Category Archives: DWDM system

How to Enhance the Optical Signals for a Long DWDM System?

As we know, the longer the optical transmission distance is, the weaker the optical signals will be. For a long DWDM system, this phenomenon easily causes transmission error or even failure. Under this case, what can we do for a smooth, long DWDM system? The answer is optical signal enhancement. Only by enhancing the optical signals, can the DWDM transmission distance be extended. In this post, we are going to learn two effective solutions, optical amplifier (OA) and dispersion compensation module (DCM) to enhance the signals, for making a smooth, long DWDM system.

Optical Amplifier Solution

We used to utilize repeater to enhance the signals in fiber optics, which should firstly convert the optical signals into an electrical one, amplify the electrical signals, and then convert the electrical signals into an optical one again. Finally, you can get the enhanced optical signals. However, this method of enhancing signals can not only cause more signal loss, but also add unwanted noises in the actual signal. Taking these issues into account, the optical amplifier is more recommendable.

An optical amplifier is a device that enables direct optical signal enhancement or amplification. Its working principle is not so complicated as that of the repeater, while its performance is much higher. From the following figure, we can learn that the original reach of the DWDM system is limited to 80 km due to the signal loss. But with the optical amplifier, the signals are enhanced and the reach can be extended to 160 km. It is really an ideal option to enhance the signals for a long DWDM system.

Optical Amplifier (OA)

At present, there are mainly three major kinds of optical amplifiers, Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA), Doper Fiber Amplifier (DFA), and Raman Amplifier (RA).

Semiconductor Optical Amplifier: as its name implies, the semiconductor in a SOA is used to offer the gain medium. This kind of optical amplifier has a similar structure to the FP laser diode. However, it is designed with anti-reflection elements at the end face that can greatly reduce the end face reflection. Meanwhile, the SOA features small package and low cost that suits for most users to enhance the optical signals.

Doper Fiber Amplifier: in a DFA, the doped optical fiber acts as the gain medium for signal amplification. When the DFA works, the signal to be amplified and a pump laser are multiplexed into the doped fiber. And then the signal is amplified through interaction with the doping ions. The most common DFA is the Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA). Its gain medium is a optical fiber doped with trivalent erbium ions that always enhances the signals near 1550nm wavelength. Undoubtedly, the EDFA is a great choice to enhance the optical signals.

Raman Amplifier: different from the SOA and DFA, the signal in a RA is amplified through the nonlinear interaction between the signal and a pump laser within an optical fiber. In details, two kinds, distributed and lumped Raman amplifier (DRA and LRA) are available on the market. The distributed one multiplexes the pump wavelength with signal wavelength through the transmission fiber to enhance the signals, while the amplification of the lumped one is provided by a dedicated, shorter length of fiber.

(Note: if you want to know more information about these three kinds of optical amplifier, you can take the previous post Optical Amplifier Overview as reference.)

Dispersion Compensation Solution

Apart from signal amplification, we can also use dispersion compensation to enhance the optical signals. Once the dispersion occurs, the signal will be tended to skew due to the different frequencies, which has a negative effect on the quality of signal transmission. At that moment, we use the dispersion compensation module to enhance the skew signal, for achieving a longer transmission distance. As shown in the figure below, the DWDM system is extended to longer than 80 km with the use of 80km passive dispersion compensation module.

Dispersion Compensating Module (DCM)

The dispersion compensation module is an important component for a long fiber optical link. It typically connects to the mid-stage of an OA like EDFA, in the long haul transmission system. Except for the 80km DCM mentioned above, FS.COM also provides other DCM modules that allow long transmission distance extension. The compensation distances can range from 10km to 140 km, as shown in the following table.

Module Type Description Price
FMT10-DCM 10KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 430.00
FMT20-DCM 20KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 650.00
FMT40-DCM 40KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 650.00
FMT60-DCM 60KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 1,100.00
FMT80-DCM 80KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 1,300.00
FMT100-DCM 100KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 1,400.00
FMT140-DCM 140KM Passive Dispersion Compensation Module, Plug-in Type, LC/UPC US$ 1,818.00

Conclusion

The optical amplifier has the ability to directly boost the weak signal, while the dispersion compensation module can reshape the deformed signal and offer a long compensation distance. Considering that the signal strength would become weak as the transmission distance increases, using the optical amplifier and dispersion compensation module to enhance the signals is very necessary when building a long DWDM system.

10G DWDM Network for Economically Expanding Capacity

It can’t be denied that for most users, the capacity and transmission data rate their 10G networks offer sufficiently meet their needs at present. However, for some users, their 10G networks are capacity-hungry that requires more and more fiber optical cables installed for carrying large data. Considering that the available fiber infrastructure is limited, the method of putting more cables would be infeasible or unsuitable once the infrastructure no longer fulfill the growing requirements. Is there any economical solution to solve this issue, except upgrading the network that would cost a lot? The answer is yes. In order to create new capacity at a relatively low price, WDM technology is come up with that enables virtual fibers to carry more data. Since WDM technology has been a cost effective solution to face the capacity-hungry issue, here will offer the economical DWDM SFP+ transceiver and DWDM Mux Demux solutions for you to build the 10G DWDM network, which enables bigger capacity to meet your network needs.

10G DWDM SFP+ Transceiver

The DWDM SFP+ transceiver is an enhanced version of DWDM SFP transceiver that can transmit signals at 10Gbps–the max data rate, mostly deployed in the dark fiber project in combination with the DWDM Mux Demux. Like other kinds of SFP+ transceivers, it is also compliant to the SFP MSA (multi-source agreement), designed for building 10G Ethernet network. However, the working principle of DWDM SFP+ transceiver is much more complicated than that of common SFP+ transceiver due to the DWDM technology.

10g DWDM SFP+ transceiver

Generally, the DWDM SFP+ transceiver has a specific tuned laser offering various wavelengths with pre-defined “colors” which are defined in the DWDM ITU grid. The colors of the wavelengths are named in channels and the wavelengths are around 1550nm. Its channels are commonly from 17 to 61 and the spacing between channels is always about 0.8nm. In fiber optical network, the 100GHz C-Band with 0.8nm DWDM SFP+ transceiver is the most commonly used one, while transceivers with other spectrum bands like 50GHz with 0.4nm spacing DWDM SFP+ transceiver are also popular with users.

According to the transmission distance, the DWDM SFP+ transceiver can be divided into two types. One is the DWDM-SFP10G-40 with an optical power budget of 15dB, and the other is the DWDM-SFP10G-80 with an optical power budget of 23dB. As we know, the bigger the optical power budget is, the longer the transceiver will support the 10G network. Hence, the DWDM-SFP10G-40 can transmit 10G signals at lengths up to 40 km, but the DWDM-SFP10G-80 is able to support the same network with a longer distance, 80 km. What should be paid attention to is that the transmission distance can be also affected by the quality and type of the DWDM Mux Demux, the quality and length of the fiber, and other factors.

10G DWDM Mux Demux

The DWDM Mux Demux is a commonly used type of fiber optical multiplexer designed for creating virtual fibers to carry larger data, which consists of a multiplexer on one end for combining the optical signals with different wavelengths into an integrated signal and a de-multiplexer on the other end for separating the integrated signal into several ones. During its working process, it carries the integrated optical signals together on a single fiber, which means the capacity is expanded to some extent. In most applications, the electricity is not required in its working process because the DWDM Mux Demux are passive.

Unlike the CWDM Mux Demux with 20nm channel spacing, the DWDM Mux Demux has a denser channel spacing, usually 0.8nm, working from the 1530 to 1570nm band. It is designed for long transmission, which is more expensive than CWDM Mux Demux used for short transmission. Meanwhile, it also commonly used the 100 GHz C-band DWDM technique like the DWDM transceiver. As for its classification, there are basically two types according to line type, dual fiber and single fiber DWDM Mux Demux, and six types according to the number of the channels, 4, 8, 16, 40, 44 and 96 channels DWDM Mux Demux. All these types of DWDM Mux Demux are available at FS.COM with ideal prices. To better understand the DWDM Mux Demux, here offers a figure of a stable 8 channel DWDM Mux Demux for your reference.

8 channel 10g DWDM Mux Demux

Conclusion

Taking the cost issue into consideration, deploying a 10G DWDM network is much more economical than upgrading your network from 10G to 40G/100G which almost requires changing out all the electronics in your network. The 10G DWDM network makes full use of DWDM technology to expand the network capacity, which creates virtual fibers to support more data signals. If your 10G network is also capacity-hungry, you are highly suggested to deploy 10G DWDM network to make new capacity. As for the related components the 10G DWDM network needs like transceiver and Mux Demux, you can easily find them at FS.COM. For instance, FS.COM offers the DWDM SFP+ transceivers compatible with almost every brand, including Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, Huawei, Arista, HP and Dell, which have been tested to assure 100% compatibility.

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Everything You Need to Know Before Buying CWDM and DWDM SFP+ Transceivers

Things You Need to Know About DWDM Transceiver

In optical communications, DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology enables a number of different wavelengths to be transmitted on a single fiber, which makes it a popular choice among many different areas such as local area networks (LANs), long-haul backbone networks and residential access networks. In these transmission processes, DWDM transceivers play an important role. Here is a brief introduction to them.

Basics of DWDM Transceiver

DWDM transceiver, as its name shows, is a kind of fiber optic transceiver based on DWDM technology. As mentioned above, it enables different wavelengths to multiplex several optical signals on a single fiber without requiring any power to operate. And these transceivers are designed for high-capacity and long-distance transmissions, supporting to 10 Gbps and spanning a distance up to 120 km. Meanwhile, the DWDM transceivers are designed to Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) standards in order to ensure broad network equipment compatibility.

The basic function of DWDM transceiver is to convert the electrical signal to optical and then to electrical signal, which is as same as other optical transceivers. However, based on DWDM technology, DWDM transceiver has its own features and functions. It’s intended for single-mode fiber and operate at a nominal DWDM wavelength from 1528.38 to 1563.86 nm (Channel 17 to Channel 61) as specified by the ITU-T. And it is widely deployed in the DWDM networking equipment in metropolitan access and core networks.

Common Types of DWDM Transceiver

There are different types of DWDM transceiver according to different packages such as DWDM SFP transceiver, DWDM SFP+ transceiver, DWDM XFP transceiver, DWDM XENPAK transceiver and DWDM X2 transceiver. Here is a simple introduction to them.

DWDM SFP Transceiver

DWDM SFP transceiver is based on the SFP form factor which is an MSA standard build. This transceiver provides a signal rate range from 100 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps. Besides, DWDM SFP transceiver meets the requirements of the IEE802.3 Gigabit Ethernet standard and ANSI fibre channel specifications, and are suitable for interconnections in Gigabit Ethernet and fibre channel environments.

dwdm-sfp

DWDM SFP+ Transceiver

DWDM SFP+ transceiver, based on the SFP form factor, is designed for carriers and large enterprises that require a flexible and cost-effective system for multiplexing and transporting high-speed data, storage, voice and video applications. The maximum speed of this transceiver is 11.25G. It’s known to all that DWDM enables service providers to accommodate hundreds of aggregated services of sub-rate protocol without installing additional dark fiber. Therefore, DWDM SFP+ transceiver is a good choice for 10G highest bandwidth application.

dwdm-sfp-plus

DWDM X2 Transceiver

DWDM X2 Transceiver is a high performance serial optical transponder module for high-speed 10G data transmission applications. The module is fully compliant to IEEE 802.3ae standard for Ethernet, which makes it ideally suitable for 10G rack-to-rack applications.

dwdm-x2

DWDM XFP Transceiver

DWDM XFP transceiver is based on the XFP form factor which is also an MSA standard build. The maximum speed of this transceiver is 11.25G and it is usually used in 10G Ethernet. This transceiver emits a specific light. And there are different industry standards and the 100Ghz C-band is the most used one which has a spacing of 0.8 nm. What’s more, DWDM XFP supports SONET/SDH, 10GbE and 10 Gigabit fibre channel applications.

dwdm-xfp

DWDM XENPAK Transceiver

DWDM XENPAK transceiver is SC duplex receptacle module and is designed for backbone Ethernet transmission systems. It is the first 10GbE transceiver ever to support DWDM. And it can support 32 different channels for transmission distance up to 200 km with the aid of EDFAs. DWDM XENPAK transceiver allows enterprise companies and service providers to provide scalable and easy-to-deploy 10 Gigabit Ethernet services in their networks.

dwdm-xenpak

Applications of DWDM Transceiver

As the growing demand of bandwidth, DWDM technology is becoming more and more popular. And DWDM transceivers are commonly used in MANs (metropolitan area networks) and LANs. Different types of DWDM transceiver have different applications. For example, DWDM SFP transceivers are applied in amplified DWDM networks, Fibre Channel, fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and other optical transmission systems, while DWDM XFP transceivers are usually used in the fields which meet the 10GBASE-ER/EW Ethernet, 1200-SM-LL-L 10G Fibre Channel, SONET OC-192 IR-2, SDH STM S-64.2b, SONET OC-192 IR-3, SDH STM S-64.3b and ITU-T G.709 standards.

Conclusion

In summary, DWDM transceiver is an essential component in DWDM systems. Fiberstore offers various DWDM transceivers and is able to provide the advanced technology and strong innovative capability to produce the best optical components for DWDM systems. If you are interested in our products, please visit FS.COM for more detailed information.

Effective CWDM & DWDM Mux/Demux Solutions for WDM System

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system is designed for high capacity communications. It is now frequently used as a method to merge multiple optical signals with different wavelengths onto a single fiber. There are two divisions of WDM system: coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). Using WDM can enhance the effectiveness of bandwidth in fiber optic communications. The WDM Mux/Demux has a number of communication channels, and matches with a certain frequency. Wavelengths are separated to different receivers at the destination. Mux/Demux module is an important assembly using WDM technology. This article will introduce some effective CWDM and DWDM Mux/Demux solutions for WDM system.

CWDM Mux/Demux & DWDM Mux/Demux
CWDM Mux/Demux

CWDM Mux/Demux is a flexible network solution for WDM optical networks. At most 18 full-duplex wavelengths can be added over a single fiber trunk which greatly alleviates fiber exhaustion. With low insertion loss and high stability, CWDM Mux/Demux is applied to many operations, such as CATV links, WDM systems, test and measurement, metro and access networks, FTTH networks, etc. The deployment of CWDM Mux/Demux is transparent and clear. Its compact form factor enables a much easier manipulation. Only coarse wavelengths can be transmitted over the fiber which reduces the WDM system cost.

Three kinds of CWDM Mux/Demux are widely used in the application. They are 1RU 19″ rack chassis CWDM Mux/Demux, half 19″/1RU CWDM Mux/Demux and splice/pigtailed CWDM Mux/Demux. CWDM Mux/Demux in 19 inch rack mount package is often used for CWDM, EPON and CATV network. Half 19″/1RU CWDM Mux/Demux is packed in LGX box using thing film coating and non-flux metal bonding micro optics packaging. Splice/pigtailed CWDM Mux/Demux is packed in the ABS box package based on standard thin film filter (TFF) technology.

DWDM Mux/Demux

DWDM Mux/Demux conveys optical signals in a more dense wavelength. It is especially used for long distance transmission where wavelengths are highly-packed together. The maximum delivered wavelengths can reach up to 48 channels in 100GHz grid (0.8nm) and 96 channels in 50GHz grid (0.4nm). DWDM Mux/Demux uses a reliable passive WDM technology that achieves low insertion loss. And it provides a solution for adding WDM technology to any existing network device. Applications like point-to-point DWDM fiber optimization, linear add/drop DWDM fiber optimization, external optical monitoring are typically using DWDM Mux/Demux module.

Likewise, 1RU 19″ rack chassis DWDM Mux/Demux, Half 19″/1RU DWDM Mux/Demux and splice/pigtailed DWDM Mux/Demux are three divisions of DWDM Mux/Demux modules. The first type is in 19 inch rack mount package used for long-haul transmission over C-band range of wavelengths. The second one is in LGX package used for PDH, SDH/SONET, Ethernet services transmission. The last one is in ABS box package and its pigtails are labeled with wavelengths.

Effective CWDM Mux/Demux & DWDM Mux/Demux Solutions

18-CH CWDM Mux/Demux is a highly recommended 1RU rack-mount CWDM Mux/Demux that combines 18 CWDM sources on a single fiber. The insertion loss is below 4.9 dB. Moreover, it has a monitor port that enables maintenance without ceasing the operation.

18ch-cwdm-mux-demux

40-CH DWDM Mux/Demux has 40 channels. As a DWDM Mux/Demux module with high density, low-loss and independent 1RU rack mount package, the best utilization of this device is to employ it for high density applications over long-haul transmission. It multiplexes and demultiplexes 40 DWDM wavelengths with 100 GHz in a ring or point-point network. It is a highly cost-effective DWDM Mux/Demux module.

40ch-dwdm-mux-demux

Conclusion

To improve the efficiency of network transmission, WDM technology is often deployed in the devices. 18-CH CWDM Mux/Demux and 40-CH DWDM Mux/Demux are now recommended as the most cost-effective WDM solutions with expanded fiber capabilities. Hope you can choose and use them wisely.

Guide to Optical Amplifier

In pursuit of high transmission capacity, people have been tried many ways. For example, they pave more cables or use the TDM (time domain multiplexer) to improve the transmission capacity. But in these traditional ways, signals could become weaker in power through the fiber link. And the further they are transmitted, the weaker the signals will be until they can not be detected. With the advanced of technology, optical amplifier which is a better solution to improve the transmission capacity came around. It can strengthen the attenuated signals and even can bring them back to the original level. And now it is mainly applied in DWDM technology so that DWDM technology can support long-haul transmission.

Working Principles of Optical Amplifier

Optical amplifier is a device that can amplifier optical signals directly, which does not need to convert optical signals to electric signals first. And we will take the common kind for example to explain its working principles, namely, EDFA (erbium doped fiber amplifier). Optical fiber is often doped with rare-earth elements, such as erbium or praseodymium which can be pumped into a excited state by pump laser. When input signals pass by the fiber, they will stimulate the excited atoms of erbium so that the atoms of erbium can release their energy in the form of emitted light photons. It is the emitted light photons who has the same phase and wavelength with input signals that amplify the optical signals.

Working Principles of EDFA

Working Principles of EDFA

Types of Optical Amplifier

Optical amplifier can be divided into three types now. They are the doped fiber amplifier, the semiconductor optical amplifier and the Raman amplifier. Next we will introduce each of amplifiers.

Doped fiber amplifier has several types according to the kinds of rare earth elements. Erbium-doped fiber amplifier is the most common one. Just like we said before, its amplifying medium is the fiber doped with erbium elements. The amplified light’s wavelength is around 1550 nm, which suffers minimum attenuation. And this amplifier has low noise and is applied in the long-haul telecommunication networks. The second is semiconductor optical amplifier whose gain medium is undoped InGaAsP. Compared with EDFA, it is less expensive and more suitable for local networks. Raman amplifier’s gain medium is undoped optical fiber. It is made with Raman scattering effect which is an important non-linear effect. By the early part of 2000s, it is used for long-haul (typically between 300 and 800 km) or ultra-long-haul (typically longer than 800 km) fiber-optics transmission system. And this amplifier has been commercialized these days, with sold at a high price.

The advent of optical amplifier is a great success in optical fiber communication technology. At present, it has been become a basic device in modern telecommunication networks and brings much effectiveness to economy and society, which presents a good trend for the market prospect.

WDM Overview

With the development of the computers, mobile phones and some other things, there is an increasing eagerness for more traffic volume of telecommunication. So WDM, with more bandwidth and faster data transmission rate, comes into being.

WDM is a technology to send multiple different wavelength lasers on a single optical fiber. As shown in the picture below, there are different signals coming from different channels. when through the multiplexer, they can be transmitted on a single fiber without obstructed by each other at a high speed. And then, when they are through the demultiplexer, they will be allocated into different channels. The multiplexer and the demultiplexer are the most important parts in WDM systems, just like transmitter and receiver. When signals are transmitted to the network medium on the fiber links, they will be amplified. And after through the network medium, the signals will still be amplified on the fiber links untill they are received by the receiver.

WDM-wavelength division multiplexing

Currently, there are two types of it in the market. CWDM, short for coarse wavelength division multiplexing, is a low-cost WDM transmission technology. Another type is DWDM, namely, dense wavelength division multiplexing. The primary difference between them is the channel spacing. The channel spacing of CWDM is wider than DWDM, so that the number of its channels on the same link could be reduced relatively. As a result, its optical interface components does not need to be precise as same as DWDM.

Now the technology of WDM is widely used in optical networks. Why can it be so widely used? The reasons is closely linked to its features. First, it has Super capacity transmission technology. The transmission capacity can be up to 300-400 Gbit/s or even larger. Second, it can save fiber resources. No matter how many SDH subsystems there are, the whole reuse system only needs a pair of optical fiber. Third, it can work with EDFA that strengthens and restores the attenuated signals in the long-distance transmission, so that it can reduce the cost. Forth, it can improve the reliability of the system. Because most WDM systems are the photoelectric devices which have high reliability. This is a guarantee for the system reliability.

As the optical communication technology progressed further, WDM will be developed in some aspects. In terms of DWDM, Something still needs to be improved such as cost, so that more customers can adopt it.

The application of DWDM integration systems in MSPP

Traditionally, SONET platforms have been dedicated to services that could be encapsulated within SONET frames. Today vendors not only can deliver SONET services from MSPPs, but they also can hand off these services in a DWDM wavelength service.

DWDM can be implemented with an MSPP in two ways. Most often when you think about DWDM systems. However, the multiplexing of multiple light source is always a “passive” activity. Wavelength conversion and amplification is always the “active” DWDM activity.

MSPP chassis with integrated DWDM optics in which the optics cards (in this case, OC-48s) use one of the ITU wavelengths and interfaces to an external filter. This filter multiplexes the wavelengths from various optics cards within multiple chasses and transports them over the fiber, where they are demultiplexed on the MSPP because the filter is a separate device.

This inefficient use of the rack and shelf space has led to the development of active DWDM from the MSPP. With active DWDM, the transponding of the ITU wavelength to a standard 1550-nm wavelength is performed by converting the MSPP shelf into various components required in a DWDM system. This conversion has greatly increased the density of wavelengths within a given footprint. For example the kind of passive DWDM, only 16 wavelengths could be configured within a bay, 4 per chassis. With today’s multiport, multiport optical cards, this density can be doubled to 8 wavelengths per shelf and 32 per rack.

With the integrated active DWDM solution, one MSPP chassis can be converted into a 32-channel multiplexer/demultiplexer using reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) technology. Other chassis can be converted into a multiplexer (OADM), which can receive and distribute multiple wavelengths per shelf. The implication of this is that up to 32 wavelengths can be terminated within a bay or rack, a factor of eight times the density of even early MSPPs using a passive external filter. The traffic from within each wavelength dropped into an MSPP shelf from the ROADM hub shelf can be groomed or extracted from the wavelengths carrying it, as needed, and dropped out of the OADM shelves. ROADM is an option that can be deployed in place of fixed-wavelength OADMs. Cisco Systems ROADM technology, for example, consists of two modules: 32-channel reconfigurable multiplexer (two-slot module), 32-channel reconfigurable demultiplexer (one-slot module). Use of software-provisionable, small form-factor pluggable(SFP)client connectors, and wavelength tunability for reduced card inventory requirements. Multilever service monitoring: SONET/SDH, G.709 digital wrapper, and optical service channel for unparalleled service reliability.

MSPP chassis

With so many advantages, one of the disadvantages is that parading shift is required to move the market toward MSPP-based DWDM. This slow migration is keeping vendors at bay in terms of development as they try to balance investment in the future with today’s revenue. The widespread introduction of this technology, however, DWDM price also should be considered. The price of DWDM transceivers is typically four to five times more expensive than that of their CWDM counterparts. The higher DWDM transceiver costs are attributed to a number of factors related to the lasers.

Several ways exist for protecting an MSPP-based DWDM system in the event of a fiber cut or signal degradation. Such protection options include client protection, Y-cable protection, and wavelength splitting.

Reliability for these options varies, depending on the client network architectures and service-level agreements (SLA) provided to the client. Thus, there is no “one size fits all” approach to protection.

Related websites: http://www.fs.com

About single wavelength BiDi transmission technology solutions

The single wavelength BiDi transmission technology offers a unique solution to meet these apparently conflicting goals at the same time, particularly in access networks such as FTTx and in wireless backhaul networks between a base station and antenna tower or aRRH, compared with the two-wavelength BiDi transmission and the duplex transmission which are currently in use. This article presents pros and cons between competing technologies, operating principles of the single wavelength transmission technology and its applications, and Fiberstore’s BiDi transmission products. For example, in a P2P upstream signal from the subscriber to the CO. The optical transceivers at two ends of a transmission link can be identical if one wavelength is used for both directions. However, the CAPEX and OPEX are much higher due to the cost for two fibers and their installation compared with other BiDi technologies described below which use a single fiber. This technology can be used in the wavelength division multiplexing(WDM) communication as well as in the P2P communication.

These wavelengths are separated widely from each other. For example, in a P2P access network, the downstream signal from the CO to a subscriber is at 1550 nm and the upstream signal from a subscriber to the CO is at 1310 nm. The fact that a different signal wavelength must be used in each opposite direction of transmission imposes on the network operators two disadvantages. For example, in a P2P access network , the wavelength can be at 1550nm (or 1310 nm) for both downstream and upstream signals. This reduces CAPEX and OPEX for the network operators since they need to deploy only one kind of optical transceivers at 1550 nm (or 1310 nm). This also guarantees a foolproof installation of transceivers without any confusion since all the transceivers are identical and there is one fiber. In a WDM BiDi system, this is only a viable approach for providing each channel a fully bi-directionally dedicated (or symmetric) bandwidth. This technology may face between upstream and downstream signals a crosstalk and an interferometric beat noise, both coming from reflections at the interface between a transceiver and a channel link fiber with PC (or UPC) type connectors , which may impose a limit on the maximum allowable channel loss, or in other words, the maximum transmission distance. These reflections, however, can be mitigated by using APC type connectors.

Here is a table that summarizes pros and cons of various BiDi transmission technologies. The single wavelength BiDi clearly shows its own unique advantages over two other competing technologies, two-wavelength BiDi and Duplex.

The single wavelength BiDi transmission technology allows over a single fiber a simultaneous communication in both directions at the almost same wavelength. Here is a figure that shows a simple of such transmission system:The signal wavelengths from two transceivers, downstream signal from Tx 1 and upstream signal from Tx 2, are very close to each other, which explains why this approach is named as “a single wavelength BiDi transmission”.

A BiDi CWDM MUX/DEMUX with 9 Channels in 19

More product introduction:

DWDM 40CH multiplexer

Make Use of DWDM Equipments by ISL Trunks

Inter-Switch Link (ISL) protocol, is a cisco proprietary protocol, Can only be used for interconnection between Cisco network equipment, it is mainly used for maintenance the VLAN information such as the traffic between the switches and routers. VLAN is a kind of agreement for solving the problem of Ethernet radio and safety. After the introduction of VLAN, the host to communicate across the switches in the VLAN. We all know that cascaded FCP/FICON directors use ISLs to connect the directors. In certain configurations, ISLs can be grouped or aggregated, typically for performance and reliability. Brocade calls this an ISL trunk (frame-based trunking), and Cisco calls this a Port Channel just as CWDM chassis. We will generically call this feature ISL trunking or just a trunk.

Each vendor might implement these trunks in a unique way to provide proprietary features. The vendors’ trunks ISLs might contain proprietary frames, proprietary frame formats, or special characters or sequences of characters in the inter-frame gaps.

Often, the difference between a cascaded environment contained in a signal data center or campus environment, and one in a metro environment, is the use of a DWDM Optical Amplifiers to carry the ISLs over the extended distance.

The primary concern when attempting to use trunked ISLs with a DWDM is that the ISL data streams must be unaltered by the DWDM for the proprietary functions to work correctly. This os sometimes called bits in, bits out, to indicate that there is no change to the signals, especially between the cascaded directors.

The challenge with non-symmetric transit times for the ISLs in a trunk is illustrated in following picture. The scale is time to arrive and not distance traversed per time unit (which would produce a great roughly the opposite of this). This diagram shows how the signals, sent at the same time on parallel ISLs, could arrive at the endpoint at different times. The director measure this difference at the time that the trunk is created. The difference is called skew.

ISL Skew

The director can accommodate a small skew, but an ISL with skew that is too large might be removes from the trunk by the director. An ISL that is carried on circuitry that introduces variable skew will not be detected, because the director does not re-measure the skew. If the variance of the skew becomes too large, the traffic on the trunk could be the cause of interface control checks (IFCCs), or could experience out-of-order frames.

It must be noted that the trunks between cascaded directors might appear to work without any issues during testing, because this is often performed with a relatively low I/O load. At that point, only oe or two ISLs in a trunk carry traffic with high I/O loads. Some DWDM optical transport equipment features can cause the skew to vary (that is, not be consistent), which can cause out-of-order frames or other issues with the I/O traffic.

Any alteration of the data stream introduced by circuitry or software in the DWDMs might affect the ISLs. The DWDM vendor might alter the data streams for different purposes. You should check with the DWDM and the FICON director vendors to determine basic ISL compatibility. Some of these features might be implemented in a way that alters the data stream that will not affect a single ISL, but would affect trunking. In general, these DWDM features should not be used on trunked ISLs.

IBM has experience with DWDMs that could not be used for ISL trunks because of the issues noted, and some experience where DWDMs appeared to support ISL trunking. There are many features on each DWDM and on each FICON director, giving a large number of permutations that would be difficult to test.

For a single example, and definitely not to provide an exhaustive test, Fiberstore tested a specific configuration with two Brocade FICON Directors whose trunked ISLs were carried on two ADVA FSP 3000s at a distance of 80 km. The test configuration, with significant and varying I/O load, did not find significant increases in IFCCs or out-of-order frames, and the skews between the ISLs in the trunk were within acceptable limits.

There are many DWDM vendors such as Fiberstore who has their own compatibility documents. Ask your DWDM vendors for this information if you are considering combining ISL trunking with a DWDM. In addition, Fiberstore is doing with a discount of 30% to CWDM/DWDM related products, if you have some needs, welcome to our Fiberstore.

Discussion of DWDM Technology Development Oppotunity

We all have a knowledge of fiber CWDM multiplexer. but how to choose suitable solution is what we need to know. As we know, because of its costs, DWDM is more suited to longer-reach applications if developers begin to value the real requirements are in the metro access/metro core space. DWDM is a useful solution for high-growth routes that have an immediate need for additional bandwidth. According to vendors, carrying that are building or expanding their long distances networks could find DWDM to be an economical way to incrementally increase capacity, rapidly provision needed expansion, and “future-proof” their infrastructure against unforeseen bandwidth demand.

DWDM is well suitable for long-distance telecommunications operators when we use either point-to-point or ring topologies. The availability of 16, 32, or 64 new transmission channels, where there used to be one, improves an operator’s ability to expand capacity and simultaneously set aside backup bandwidth without installing new fiber. Proponents make the case that this large amount of capacity is critical to the development of self-healing rings. By deploying DWDM terminals, an operator can construct a protected 40 Gbps ring with 16 separate communication signals using only two fibers. However, unless there is a major underlying engine continuously driving the demand through the roof, this kind of technology is a “one-time (in a long time) upgrade,” with obvious market-sizing implications.

There has been a lot of hype in the recent past about metro 10gbase DWDM, Some supporters of DWDM claim that the acceptance of the technology will drive the expansion of the optical layer throughout the whole telecommunications network and allow service providers to exploit the bandwidth capacity that is inherent in optical fiber,But at present there are still a lot to be exploited. The widespread introduction of this technology, however, could at the same time will appear a lot of problems, it will lead to a long distances bandwidth glut and price disruptions, and set expectations for price points at the metro access/metro core that may or may not be achievable. Finally, one finds with some satisfaction the following quotes:”With so much unused fiber, when will metro nets really need WDM? What are the requirements for 40 Gbps systems? What are the new economic trade-offs between transparency and grooming. And which of the new service providers will succeed?”.

The related question for the current discussion is whether DWDM has practical application to the metro access/metropolitan environments, probably for a handful of POP-to-POP rings. If DWDM systems now in the market were redesigned to be optimized according to the requirements for metropolitan environments,  there could be increased applicability. If the systems were redesigned to meet specific price points, then their applicability would be enhanced. When the long distances industry saw major retrenchments at the turn of the decade, a number of optical vendors took the easy course of relabeling the equipment that had been developed by them for long distances applications and pasted a “metro DWDM” label onto the equipment while at the same time generating new marketing collaterals, rather than redeveloping, as would have been more appropriate equipment that is optimized and right -sized for metro access/metro core applications from both density and cost points of view. It appears that, at least for the next few years, the opportunity for metro DWDM is somewhat limited. As noted earlier, this technology may see some penetration in a metro core application of POP-to-POP rings, but extremely limited application in the metro access segment.

Systems with DWDM technology have been used extensively in the long distances space and typically cos from 100 thousands to 1000 thousands dollars or more. There are economic advantages in using DWDM when the transmission costs are high, such as in long distances applications. Such use is justified by standard transmission -versus-multiplexing cost calculations. For example, to transmit 40 Gbps over 600 km using a traditional system would require 16 separate fiber pairs with regenerators placed every 35 km for a total of 272 regenerators. dense wavelength division multiplexing equipment, on the other hand, uses a single fiber pair and four amplifiers positioned every 120 km for a total of 600 km. At the same time, new Extended Wavelength Band (EWB) fiber is being introduced that allows a wider range of operation for the transmission system; some Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing equipment (which is more ideal for metropolitan environment) will make use of the E-band.

Even in long distances applications, design considerations aimed at optimizing the cost profile are not always straightforward. In particular, TDW-only solutions supporting increasing speed have kept pace with a number of advantage in the WDM technology during the mid-to-late 1990s, at least for medium-size trunking application (up to 10Gbps). For example, a TDM-based solution has only one 10 Gbps SONET terminal. A WDM system that transports an aggregate capacity of 10 Gbps requires four 2.5 Gbps terminals in addition to a WDM terminal per end. Because TDM technology has typically quadrupled its capacity for a cost multiplier of 2.2, the 10 Gbps solution appears to be more cost-effective. However, if the TDM system also requires four 2.5 Gbps terminals to provide the first stage of multiplexing, the 10 Gbps solution might actually be more costly, and but we have to note that if the 2.5 Gbps terminals are already in the network, they represent a sunk cost and might not be included in the cost analysis.

Before optical line amplifiers were developed and deployed, high-speed TDM-based systems were more cost-effective than WDM because the TDM systems allowed multiple lower-speed electronic regenerators at a point in the network to be replaced with a single higher-speed regenerator at that point in the network; originally, this was not the case with the WDM design. The introduction of optical line amplifiers with the ability to amplify the entire ITU grid frequencies simultaneously allows multiple lower-speed electronic regenerators at a site to be replaced with one optical amplifier, making WDM more cost-effective.

Fiberstore designs, manufactures, and sells a broad portfolio of optical communication products, including passive optical network, or PON, subsystems, optical transceivers used in the enterprise, access, and metropolitan segments of the market, as well as other optical components, modules, and subsystems. In particular, Fiberstore products include DWDM related professional components. Welcome to visit our online store to know more about DWDM information anytime.