Application Note 273

Despi te advances i n modul ati on formats and equi pment

management systems offered with monitoring tools, faults, issues,
delays and errors still occur all too frequently in wavelength-
division multiplexing (WDM) networks. When this happens, the
optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) is a tool of choice for identifying
the issue, and helping to x it.
However, as networks become more and more complex (tighter
channel spaci ng, mesh and ROADM-based, pol ari zati on-
multiplexed signals, etc.), the number of potential causes for
failure increases, making it extremely difcult to nd the issue for
a given failure. Most providers and vendors have developed their
own best practices involving use of an OSA to locate the issue.
Here is an example of a common best practice procedure.
This procedure is very well-documented and explained in
detail in EXFOs application note entitled Best Practices for
Troubleshooting WDM Networks with an optical spectrum
analyzer.
Although this procedure works well, it is case-by-case dependent,
and involves a certain level of knowledge of the system, some trial
and error, and ultimately, a certain number of truck rolls, time and
unavoidable extra OPEX.
But what if, in addition to power, wavelength, optical signal-to-noise
ratio (OSNR) issues and fail, your OSA could give you an intelligent
per-wavelength diagnostic of the most probable impairment
affecting that particular channel? This extra level of intelligence
would greatly help pinpoint the issue, in turn increasing efciency
and accelerating turn-up, repair and upgrade procedures.
WDM INVESTIGATOR
EXFOs next-generation optical spectrum analyzer brings more than
mere pass/fail values. Much more. This analyzer is your ticket to
efcient turn-up and maintenance of any network, and gives you
information on a per-wavelength basis on the link. In addition, it
tells you what could be causing high OSNR measurement when it
occurs, since even good OSNR systems can generate unacceptable
bit error rate (BER). BER tests are long, and as such, when they fail,
there are huge cost implications. New systems can create noise
that is not taken into account in traditional OSNR measurement, i.e.,
power, less ASE noise. Now, with the WDM Investigator, you can
carry out large-scale network prevention and maintenance before
the latent issue becomes a problem.
Heres a glimpse of the WDM Investigator:
To perform WDM Investigator impairment testing, an i-in-band
acquisition is required to ensure that 500 polarization-condition
scans are carried out.
Drastically Cutting Down Turn-Up and Repair Time
with an Impairment Detection Tool
Jean-Sebastien Tass, Product Line Manager, and Francis Audet, Group Manager, Product Management
Defective
component
is unknown
Defective
component
is known
Start
troubleshooting
from receiver
Issue affecting
one or two
wavelengths
Check fiber
and amplifiers
Issue affecting
all wavelengths
Test input and
output of defective
component
Continue
troubleshooting
towards transmitter
Characteristic Definition Condition to show as present
Pol-MUX signal
Determines whether the signal is polarization-multiplexed, such as the
signals found in coherent 40G and 100G networks.
When a given channel exhibits a polarization
extinction of less than 3 dB after 500 scans.
Carved noise
Determines whether noise is carved (i.e. filtered), which indicates the
presence of filters/ROADMs on the link.
When the ASE noise level at the channel center is
higher than the ASE noise level at the channel edge.
The WDM Investigator provides you with two types of information: link information and impairment detection. Link information details
the following:
As a guide, three levels of information are given for link information diagnostics:
N/A : No information available (we dont know/cant tell)
: Detected as present
: Clearly not present
2012 EXFO Inc. All rights reserved.
Application Note 273
Four levels of information are provided for impairment diagnostics:
: No information available (we dont know/cant tell)
: Good: No visible effect (below threshold)
: Warning: Some effect (threshold up to a level x)
: Risk: Clear effect (above level x)
The results may be affected by the presence of more than one
impairment. For example, very large polarization pulse spreading
also contributes to depolarization of the signal, which is detected
by the instrument, and must therefore be discriminated from the
non-linear depolarization. When one effect is much stronger than
the other, the results for the weaker impairment may be less reliable,
but this usually means that the dominant effect is large enough to
require primary focus, or that the latter has a negligible effect.
Note that most of these impairments frequently lead to an
overestimation of the ASE level for polarization-based in-band
OSNR techniques. As such, correct identification of these
impairments helps improve the ASE-level determination of
polarization-based techniques.
WDM INVESTIGATOR AND YOUR NETWORK
So, how does the WDM Investigator specically help you to nd
and x the issues plaguing your WDM network? Lets have a closer
look at the value brought by each item of the interface.
a) Pol-MUX signal
Pol-MUX signals are playing an increasing role in optical
communications. Pol-MUX channels are often added onto existing
networks, in which case system architects carefully ensure that
the channel plan and link characteristics allow for its introduction.
Identication of pol-MUX channels and their relative positions
on the channel plan may be useful when troubleshooting issues
specic to pol-MUX, e.g. non-linear degradations. Pol-MUX channel
identication is also useful for conrming that channel routing is
correct, i.e. that a channel that is expected to be pol-MUX is indeed
pol-MUX. Also, since most in-band OSNR measurement techniques
(all commercially available) rely on polarization properties of the
signal, a pol-MUX conrmation indicates that the OSNR, when
provided by standard polarization-based techniques, will most
likely not be accurate.
b) Carved noise
A check mark for carved noise may be useful in determining
whether some of the channels have gone through a different optical
route than their neighbors. Detecting the presence of carved noise
also indicates that the IEC method for OSNR measurement is not
appropriate for this channel because of the presence of lters/
ROADMs in the signal path. If the signal is not pol-MUX, then the
in-band OSNR method is ideal. See the application note entitled
optical spectrum analyzers in Next-Gen Networks for a
detailed discussion. Otherwise, a pol-MUX OSNR method must
be used.
c) Non-linear induced depolarization
Non-linear effects can lead to the partial depolarization of a
modulated signal in such a way that the depolarization part is like
optical power removed from the signal and added to the noise.
Non-linear effects can generate bit errors, reducing the margin
to the FEC limit if they become dominant. When designing their
links, system architects try to minimize these effects by managing
the launched powers (distance between ampliers and types of
ampliers), the channels spacing and relative positions (10G vs.
40G), and the dispersion map (also affecting amplier deployment).
Impairment Definition Condition to display as present
Non-linear depolarization
Mixed channel plans (10G and 40G) sometimes lead to interchannel
non-linear effects (e.g. cross-phase modulation), which in turn lead to
partial depolarization of neighboring channels.
When non-linear induced depolarization of the
signal (which can be considered as noise in the
transmission) generates noise on top of the ASE.
PMD pulse spreading
This impairment shows the presence of polarization mode dispersion
(PMD) in a channel. Depending on the polarization axis of the signal
injected, when PMD is present on the path of the signal, the signal
may suffer from pulse spreading, which in turn leads to polarization-
dependent spectral deformations. These deformations can be
analyzed to determine how much polarization pulse broadening the
signal has experienced during measurement.
Threshold levels depend on signal width (automatic),
and are different for 10G and 40G signals.
Interchannel crosstalk
In densely filled channel plans, neighboring channels may have a non-
negligible portion of their spectrum that extends within the channel
bandpass of a given signal.
When the linear crosstalk from a neighboring channel
is generating excess noise (unwanted signal power)
on top of the ASE in the channel bandpass.
Carrier leakage
In phase-modulated transmission, a continous wavelength (CW) carrier
wave is amplitude- and phase-modulated using external modulators
that are generally polarization-dependent. When the CW source
polarization axis is not optimally aligned with the modulator, a portion
of the CW signal passes through without being modulated and gets
transmitted as such along the path. When this CW residual signal
is present, it can be detected as carrier leakage using advanced
polarization analysis for the purpose of providing a useful diagnostic.
When excess noise (unwanted CW power) is
detected on top of the ASE.
Impairment detection checks for the presence of several types of impairments and gives an assessment of their severity. This information
is available for polarized signals only. When a signal is detected as pol-MUX, no diagnostic is provided. The table below describes all
the impairments found in the WDM Investigator.
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Application Note 273
d) PMD pulse spreading
This impairment indicates the presence of PMD-induced pulse
broadening for that channel, a phenomenon that depends on
the ber properties (and the properties of certain components in
the path) as well as environmental stresses. Large PMD pulse
spreading may explain why increased BER no longer correlates
with the OSNR (ASE) of the system. Note that sometimes only
sections of the link (ber spans) have high PMD, and that using a
distributed PMD analyzer like EXFOs FTB-5600 can help identify
the portion of the ber span that causes the most PMD, which in
turn allows for targeted (less costly) ber section replacements.
For additional details on mitigating PMD, please read EXFOs
application note entitled Mitigating the Last Barrier to High-
Speed Optical Transmission: PMD.
e) Interchannel crosstalk
When interchannel linear crosstalk is present in a given channel,
the noise power within that channel is increased and, depending on
the polarization relation between the neighboring channel and the
channel of interest, the resulting beat noise may lead to increased
BER, which would again no longer correlate with the OSNR (ASE)
of the system.
f) Carrier leakage
Normally, transmitters are tested during manufacturing to ensure a
minimal carrier extinction ratio (e.g. 20 dB), but in practice, some
transmitters found in the eld may exhibit insufcient extinction.
CONCLUSION
Up to recently, OSAs could only determine whether a given channel
was experiencing noise. Now, with the WDM Investigator, an OSA
can identify several types of impairments on a per-channel basis
(PMD pulse spreading, non-linear depolarization, interchannel
crosstalk, carrier leakage, etc.), which provides never-seen-before
visibility within a WDM network. In addition, the WDM Investigator
provides useful information on the link characteristics, such as
the presence of polarization-multiplexed signals or the presence
of carved noise due to filters or ROADMs. The impairment
identication and link characteristics both signicantly help pinpoint
the exact failure affecting a channel, thereby drastically reducing
turn-up time and even helping to prevent future failures.
APNOTE273.1AN 2012 EXFO Inc. All rights reserved.
2008
Printed in Canada 12/12