A Multi-Service Platform for Optical Networking in the Local Carrier

Networks
Christopher Doylend

Abstract

Rapid progress is being made in developing new and more cost effective capabilities in both active and
passive fiber optic components. These capabilities, when translated to the system level, offer new
solutions for addressing the rapid growth in demand for high-speed data links. The use of DWDM optical
networking systems in the backbone is already well established. Sophisticated DWDM optical networking
systems for the metro core are now being introduced. A further frontier for optical networking is for lower
speed, lower density, and lower cost applications in the suburban IOF, feeder, and distribution sections of
the network.

To promote such applications and to allow optical component capabilities to be easily translated to the
system level, the concept of a flexible multi-purpose optical network management platform has been
developed. This platform packages fiber optic components with control electronics and software to
provide a wide variety of different optical networking capabilities. These include multiwavelength
transmission, path switching, wavelength transponding, optical wavelength add-drop, link management,
and amplification, either alone or in combination.

The paper will describe design elements of the platform, and will present a number of unique optical
networking applications, including path protection switching, economical intermediate layer WDM, and
optical access link management.

Introduction

Achieving a timely and cost effective response to the rapid growth in demand for high speed optical data
links is a key element in network planning for the access and metropolitan environments. In meeting
these demands, operators face a number of challenges.

ATM and fast IP links that consume bandwidth at DS3, OC3/12, or 100/1000-megabit rates quickly
exhaust the installed base of fibers. Furthermore, most SONET architectures are fiber-hungry with 50% of
the fiber reserved for protection. Since placing new cable is slow and expensive, increasing fiber
utilization efficiency is highly desirable.

Conventional SONET equipment and architectures are often not economical for transporting, managing,
and protecting these links.

In response to these challenges, new physical layer optical capabilities have emerged under the banner
of 'optical networks'. These have the potential to optimize fiber utilization efficiency and eliminate
unnecessary layers of multiplexing.

Optical Networking has been adopted by the industry as a term for systems which include optical layer
functions such as multiwavelength DWDM, path switching, wavelength transponding, optical wavelength
add-drop, link management, and amplification. The "flagships" of optical networking are the DWDM
systems of rapidly increasing capacity that have already been widely deployed in the backbone network.
Sophisticated new architectures and products that seek to address the needs of business users in the
downtown core are currently being introduced. It may be expected that optical networking, just as fiber
optic transmission itself, will become ubiquitous and will migrate into suburban IOF, feeder, and
distribution sections of the network. Optical networking functions, both alone and in combination, will also
become commonplace in private MAN/WAN networks.

Just as in fiber optic transmission, systems that seek to address the needs of different sections of the
network differ in functionality, capacity and economics. For practical application in existing networks,
"optical network" solutions must be economical, manageable, and easy to deploy. Furthermore,
depending upon existing architectures and upgrade priorities, the technology must be readily adaptable
for different topologies and service offerings.

To address more general-purpose optical networking needs, the concept of a multi-purpose optical
networking platform has been developed. The technology is structured as a flexible "optical channel bank"
which consists of a common equipment shelf housing members of a family of "smart" optical function
cards and a standards-based network control interface. This platform provides a toolkit of optical layer
functions that can be integrated into the carrier’s existing infrastructure within a common physical and
network management framework.

The family of "smart" optical function cards combines optical circuitry with control electronics. They
incorporate a standard control and communications interface allowing new capabilities to be easily
developed and added. Common equipment shelf units are placed at network nodes where multiple links
are required. For single link applications, the "smart" optical functions are housed in peripheral modules
that communicate with a host unit.

The Multi-Service Optical Networking Platform

Design Concept

The majority of currently available optical networking products have been developed to address specific
high capacity, high traffic applications, be it point-to-point backbone DWDM or metropolitan DWDM
customer access rings. These systems have generally been optimized for a particular network segment
and application model.

The design concept, which has led to the development of the multi-service optical networking platform,
focused on providing a general-purpose multi-function system adaptable to many different optical
networking scenarios. The architecture of the platform consists of a set of basic building block
components, both physical and functional, as well as a set of simple design rules that govern how the
various blocks can be assembled into systems.

The guiding principles that most strongly influenced the design were:

a. flexibility and scalability in capacity and capabilities

b. simplicity of installation and maintenance

c. evolvability to support emerging optical network interfaces, devices, and functions

d. ease of management, both locally and from a remote network operations center

The flexibility of the platform is achieved through the wide range of different optical functions that it can
support. These include:

• monitoring

• switching
 • transponding

• link management

• multiplexing

• add/drop

• amplification

• modulation

Although most of the optical capabilities are implemented on a standalone basis, they can be easily
integrated together to support more complex applications.

The platform supports three levels of scalability:

a. the optical functions scale from entry-level units satisfying the smallest application, and grow
incrementally to address larger applications

b. for larger systems that extend beyond the boundaries of a single shelf, up to 8 shelves can be
interconnected to form a multi-node system managed within a common control structure

c. at smaller sites or for limited applications where only a simple optical function is to be deployed
(e.g. at a customer premise, or within the cramped confines of a cabinet or CEV), the required
"smart" optical functions are provided in a compact, rugged, self-contained, module form factor.
These (far-end) peripheral modules typically connect back to "smart" cards in the host node.

The management of the platform is also multi-layered, and includes:

a. easy to use local controls and indicators which aid the operator in installation and maintenance

b. "smart" optical function cards which support extensive monitoring capability, often with threshold
detectors and error reporting. Thus, even normally passive optical devices (e.g. WDMs installed
at remote sites) can be configured as "smart" network elements that monitor status and report
fault conditions.

c. a standards-based interface is provided to an off-board Element Management System. For easier

integration with the carrier’s network management system (NMS), the overall platform forms a
manageable network element that resembles a standardized SONET terminal multiplexer.

The platform is structured as a multi-purpose "optical channel bank" consisting of a rack mountable shelf
unit, a controller card, and a diverse set of "smart" optical function cards and modules.

Common Equipment

The shelf is a 12 slot, 8U high, 19"/23" rack mount unit designed to provide a generic physical and control
structure for integrating and managing the "smart" optical function cards and modules, and a shelf
controller:

• all 12 slots support identical capability for accepting the optical function cards

• a full slate of system and card level alarm contacts are available at the rear of the shelf
 • fiber routing and storage capability is integrated into the chassis

The Controller supports system-wide configuration, performance monitoring, reporting, alarm

management, and maintenance functionality. To ensure system reliability and robustness without
requiring Controller redundancy, the Controller card can be removed from an operational system without
impacting the system’s primary optical functions.

"Smart" Optical Function Cards and Modules

These cards provide the optical building block components that either individually or in concert support
the required optical network application.

Front panel controls and indicators provide support for locally accessible card and channel level
configuration, alarm, and status information.

The underlying "smart" card design is generic, whereby a single PCB layout supports a broad mix of
optical and control devices (e.g. transceivers, transponders, WDMs, switches, couplers, optical power
monitors, CPU, memory, etc.), which are then populated as required to produce particular card variants.
The software infrastructure is equally flexible, in that the software load incorporates support for all of the
optical and control elements, and the required functionality is simply 'turned-on' either during the
manufacturing process, or in real-time as the card initializes. Thus new card variants for unique or custom
applications can literally be created overnight.

Figure 1 - "Smart" Optical Function Card Generic Layout

Applications

The multi-service optical networking platform is intended to provide optical networking capabilities in the
suburban interoffice, feeder, and distribution sections of the network. It is also a convenient means of
providing specific physical layer optical functions as part of larger network architectures. Applications
include:

a. optical protection switching and service restoration

b. multichannel capability in low density applications

 c. optical link management - demarcation, loopback and signal conversion for interconnecting fiber
networks

d. mode and media conversion - for connecting network elements equipped with incompatible
interfaces

e. LAN/WAN extension - electrical and optical interfaces provide loop extension and management
for multimedia links

f. optical wavelength and power monitoring

Optical Switching

Optical function cards that combine optical switch modules with monitoring and control electronics provide
path or source protection in optical transmission systems. Such path switching at the optical layer is an
economical alternative for protecting certain types of transmission links, including path protection for 1:N
transmission links and for non-SONET based terminal equipment (e.g. ATM switches and IP routers).

Since switching is at the optical level, it is transparent to transmission rate, format, and wavelength.
Figure 2 illustrates a simple path protection switch that is deployed at a number of locations in the
transCanada backbone network. The technology uses low loss optical switching and integral optical
power monitoring to trigger a switch from a failed working path to a standby protection path on loss of
optical signal. This includes protection of multi-wavelength signals in DWDM transmission links against
EDFA or fiber failure.

The total loss budget of the system including splitting, monitoring, switching functions, and additional
connectors is 7.5 dB maximum. An alternative optical circuit design that uses optical switching at both
ends can reduce this loss to 5 dB.

Figure 2 - Path Switching Network Application

The optical signal from the Tx port is split 50:50 between the working and protection fiber links. At the
receive end, optical power monitors continually measure the input power level on both the working and
protection links and compare to stored reference values. If a change greater than the preset threshold is
observed in the working link, local and remote alarms are triggered and the optical switch automatically
connects the Rx port to the protection link. Switching time is less than 15 msec. Signal loss in the inactive
protection path triggers a minor alarm.
Multi-Channel Transmission for the Feeder Network

Multi-channel solutions for the feeder network can be based on established WDM and new intermediate
WDM (iWDM) technology.

WDM solutions use the broad wavelength bands (1310nm and 1550nm) to establish two-channel
operation over a single fiber (refer to Figure 3). This is the lowest cost solution since only one of the
transmission paths (i.e. one Tx/Rx connection) must be transponded to a different wavelength from the
standard (i.e. 1310nm) configuration. In addition the transponded 1550nm signal does not normally have
to be transponded back to 1310nm at the remote site, eliminating the need for active devices at one end
of the common fiber. This latter point is especially convenient for remotes where power and equipment
footprint are considerations.

Figure 3 - Broadband 2-channel WDM Circuits

iWDM is an intermediate layer WDM technology that bridges the cost/capacity gap between broadband
(1310/1550nm) WDM and dense DWDM technology. The iWDM technology uses WDM components with
four broad wavelength bands spaced at intervals along the ITU grid. Because the bands are broad,
wavelength control requirements both for the WDM filter units and for the laser transmitters are
considerably relaxed. This results in significant cost savings. The filter design compensates for laser
tolerance, lifetime aging, and temperature drift over the operating temperature range.

Figure 4 - Intermediate Band 4-channel iWDM Circuits

By incorporating cascaded DWDM filters and cooled lasers, the technology scales gracefully from 2
channels through 16 channels.

Fiber Mining is a strategy for the deployment of multi-channel technology as an alternative to installing or
reinforcing cable. It compresses existing traffic from multiple fibers onto fewer fibers, thereby freeing-up
"mined" fibers for new systems and services. It can be implemented either as a planned deployment
where demand for new services is strong and the "mining" anticipates the demand, or reactively where
demand is sporadic and more infrequent and the "mining" occurs incrementally as the need arises.

The choice of using WDM or iWDM depends on available budget, time pressures, and the demand
forecast. Figure 5 below illustrates a fiber recovery application using iWDM technology.

Figure 5 - iWDM Fiber Mining in the Feeder Network

Multiplying Thin Routes to Fiber-fed Switched Remotes

Modular iWDM technology provides an effective alternative for adding virtual fiber connections from
remote cabinets without laying new cable between the cabinet and the CO. These transparent solutions
operate with any SONET or legacy async equipment at rates from 6 Mbps to 622Mbps (see Figure 6).
Mounting solutions for all common cabinet types are available even when no rack space is available.
Configuration options requiring no power feed at the cabinet are also available.
 Figure 6 - Remote Cabinet Application

Optical Link Management

For carrier to carrier internetwork connections and for high-speed data links carrying ATM or native LAN
traffic in the access network, difficulties abound for providing fault isolation, demarcation, performance
monitoring, maintenance, and multimode to singlemode conversion.

The optical link management functionality within the multi-service optical networking platform enables the
service provider to perform monitoring and loopbacks from a central site to a far end location or
demarcation point. Both sides of the facility can be verified during initial installation or following a trouble
report. Communications between the two end devices is completed over the common fiber using a non-
intrusive optical signaling channel.
 Figure 7 - Fault Sectionalization Using Remote Loopback

When the optical link management and iWDM technologies are integrated, the combination enables the
provisioning and management of multiple independent "dark" wavelengths to customer owned terminal
equipment at remote sites, supported over a single fiber. This is especially appropriate for providing new
high-revenue, high-speed, fiber-based services to customers fed from congested remote cabinets, huts,
or CEVs.
 Figure 8 - Extending "Dark" Wavelengths to Customer Owned Terminal Equipments

The passive iWDM module mounted within the cabinet in Figure 8 draws no power, dissipates no heat,
and consumes no valuable rack space. Up to 8 new services can be supported on a single fiber.

Conclusion

Rapid advancement in the development of new and more cost effective capabilities in both active and
passive fiber optic components, coupled with tremendous growth in demand for high-speed data links,
has culminated in the development of a flexible multi-purpose optical network management platform.
Unlike other optical networking products that have generally been optimized for single purpose
applications and network segments, the platform provides a 'toolkit' of different optical networking
capabilities adaptable to many different optical networking scenarios in the suburban IOF, feeder, and
distribution sections of the network.

Published in National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) Technical Proceedings, Orlando,
September, 1998, Vol.II, Section 23. p. 181-190.

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