Fiber Systems

DENSE WAVELENGTH
DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
(DWDM)
 Brief Overview
Evolution of fiber optic transmission
Problems with increasing network demands
Solutions proposed & their limitations
Evolution of DWDM
Technical details
Value of DWDM in metropolitan areas
Drawbacks
Ongoing Research
Conclusion
 Evolution of Fiber Optic
Transmission
Inmid 1960s researchers proposed optical
fiber as suitable transmission medium.

In
1970 , Corning produced the first
communic-ation grade fibers.

AT&T first standardized transmission at DS3

speed(45Mbps) for multimode fibers.

Thereafter,single mode fibers were shown

to be capable of transmission rates 10 times
that of older type.
In early 1980s,MCI, followed by Sprint,
adopted single mode fiber for its long
distance network in U.S.
Further developments in fiber optics was tied
to use of the specific regions on the optical
spectrum where attenuation is low.
These regions called windows, lie between
area of high absorption.
 Growing Network Usage
Patterns
Issues
Exponential increase in user demand for bandwidth
Doubling of bandwidth requirement every 6-9 months
Consistency in quality of services provided
Keeping the cost of solutions at bay

Solutions
Increase channel capacity: TDM, WDM
Statistical multiplexing of users: Multiple optical
fibers
 Another glimpse at the
solutions
TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)
Slotting of channels simultaneous users
Increasing bit rate to maximize utilization of
given bandwidth

WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing)

Use of optical fibers to achieve higher speeds
Utilize wavelengths to multiplex users
Allow continuous channel allocation per user
Increases the effective bandwidth of existing
fiber
 Limitations of current
solutions
TDM
Dependency of Mux-Demux on bit rate
Limitations on bit rates
how fast can we go? (Decides how small the time slots
can be)
WDM
Inefficient usage of full capacity of the optical fiber
Capability of carrying signals efficiently over short
distances only
Improvements in optical fibers and narrowband
lasers
Birth of Dense WDM (DWDM)
 Evolution of DWDM
64+ channels
Late
25~50 GHz spacing
1990s

1996 16+ channels

DWDM 100~200 GHz
spacing
Early 2~8 channels
1990s 200~400 GHz
Narrowband WDM spacing

1980s 2 channels
Wideband WDM 1310nm, 1550nm
 What is DWDM?
Definition
Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) is a
fiber-optic transmission technique that employs light
wavelengths to transmit data parallel-by-bit or serial-by-
character
DEVELOPMENT OF DWDM
1. GROWTH OF VOICE, DATA, NEW
SERVICES

2. DESIRE FOR INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION.

1. RAPIDLY DEVELOPING..

4 X 2.5GBPS 40 X 10GBPS
1.6TBPS

2. DEVELOPING TREND.

OADM, OXC
 How does DWDM fair better?
No O-E-O required
Protocol & Bit Rate independence
Increased overall capacity at much lower cost
Current fiber plant investment can be optimized by
a factor of at least 32
Transparency
Physical layer architecture supports both TDM
and data formats such as ATM, Gigabit Ethernet,
etc.
Scalability
Utilize abundance of dark fibers in metropolitan
areas and enterprise networks
Capacity Expansion
HOW TO INCREASE NETWORK
CAPACITY
DWDM IS QUICK, ECONOMICAL AND MATURE METHOD
.

HIGH RATE TDM SIGNAL STM-1 STM-16 STM-64

SDM ADD FIBER , EQUIPMENT (TIME & COST)

 Basic Components &
Operation
Transmitting Side
Lasers with precise
stable wavelengths
Optical Multiplexers
On the Link
Optical fiber
Optical amplifiers
Receiving Side
Photo detectors
Optical Demultiplexers
Optical add/drop
multiplexers
STRUCTURE OF DWDM
SYSTEM
 Optical Amplifier

Eliminates O-E-O conversions

More effective than electronic repeaters
Isolator prevents reflection
Light at 980nm or 1480nm is injected via the pump
laser
Gains ~ 30dB; Output Power ~ 17dB
WAVELENGTH CONVERTING
TRANSPONDERS::
Wavelength converting transponders
translate the transmitted wavelength of a
client-layer signal into one of the DWDM
systems equivalent internal
wavelengths.

In the mid-1990s,wavelength converting

transponders rapidly took on the
additional function of signal regeneration.
Signal regeneration in transponders
quickly evolved 1R to 2R to 3R.
RECONFIGURABLE OPTICAL
ADD-DROP MULTIPLEXER
 OPTICAL CROSS
CONNECTS::(OXC)
 CHANNEL SPACING::
The minimum frequency separation
between two different multiplexed signal
is called channel spacing. Since the
wavelength of operation is inversely
proportional to frequency, a
corresponding difference is introduced in
the wavelength of each signal
 CATEGORIES OF
WAVELENGTH SWITCHES
Non-reconfigurable switches
Wavelength-independent reconfigurable
switches
Wavelength-selective reconfigurable switches
DWDM, ideally it should have additional
optical switching capability to implement
dynamically reconfigurable interconnections
necessary for next generation system.
 SONET WITH DWDM
By using DWDM as a transport for TDM,
existing SONET equipment investments can
be preserved. Often new implementations can
eliminate layers of equipment.
 Drawbacks
Dispersion
Chromatic dispersion
Polarization mode dispersion

Attenuation
Intrinsic: Scattering, Absorption, etc.
Extrinsic: Manufacturing Stress, Environment, etc.

Four wave mixing

Non-linear nature of refractive index of optical fiber
Limits channel capacity of the DWDM System
 Ongoing Developments
Nortel Networks
Metro DWDM
OPTera Long Haul 5000 Optical Line System
Cisco Systems
ONS 15200 Metro DWDM Solution
Lucent Technologies
LambdaXtreme Transport
WaveStar OLS 1.6T
Agility Communications & UC Santa Barbara
Tunable Lasers used for multiple wavelengths
 Conclusion
Robust and simple design
Works entirely in the Optical domain
Multiplies the capacity of the network many fold
Cheap Components
Handles the present BW demand cost
effectively
Maximum utilization of untapped resources
Best suited for long-haul networks
 References
[1] Introducing DWDM
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/mels/dwdm/dwdm_fns.htm
[2] Fundamentals of DWDM Technology
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/mels/dwdm/dwdm_ovr.htm
[3] Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/dwdm
[4] Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Testing
http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/dwdm_test
[5] Fiber-Optic Communications Technology by D.K. Mynbaev, L.L. Scheiner,
Pearson Education Asia, 2001 edition
[6] Dense wave nets' future is cloudy by Chappell Brown, EETimes
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011221S0035
[7] Cisco Systems
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/optical/ps1996/products_quick_refer
ence_guide09186a00800886bb.html
[8] Lucent Technologies
http://www.lucent.com/products/subcategory/0,,CTID+2021-STID+10482-
LOCL+1,00.html
[9] Nortel Networks: OPTera Long Haul & Metro DWDM
(http://www.nortelnetworks.com/products/01/optera/long_haul/dwdm/) &
(http://www.nortelnetworks.com/products/library/collateral/12001.25-03-
02.pdf)
[10] Agility Communications
http://agility.com/intervals/index.phtml?ID=93&f_code=1