sent to optical signals.
Figure 1.36 Two stages of modulation for SuperCRZ
At the transmitting end, the phase modulator of SuperCRZ adds special phase
modulation (frequency chirp) to the rising edge and falling edge of a RZ pulse. The
added phase modulation is shown as the blue line in Figure 1.37.
The added chirp is different from the chirp (green line in Figure 1.37) that is generated
by the SPM effects in optical pulse. The added chirp can effectively decrease the
accumulated SPM effects along the optical fiber link, thus decreasing the
transmission cost.
Therefore, with the added chirp, SuperCRZ can be effectively against the non-linear
effects, such as SPM and XPM. At the same time, the OSNR that is reserved for non-
linear damage is released and the OSNR tolerance is increased.

Figure 1.37 SuperCRZ phase modulation
SuperCRZ uses a spectrum ranging from 30 GHz to 40 GHz to carry 10 Gbit/s

service. The spectrum of a normal 10 Gbit/s signal, however, is 20 GHz. Therefore,
the frequency domain of SuperCRZ spectrum:
 Decreases power spectral density of signals.
 Decreases interactive strength of optical signals.
 Suppresses the non-linear effects, such as SBS and FWM.
SuperCRZ, however, has a low dispersion tolerance. The maximum dispersion
tolerance is -100ps/nm to +300ps/nm.
SuperCRZ applies to 10 Gbit/s system and supports 100 GHz and 50 GHz frequency
interval.
3.6.1.2.2 SuperDRZ
SuperDRZ is developed based on SuperCRZ. The signal phase, amplitude, and data
modulation are implemented in one MZ modulator.
SuperDRZ uses the input differential signal to generate positive and negative pulses,
which drive the MZ modulator. The transmitter changes the input rising NRZ signals
into the RZ pulse with one phase and changes the falling input NRZ signals into the
RZ pulse with another phase. Each RZ pulse that is indicated by logic 1 has 180
degree phase difference with its adjacent RZ pulse regardless of the number of logic
0s between the two RZ pulses.
As shown in Figure 1.38, two RZ pulses (red pulse and blue pulse) have 180 degree
phase difference before transmitted into the optical fiber.
Figure 1.38 Pulse sequence of SuperDRZ before transmitted into the optical fiber
After optical signals are transmitted in the optical fiber, the optical pulse broadens.
Because the phases of adjacent logic 1s are opposite, energy superposition caused
by SuperDRZ pulse broadening leads to energy cancellation. As shown in the green

circle of Figure 1.39, two adjacent logic 1s are superposed but the light intensity is
almost 0.
Figure 1.39 Pulse sequence of SuperDRZ after transmitted into the optical fiber
Thus, the intersymbol interference (ISI) is decreased. SuperDRZ codes have the
same ISI tolerance as NRZ codes. Even in the case of great accumulated dispersion,
the pulse is stable.
Compared with RZ and CS-RZ, SuperDRZ has a better dispersion tolerance and thus
can prevent signal distortion caused by dispersion.
In addition, SuperDRZ further compresses the edge peak. Compared with CS-RZ and
SuperCRZ, SuperDRZ has a narrower spectrum. It removes the filter effects, which is
caused by multiple ROADM cascading, on the signal transmission distance.
SuperDRZ inherits the feature of the chirp used for SuperCRZ and uses the similar
chirp in RZ pulses. In this way, SuperDRZ has the same ability in preventing non-
linear effects as SuperCRZ.
The carriers in SuperDRZ spectrum are totally suppressed, and thus SuperDRZ
signals have a great tolerance for non-linear effects, such as SBS, FWM, SPM, and
SRS.
SuperDRZ is more cost effective than SuperCRZ.
Currently, SuperDRZ is used for both 10 Gbit/s and 40 Gbit/s systems.
 For 10 Gbit/s system, SuperDRZ supports 25 GHz frequency interval.
 For 40 Gbit/s system, SuperDRZ supports 100 GHz frequency interval.
3.6.1.3 ODB
The implementation of optical duobinary (ODB) consists of two parts:

 Pre-code
After the logical operation, the input NRZ streams are pre-coded. The input
sequence is d (k) and the output sequence is b (k). The algorithm is as
follows: b( k )  d ( k )  b( k  1)
 Code
The {-1,0,+1} code sequence after the pre-code uses a coding method to
implement ODB coding. The electrical signals coded are offsetted to NULL
point of lithium niobate modulator, thus implementing ODB code output.
Figure 1.40 shows the electro-optic conversion curve of the modulator. The dashed
line indicates the optical phase changes introduced during electro-optic conversion.
Polarities of optical phases right and left to the NULL point are opposite. The ODB
modulator uses MZ modulation.

Figure 1.40 ODB modulation
A comparison of ODB {-1,0,+1} and NRZ code sequence shows that:

 The rising edge and falling edge of ODB pulse are gently sloped.
 The power spectrums of modulation signals output by the ODB are denser.
Because of inter-symbol interference, if NRZ codes are used, the eye opening
decreases, and consequently the channel cost increases.
The dispersion causes pulse broadening of optical signal during signal transmission.
But ODB codes use phase correlation during electro-optic modulation. According to
the principle of interference countervail, even the optical phase polarities of ODB
adjacent pulses are opposite as shown in Figure 1.41:
 The broadened pulses are countervailed and no inter-symbol interference is
generated.
 Signal distortion caused by dispersion is effectively prevented.
Figure 1.41 Comparison between ODB and NRZ pulse after pulse broadening
Based on traditional ODB codes, Huawei develops CODB for 10 Gbit/s system and
PSBT codes for 40 Gbit/s system.
Non-linear effects, such as SPM, are effectively prevented by the CODB because:
 During coding, the CODB uses pre-chirp, which is similar to CRZ technology.
 Rising edge and falling edge of the ODB eye pattern are gently sloped.
Therefore, the transmission distance provided by Huawei CODB module is
much further than that provided by other commercial ODB modules. The
transmission distance provided by Huawei CODB modules is 240 km and
that provided by other commercial ODB modules is 160 km.
The PSBT, which is used for 40 Gbit/s system, compresses spectral width by using
the narrowband filter. It supports 50 GHz frequency interval.
When the ODB optical power of input optical fiber is more than 8 dBm, the
transmission performance deteriorates and the transmission distance decreases

because of dispersion limited. Therefore, the ODB is not applied to long-distance

transmission but applied to metropolitan wavelength division products.
In addition, the ODB modulation principle determines that the peak-to-peak
modulation voltage must be greater than 12 V. Therefore, the ODB has a higher
requirement for driver performance.
3.6.1.4 Other Coding Technologies
Other coding technologies include:

 CS-RZ
 DPSK
 DQPSK
3.6.1.4.1 CS-RZ
Based on RZ codes, CS-RZ codes add π phase difference between each two
adjacent carriers. π phase difference between carriers indicates that a negative signal
is added but the carrier keeps unchanged. The mean of the signal with positive and
negative polarities is zero. Therefore, zero frequency of its spectrum has no function,
and consequently a spike occurs. After multiplexed by the carrier, the spike does not
occur in the carrier.
Because the CSRZ codes use the adjacent pulse inverse transmission method,
carriers are effectively suppressed and spectrum spacing of a sideband is reduced.
The spectrum spacing between two main peaks is the modulation rate (40 GHz) and
has the same sideband bandwidth of NRZ codes. Therefore, the CSRZ codes have a
better dispersion and SBS/PMD tolerance.
Because CSRZ codes are in RZ pulse shaping, they can prevent non-linear effects,
such as SPM and XPM.
The spectrum of CSRZ is wide. Therefore, CSRZ codes are not used for the system
with 25 GHz frequency interval.
3.6.1.4.2 DPSK
For DPSK codes, the data is carried by the differential phase of neighboring optical
pulses. That is, if carrier phases of two neighboring signal pulses are the same, the
DPSK code indicates logic 1. If carrier phases of two neighboring signal pulses are
opposite, the DPSK code indicates logic 0. The optical pulses act as carriers.
The spectral width of DPSK codes range from that of NRZ codes to that of RZ codes.
The spectrum usage of DPSK codes is higher than that of common RZ codes.
Dispersion tolerance, non-linear tolerance, and PMD tolerance of DPSK codes can be
improved. The transmission distance of DPSK codes is further than that of common
RZ codes.
The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of DPSK codes is 3 dB higher than that of
NRZ codes. The DPSK technology, which is used for 40 Gbit/s system, can effectively
increase the transmission distance.
The transmission equipment that uses DPSK modulation has better anti-noise
performance and have high availability rate in channel frequency band. Therefore, the
DPSK technology is gradually used for high-speed optical fiber communication
system. In addition, the DPSK uses balance detection, thus improving the sensitivity
of receivers.

For the modulation formats based on DPSK, RZ-DPSK is studied more. The phase
difference between logic 1 and logic 0 is π. RZ-DPSK is good at preventing non-linear
effects and has a low OSNR sensitivity. RZ-DPSK, however, does not support the
system with 50 GHz frequency interval.
3.6.1.4.3 DQPSK
DQPSK provides a higher spectral density. Actually, for the signals with the same
rate, the spectral width of DQPSK is half of that of DPSK, but DQPSK can implement
40 Gbit/s WDM transmission with 50 GHz frequency interval.
The spectral width of DQPSK codes is narrow but DQPSK codes have a higher PDM
tolerance and dispersion tolerance.
Currently, RZ-DQPSK is studied more. It has the following features:
 RZ-DQPSK takes the advantages of RZ codes and DQPSK codes.
 RZ-DQPSK effectively prevents non-linear effects and provides a higher
dispersion tolerance and PMD tolerance.
 Modulation and receiving technology are complicated.
 Cost is high.
3.6.2 FEC technologies
3.6.2.1 Principle and Application of FEC
The optical signals undergo quality degradation during transmission, which may lead
the receiver into misjudging “1” for “0” signal or “0” for “1” signal. The Forward Error
Correction (FEC) adds the parity bits during coding by the transmitter so that the
receiver can correct the error bits in the code stream by calculating the parity bits.
The FEC technology is originally used in the submarine cable system for ultra-long
haul transmission. But with the development of terrestrial optical communication
system and increase of single-channel rate, the FEC will become one of the optimal
choices to lower the OSNR of equipment and networking cost as well.
Based on the latest ITU-T G.709 and G.975, the FEC technology is introduced for
STM-16 services and services at higher rates currently to ensure the reliability of data
transmission and greatly extend the transmission distance. Therefore, the FEC
technology has already becomes a key technology in optical communication
development and also one of the hot issues in optical communications.
3.6.2.2 Classification of FEC
The FEC belongs to the channel coding in the error control coding. In the WDM
optical transmission system, the Out-of-band FEC and in-band FEC can be adopted.
3.6.2.2.1 In-Band FEC
In-band FEC is defined in ITU-R G.707. It makes use of some overhead bits in an
SDH frame to load the supervisory FEC codes. In-band FEC is adopted without
increasing the line rate so as to effectively avoid bringing up the problem of optical
transmission dispersion restriction due to the increase of signal rate. In-band FEC can
be used in the WDM optical transmission network and compatible with standard SDH
optical interfaces. In-band FEC retains the system rate by adopting the BCH
correction codes and better ameliorates the system transmission performance,

making it an ideal solution except for its low correction tolerance. In the SDH, In-band
FEC can help enhance the system BER performance 1–2dB.
Primarily used in the SDH system, In-band FEC is currently not adopted in the WDM
equipment of Huawei.
3.6.2.2.2 Out-of-Band FEC
Used in the Optical Transmission Network (OTN), Out-of-band FEC is supported by
ITU-T G.975/709 standards. ITU-T G.975 recommends the FEC frame format used in
submarine cable system and stipulates the use of RS (255,239) interleaving
coding/decoding, insertion of parity bits at the trailer and the coding redundancy of
7%. ITU-T G.709 is the result of modifying the Out-of-band FEC coding method in
ITU-T G.975. It generally adopts the RS (255,238) coding. But it may also adopt other
coding types with strong correction capability and has certain flexibility on overhead.
RS (255,239) code belongs to the RS (n, k) code. The maximum sporadic error
correction bits in a single packet r = (n–k)/2. The coding/decoding is simple, and
coding structure is compatible with the binary system. RS (255,239) is called RS-8 for
short, that is, k=239 bits plus 16 parity bits makes a packet, and the packet code
length n = 255. The maximum sporadic error bits r=8 and the line rate increases by
7.14%. 1.1.1.1.41.1.1 lists the theoretical correction performance of RS (255,239):
1.1.1.1.41.1.1. Lookup list of theoretical BERs before and after RS (255, 239) code correction
BER before FEC BER after FEC
1.0E-3 8.6E-8
2.0E-4 2.0E-12
1.0E-4 5.0E-15
1.0E-5 6.3E-24
1.0E-6 6.4E-33
Note: 5.0E-15: Means scientific notation, and refers to 5.0 × 10 -15; 1.0E-4: Refers to
1.0 × 10-4.
Out-of-band FEC features large coding redundancy, strong correction capability and
high coding gain (5–6dB) and moreover, it demonstrates strong flexibility by inserting
FEC overhead without be restricted by the SDH frame format. The disadvantage of
Out-of-band FEC is that inserted overhead will increase the line rate, and therefore,
minor modification of related equipment is required. Has been widely advocated by
equipment vendors, Out-of-band FEC currently already becomes the de facto FEC
coding standard.
The FEC types in both ITU-R G.975 and G.709 are Out-of-band FEC, and they both
can use the RS (255,239) coding, but they are different. In ITU-R G. 975, the FEC
coding/decoding is directly performed for the SDH signals and the RS coding is
adopted. ITU-R G.709, however, describes the structure of the OTN and defines the
FEC overhead at the OTUk layer of the OTN to be a standard component of OTN.
3.6.2.2.3 Advanced FEC (AFEC) Technology
Apart from the above two FEC solutions, with the development of software/hardware
technologies, the high-gain coding technologies such as cascading channel coding
and so on are gradually introduced and applied in the optical communication system
with undemanding requirement for delay but strict requirement for coding gain. ITU-T
G.975.1 proposes a type of Advanced FEC (AFEC) technology which has stronger
correction capability than RS (255,239) FEC coding in ITU-T G.975 and applies to
high-rate DWDM submarine cable system to enhance its transmission performance.

The AFEC is generally constructed by cascaded coding, and is a special way to

construct long codes out of short ones. The cascaded code, in nature, is a special
case of the product code. The 2-level coding is the most popular coding type. ITU-T
G. 751.1 provides 8 types of AFEC implementation solutions in the accessories.
These 8 solutions are categorized into the following two types:
 Adopt the cascading of two FEC coding types.
 Increase the length of FEC code.
Though the AFEC lacks a uniform standard, yet quite a few equipment vendors have
already developed their own high-gain FEC coding types. For example, the MTC6131
of Multilink adopts the method of cascading RS and BCH codes in the AFEC mode.
IXF30007 of Intel adopts another AFEC solution which adopts the method of
cascading two types of RS codes.
Though the AFEC, compared with conventional FEC, can more effectively enhance
the system transmission performance, and offer high gains for transmission system,
yet it still has the following disadvantages with respect to the technical status quo:
Non-Standard: The AFEC lacks a uniform standard. Different vendors develop various
coding types, making it hard for interworking, and moreover, the newly developed
coding types are in conflict with the existing ones due to the lack of a uniform
standard. Non-Compatible: Different vendors adopt varied coding types, resulting in
poor product compatibility.
Questions
1) What are electro-absorption laser modulation scheme and M-Z modulation
scheme?
2) How many types are there for the wavelength division multiplexer? What are
their individual characteristics?
3) Which are the kinds of optical amplifiers? Describe gain flat control and gain lock
of EDFA.
4) What are optical supervisory channel wavelength and supervisory rate of
DWDM?

4 Technology Specifications for DWDM Optical

Transmission System
 Objective:
Learn the recommendations and relevant specifications of ITUT on WDM system.
4.1 ITU-T Recommendations on WDM

International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T) has made significant contributions
for WDM, mostly shown in the following recommendations:
ITU-T Recommendation G.652(1993) Characteristics of single-mode fiber cable
ITU-T Recommendation G.653(1993) Characteristics of dispersion shifted single-
mode fiber cable
ITU-T Recommendation G.655(1996) Characteristics of a non-zero dispersion
shifted single-mode optical fiber cable
ITU-T Recommendation G.661(1993) Definition and test methods for the relevant
generic parameters of optical fiber amplifiers
ITU-T Recommendation G.662(1994) Main characteristics of optical amplifier
equipment and sub-systems
ITU-T Recommendation G.663(1996) Optical amplifier related transmission problems
ITU-T Recommendation G.671(1996) Requirements for passive optical components
ITU-T Recommendation G.681(1997) Functional characteristics of interoffice and
long-haul line systems using optical amplifiers, including optical multiplexing
ITU-T Recommendation G.691(1997) Optical interface for single channel systems
with optical amplifier SDH and STM-64 systems.
ITU-T Recommendation G.692(1998) Optical interface for multi-channel systems
with optical amplifier
ITU-T Recommendation G.694.1(2002) Spectral grids for WDM applications DWDM
frequency grid
ITU-T Recommendation G.694.2(2003) Spectral grids for WDM applications CWDM
wavelength grid
ITU-T Recommendation G.709(2003) Interfaces for the Optical Transport Network
(OTN)
ITU-T Recommendation G.975(2000) Forward error correction for submarine
systems

4.2 Definition of Transmission Channel Reference Points

In order to normalize optical interface parameters, ITU-T G.692 document defines all
the reference points for WDM optical transmission systems, as shown in the following
figure. Tx 1, Tx 2, and TxN usually refer to terminal transmitters of a system.
Wavelength division multiplexer (optical multiplexer) is used in the transmitting end to
merge different wavelength signal optical carriers and send them to a single fiber for
transmission. In the receiving end, another wavelength division multiplexer (optical
demultiplexer) is used to separate these optical carriers in which different
wavelengths carry different signals.
Figure 1.42 WDM optical interface reference points
The WDM system in the above figure has the following reference points:
S1…Sn: The reference points on the fiber at transmitter optical output connector in
channels 1…n;
RM1 RMn: The reference points on the fiber at OM/OA optical input connector in
channels 1…n;
MPI-S: A reference point on the optical fiber just behind the OM/OA optical output
connector;
S': A reference point on the optical fiber behind the optical output connector of the
optical line amplifier;
R': A reference point on the optical fiber in front of the optical input connector of the
optical line amplifier;
MPI-R: A reference point on the optical fiber in front of the OA/OD input optical
connector;
SD1…SDn: The reference points at the OA/OD optical output connector;
R1…Rn: The reference points at receiver optical transmitter input connector.
4.3 Distribution of Optical Wavelength Areas

 A fiber has two long wavelength and low loss windows, 1310nm window and
1550nm window. Both of which can be used to transmit optical signals, but the
commonly used working wavelength range for the erbium-doped optical amplifier

is 192.1-196.1THz.Therefore the working wavelength area for wavelength

division multiplexing system is 192.1-196.1THz.
 Nominal central frequency refers to the central wavelength corresponding to
each channel in optical wavelength division multiplexing systems. Channel
frequency allowed in G.692 is based on frequency and spacing series of
reference frequency 193.1THz and minimum spacing 100GHz or 50GHZ.
 The standard wavelength of WDM channel has two configurations: equal spaced
and unequal spaced. The unequal spaced wavelength is used to avoid the four-
wave mixing effect. As no obvious four-wave mixing effect has been observed in
WDM systems using G.652 and G.655 fibers, G.692 document recommends the
following standard wavelengths in Table 3-1 for WDM systems using these fibers.
Table 42.1 Standard central frequency
Standard central frequency Standard central frequency (THz) Standard central
(THz) 100 GHz Spacing wavelength
50 GHz Spacing (nm)
196.10 196.10 1528.77
196.05 – 1529.16
196.00 196.00 1529.55
195.95 – 1529.94
195.90 195.90 1530.33
195.85 – 1530.72
195.80 195.80 1531.12
195.75 – 1531.51
195.70 195.70 1531.90
195.65 – 1532.29
195.60 195.60 1532.68
195.55 – 1533.07
195.50 195.50 1533.47
195.45 – 1533.86
195.40 195.40 1534.25
195.35 – 1534.64
195.30 195.30 1535.04
195.25 – 1535.43
195.20 195.20 1535.82
195.15 – 1536.22
195.10 195.10 1536.61
195.05 – 1537.00
195.00 195.00 1537.40
194.95 – 1537.79
194.90 194.90 1538.19
194.85 – 1538.58
194.80 194.80 1538.98
194.75 – 1539.37
194.70 194.70 1539.77
194.65 – 1540.16
194.60 194.60 1540.56
194.55 – 1540.95
194.50 194.50 1541.35
194.45 – 1541.75
194.40 194.40 1542.14
194.35 – 1542.54
194.30 194.30 1542.94
194.25 – 1543.33
194.20 194.20 1543.73
194.15 – 1544.13

Standard central frequency Standard central frequency (THz) Standard central

(THz) 100 GHz Spacing wavelength
50 GHz Spacing (nm)
194.10 194.10 1544.53
194.05 – 1544.92
194.00 194.00 1545.32
193.95 – 1545.72
193.90 193.90 1546.12
193.85 – 1546.52
193.80 193.80 1546.92
193.75 – 1547.32
193.70 193.70 1547.72
193.65 – 1548.11
193.60 193.60 1548.51
193.55 – 1548.91
193.50 193.50 1549.32
193.45 – 1549.72
193.40 193.40 1550.12
193.35 – 1550.52
193.30 193.30 1550.92
193.25 – 1551.32
193.20 193.20 1551.72
193.15 – 1552.12
193.10 193.10 1552.52
193.05 – 1552.93
193.00 193.00 1553.33
192.95 – 1553.73
192.90 192.90 1554.13
192.85 – 1554.54
192.80 192.80 1554.94
192.75 – 1555.34
192.70 192.70 1555.75
192.65 – 1556.15
192.60 192.60 1556.55
192.55 – 1556.96
192.50 192.50 1557.36
192.45 – 1557.77
192.40 192.40 1558.17
192.35 – 1558.58
192.30 192.30 1558.98
192.25 – 1559.39
192.20 192.20 1559.79
192.15 – 1560.20
192.10 192.10 1560.61
Questions
1) Which are the ITU-T recommendations involved for WDM part?
2) What is the absolute reference frequency for optical wavelength division
multiplexing systems? What is their channel spacing?

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Terms and Abbreviations

Abbreviations Explanation Descriptions
ADM Add and Drop Multiplexer Add/Drop Multiplexer
AGC Automatic Gain Control Auto Gain Control
ALC Automatic Level Control Auto Power Control
ALS Automatic Laser Shutdown Automatic laser shutdown
APD Avalanche Photo Diode APD
APR Automatic Power Reduction Automatic Power Reduction
ASE Amplified Spontaneous Emission Amplified Spontaneous
Emission
AWG Arrayed Waveguide Grating Arrayed Waveguide Grating
BA Booster Amplifier Booster Amplifier
BER Bit Error Ratio Bit Error Ratio
CLNS Connectionless Network Layer Service Connectionless Layer Network
Service
CMI Coded Mark Inversion Coded Mark Inversion
CRC Cyclical Redundancy Check Cyclic Redundancy Check
CSES Continuous Severely Errored Second Consecutive Severely Errored
Second (CSES)
CWDM Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplex Coarse Wavelength Division
Multiplexing
DCC Data Communication Channel Data Communication Channel
DCF Dispersion Compensation Fibre Dispersion Compensation Fiber
DCM Dispersion Compensation Module Dispersion compensation
module
DCN Data Communication Network Data Communication Network
DDN Digital Data Network Digital Data Network
DFB Distributed Feedback Distributed Feedback
DSP Digital Signal Processing Digital Signal Processing
DWDM Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing DWDM
ECC Embedded Control Channel Embedded Control Channel
EDFA Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier
ETSI European Telecommunication Standards Institute ETSI
FEC Forward Error Correction Forward Error Correction
FIFO First In First Out First-In First-Out
GE Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet
GUI Graphic User Interface Graphic User Interface
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers International Institute for
Electrical and Electronic
Engineers
ITU-T Telecommunication Sector International Telecommunication
Union-Telecommunication
Sector
LA Line Amplifier Line Amplifier
LAN Local Area Network Local Area Network
LCN Local Communication Network LCN
LCT Local Craft Terminal LMT
LD Laser Diode Laser Diode
MCF Message Communication Function Message Communication
Function
MD Mediation Device Medium Device
MPI-R Main Path Interface at the Receiver Main Path Interface at the

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Abbreviations Explanation Descriptions

Receiver
MPI-S Main Path Interface at the Transmitter Main Path Interface at the
Transmitter
NE Network Element Network Element
NF Noise Figure Noise Figure
NRZ Non Return to Zero Non Return to Zero
OA Optical Amplifier OA
OADM Optical Add and Drop Multiplexer Optical Add and Drop
Multiplexer
OD Optical Demultiplexing Optical Demultiplexing
ODF Optical Distribution Frame Optical Distribution Frame
Overhead Overhead Processing Overhead processing
Processor Unit
OLA Optical Line Amplifier Optical Line Amplifier equipment
OM Optical Multiplexing Optical Multiplexing
OS Operations System Operation system
OSC Optical Supervisory Channel Optical Supervisory Channel
OSI Open Systems Interconnection Open Systems Interconnection
OSNR Optical Signal/Noise Ratio Optical signal-to-noise ratio
OTM Optical Terminal Multiplexer Optical Terminal Multiplexing
Equipment
OTU Optical Transponder Unit Optical Transponder Unit
PA Pre-amplifier Preamplifier
PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy Plesynchronous Digital
Hierarchy
PIN Positive Intrinsic Negative Positive Intrinsic Negative
PON Passive Optical Network Passive Optical Network
SCC System Control & Communication System control and
communications
SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SNCP Subnetwork Connection Protection SNCP (Subnetwork Connection
Protection)
STM Synchronous Transport Module Synchronous Transport Module
TCP/IP Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol
TMN Telecommunication Management Network Telecom Management
Network(TMN)
TTL Transistor-Transistor Logic Transistor-Transistor Logic
WDM Wavelength Division Multiplexing WDM
WS Work Station Workstation

WDM Principle Overview

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OTC000003

Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd

3.3.2 Erbium Doped Fiber (EDF)................................................................................34

Confidential Information of Huawei. No Spreading without Permission ii

Introduction to the Course

Section 2 WDM Transmission Media

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1.1 WDM Optical Transmission Technology

1.1.1 WDM Conception

1.1.2 WDM Technology Background

With the rapid development of science and technology, information transmission in

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1.1.2.1 SDM (Space Division Multiplexing)

1.1.2.2 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

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1.1.2.3 WDM ( Wavelength Division Multiplexing)

1.1.2.4 Technology combination of TDM and WDM

1.2 Overview of DWDM Principle

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technology) of optical channels. However, alternate-optical-channel frequency division

Optical booster Optical line Optical line

Figure 1.1 Composition and spectrum illustration of the DWDM system

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1.3 Transmission Methods of WDM Equipment

1.3.1 Unidirectional WDM

Figure 1.2 Unidirectional transmission mode of WDM

1.3.2 Bi-directional WDM

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Figure 1.3 WDM bi-directional transmission mode

In the ITU-T recommendations G.692 document, no clear opinion is given on

1.4 Open and Integrated System

1.5 WDM System Compositions:

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 Wavelength division multiplexer: optical demultiplexer unit/optical multiplexer

1.6 Advantages of WDM

1.6.1.1 Super-large capacity

1.6.1.2 Data transparency transmission

DWDM systems conduct multiplexing and de-multiplexing in terms of optical

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1.6.1.3 Utmost protection of the existing investment during system upgrade

1.6.1.4 High networking flexibility, economy and reliability

1.6.1.5 Compatible with all optical switching

1.7 Brief Introduction to CWDM

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11 Confidential Information of Huawei. No Spreading without Permission

2 WDM Transmission Media

2.1 Optical Fiber Structures

Coating Cladding Core

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Figure 1.5 Three typical types of optical fibers

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2.2 Modes of Fiber

2.2.1 Concept of Propagation Mode

Light is a kind of high-frequency electromagnetic wave. On the basis of wave-optics

Figure 1.6 Light propagation in step index fiber

2.2.2 Multimode Fiber

Figure 1.7 Light propagation in multimode fiber with step index

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Figure 1.8 Light propagation in graded index fiber

2.2.3 Single-mode Fiber (SMF)

Figure 1.9 Light propagation in SMF