DWDM FUNDAMENTALS Anand Alexander

SME/Etisalat Technology Academy

Expected Accomplishments

On completing this course, participants will have the technical understanding of

DWDM technology which is the basis for the NG Optical Networks.

Target Group

This course primarily intended for technical personnel involved in the planning,
design, management or support of Optical Networks.
 COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Justify the rationale for DWDM networks

 Define optical transmission challenges that impact DWDM transmission and list mitigation schemes
 Describe the ITU-T channel grid for CWDM and DWDM
 Step through the building blocks of a DWDM network
 Outline the different topologies supported by DWDM
 Select appropriate fibers for DWDM networks
 Evaluate amplifiers, lasers and detectors based on performance requirements
 Design optical links based on power budget, dispersion and OSNR
 Identify test measurement equipment and the measured parameters in DWDM systems
CONTENTS

Module 1 Introduction to DWDM

Module 2 DWDM Network Elements

Module 3 DWDM Transmission Challenges

Module 4 DWDM Network Components

Module 5 DWDM Network Design

Module 6 DWDM Measurements

INTRODUCTION TO DWDM
 …Why WDM ?

Traditional NetworkwithRepeaters,noWDM
LTE LTE
LTE LTE
LTE LTE
LTE LTE

Less Equipment and Fiber

WDMNetworkwith OpticalAmplifiers
LTE LTE
LTE LTE
LTE LTE
LTE LTE
 …Why WDM ?

High bit-rates and protocol independent transport

• Bit-rate and protocol independent transport
• Extremely high bandwidth
10G X 80  0.8 Tbps
40G X 80  3.2 Tbps
100G X 80  8 Tbps
• Fiber plant investment is preserved – add capacity to lit fiber
through equipment upgrades; graceful growth
• Highly scalable – leverage abundance of dark fiber; convert existing
spans of SONET / SDH rings
• Dynamic provisioning – service availability in hours / days compared to
months in a purely TDM world; wavelength on demand
• Convergence Layer – Creates the optical superhighway for IP and Ethernet
• Relevant in access, metro, regional, and long haul networks
 …Why WDM ?

Topology flexibility

• With standard interfaces, the physical network topology is

restricted to the fiber topology.
• Fiber is expensive, and availability is limited. Metro / regional fiber is
most cost effectively deployed to multiple sites in a ring.
• DWDM, specifically ROADM, allows any L1 topology (hub and spoke,
mesh) over any fiber topology – typically a ring.
 DWDM Innovations

Emmanuel B. Desurvire. “Capacity Demand and Technology Challenges for Lightwave Systems in the Next Two
Decades” JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2006
 Recent DWDM Capacity Records

Manufacturer Model Channel Count Total Capacity

Huawei Optix 6100 40 10G/lambda

Huawei Optix 6800 40 40G/lambda

Alcatel PSS1830 80 100G/lambda

Alcatel PSS 1832 96 100G/lambda

Ciena Ciena 6500 88 100G/lambda

Note: Single fibre capacity is 1000 x 40 Gbits/s = 40 Tbits/s per fibre

 Optical Spectrum

Ultraviolet Visible InfraRed



850 nm 1310 nm 1550 nm 1625 nm

Optical communication wavelength bands in the InfraRed:

• 850 nm over Multimode fiber
• 1310 nm over Singlemode fiber
• C-band:1550 nm over Singlemode fiber
• L-band: 1625 nm over Singlemode fiber

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CWDM
 ITU-T Channel Grid

 CWDM employs a channel spacing of 20 nm

 DWDM channel spacings are 0.2 nm, 0.4 nm, 0.8 nm and 1.6 nm (25, 50, 100 and 200 GHz)
 ITU-T DWDM Channel Numbering

For channel spacings of 12.5 GHz on a fibre, the allowed channel frequencies (in THz) are defined by:
193.1 + n × 0.0125 where n is a positive or negative integer including 0

For channel spacings of 25 GHz on a fibre, the allowed channel frequencies (in THz) are defined by:
193.1 + n × 0.025 where n is a positive or negative integer including 0

For channel spacings of 50 GHz on a fibre, the allowed channel frequencies (in THz) are defined by:
193.1 + n × 0.05 where n is a positive or negative integer including 0

For channel spacings of 100 GHz or more on a fibre, the allowed channel frequencies (in THz) are defined by:
193.1 + n × 0.1 where n is a positive or negative integer including 0

ITU-T G.694.1
 Wavelength Plan for 100GHz Grid
(0.8nm spacing) in C band

0.8 nm
100 GHz
„Blue Band“ „Red Band“

1510.0 1528.77 1560.61 nm

198.6 196.10 192.1 THz

1480.0 nm
202.6 THz
ITU C-Band

43 channels defined
 Wavelength Plan for 50GHz Grid (0.4nm spacing) in C band

0.4 nm
50 GHz

1510.0 nm 1528.77 1560.61 nm

198.6 THz 196.1 192.1 THz
1480.0 nm
202.6 THz
 DWDM Channel Spacing

• Theoretically available DWDM channels in the C and L-band depending on

the channel spacing

ITU-T G.694.1 The DWDM channel spacing is 0.8/0.4 nm (100

GHz/50 GHz grid). This small channel spacing
•C-Band λ: 1530 nm - 1565 nm allows to transmit simultaneously more information.
max. 360 channels (12,5 GHz Grid) Currently a restriction on wavelengths between
1530 nm and 1625 nm exists which corresponds to
•L-Band λ: 1565 nm - 1625 nm the C and L band.
max. 560 channels (12,5 GHz Grid)
DWDM NETWORK ELEMENTS
Situation without WDM
Situation with WDM
WDM Route Lengths
Example of a Short Route Length Application
Example of a Medium Route Length Application
Example of a Long Transmission Route Length Application
Transponder Applications
Transponder Application
Optical NE Types
Optical NE Types
Important ITU Standards
DWDM TRANSMISSION CHALLENGES
Parameters Causing Signal Distortion
Attenuation
 Dispersion

Dispersion and speed of different wavelengths

Optical
fiber
Tx Rx
All wavelengths transmitted at Dispersion causes some Different wavelengths arrive at
the same time wavelengths to delay different times
Dispersion
Mode Dispersion
Chromatic Dispersion
Chromatic Dispersion
 Waveguide Dispersion

Fiber-Cladding

Fiber Core
 Dispersion Limitation

• Dispersion limitation is defined by the dispersion tolerance of the transmitter

and the receiver

• Total dispersion is calculated from the fiber dispersion characteristics and the
fiber length for any channel or traffic path

• The effect of fiber dispersion should be taken into account in the power
budget as the dispersion penalty budget

• If any channel hit the dispersion limit, the dispersion should be compensated
or the channel signal should be regenerated (O-E-O)

• Doubling of bit rate results in an increase of dispersion penalty of up to four

times
 Dispersion Limited Transmission Distance

Dispersion Tolerance of Transponder (ps/nm)

Distance (Km) =
Coefficient of Dispersion of Fiber (ps/nm*km)

Dispersion limited transmission distances over SMF fiber (17 ps/nm/km):

Dispersion
Transmission Rate Modulation format Distance
Tolerance
External
2.5 Gb/s 20,000 ps/nm/km ~ 1,100 km
Modulation
2.5 Gb/s Direct Modulation 2,400 ps/nm/km 140 km
External
10 Gb/s 1,200 ps/nm/km 70 km
Modulation
External
40 Gb/s 200 ps/nm/km 12 km
Modulation

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 Combating Chromatic Dispersion

• Dispersion generally not an issue below 10Gbps

• Narrow spectrum laser sources (external modulation) and low chirp* laser sources
reduce dispersion penalty. With broad/chirped sources the different spectral
components of the source will see different dispersions thus broadening the pulse in
time
• New fiber types (NZ-DSF) greatly reduce effects
• Dispersion compensation techniques
• Dispersion compensation fiber
• Dispersion compensating optical filters
• Dispersion Compensating Units (DCU) generally placed in mid- stage access
of EDFA to alleviate DCU insertion loss

• *Chirp: frequency of launched pulse changes with time

 Dispersion Compensation Unit

• Dispersion Compensating Fiber:

DCUs use fiber with chromatic dispersion of opposite sign/slope and of suitable
length to bring the average dispersion of the link close to zero.
The compensating fiber can be several kilometers in length, the DCU are typically
inserted after each span
Polarization Mode Dispersion
Polarization Mode Dispersion
 PMD and Bit Rate Dependence

• The “PMD coefficient”, with units of ps/km1/2, indicates the rate

at which PMD builds up along the fiber length
• Limits optical reach in high-speed transmission systems
• Typical PMD tolerance
2.5 Gbps: typically 40 ps
10 Gbps: typically 10 ps
40 Gbps: typically 2.5 ps ( dependent on modulation format)

• Power penalty due to PMD (1-2 dB)

 PMD Limited Transmission Distance

LINK PMD:
• The PMD link value determines the statistical upper limit for system PMD
LEAF: PMD spec <0.1 ps/km1/2
Leads to PMD limited system length of:

Transmission Rate Distance

Examples: 2.5 Gb/s 1,000,000 km
10 Gb/s 62,500 km
40 Gb/s 3,906 km

Old SMF: PMD spec <0.5 ps/km1/2

Leads to PMD limited system length of:
Transmission Rate Distance
2.5 Gb/s 40,000 km
10 Gb/s 2,500 km
40 Gb/s 156 km

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 Combating PMD

• Not an issue at 2.5 Gbps

• 2000+ Km at 10 Gbps on typical fiber
• Increase system robustness with Forward Error Correction (FEC) and
optimized transmitter modulation formats
• Deploy PMD-optimized fibers
• Use PMD Compensation (PMDC) (e.g. electronic post processing in
40/100G Optical Module DSP)

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Non Linear Effects
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)
 Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)

• Impact of SRS in a DWDM system

-10

-15

-20

Spectrum (dB) -25

-30

-35

-40

-45

-50
1528 1532 1536 1540 1544 1548 1552 1556 1560

Wavelength (nm)

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Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
 Power Threshold of SBS

25 15

15 10

Scattered power (dBm)

Output power (dBm)

5 5

5 0

15 5

25 10

35 15
5 0 5 10 15 20 25
T1523360-96
Injected power (dBm)
 Four Wave Mixing (FWM)

1 2 21-2 1 2 22-1

Into Fiber Out of Fiber

• Channels beat against each other to form intermodulation products

• Creates in-band crosstalk that can not be filtered (optically or
electrically)
 FWM Transmission

Before Transmission: After Transmission:

 Combating FWM

• FWM effect efficiency is strongly linked to dispersion

• With higher dispersion and greater channel spacing effect FWM is negated
• Dispersion Shifted fiber with disp zero in C-band exhibits high FWM penalty
• Uneven channel spacing can reduce effect because intermodulation products
do not fall on channels
0
P *n2
FWM Efficiency (dB) -10
D= 0 ps/nm P(FWM )  ( )
Aeff * D
-20 D= 0.2 ps/nm

-30
D= 2 ps/nm
-40
D= 17 ps/nm
-50
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Channel Spacing (nm)
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 FWM without and with Dispersion

Optical
fiber
Tx Rx
All wavelengths travel together:
Strong interaction

Optical
fiber
Tx Rx
The wavelengths travel seperately:
Weak interaction
 REDUCING FWM USING A LARGE EFFECTIVE AREA FIBRE NZ-DSF

 One way to improve on NZ-DSF is to increase the effective area of the fibre
 In a single mode fibre the optical power density peaks at the centre of the fibre core
 FWM and other effect most likely to take place at locations of high power density
 Large effective Area Fibres spread the power density more evenly across the fibre core
 Result is a reduction in peak power and thus FWM
 CORNING LEAF

 Corning LEAF has an effective area 32% larger than conventional NZ-DSF
 Claimed result is lower FWM
 Impact on system design is that it allows higher fibre input powers so span increases

Section of DWDM
spectrum
DWDM
NZ-DSF shows channel
higher FWM
components
FWM
component
LEAF has lower FWM
and higher per
channe\l power
 Self Phase Modulation (SPM)

• Self Phase Modulation is a single channel effect

• The signal intensity variation of a channel modulates the fiber’s
local refractive index
• Therefore different parts of the optical signal see different refractive
indexes, and therefore different phase velocities
• The resultant effect on the signal depends on fiber dispersion
• For Dispersion < 0, SPM can add on to chromatic dispersion and
increase temporal broadening of the optical pulses, thus reducing the
dispersion tolerance of the system
• For Dispersion > 0, SPM can narrow the optical pulse and thus
alleviate chromatic dispersion pulse broadening
Self Phase Modulation (SPM)

No SPM, just Dispersion

SPM + Dispersion < 0

SPM + Dispersion > 0

 Cross Phase Modulation (XPM)

 Cross Phase Modulation is a multi-channel effect

 Through the non-linear index adjacent channels also modulate the
fiber’s local refractive index and therefore modulate the phase of
the channel under consideration
 The effect of XPM is to act as a crosstalk penalty
 Increasing channel spacing reduces XPM because dispersion
increases and the individual pulse streams “walk away” from
each other
 Optimized dispersion compensation mapping can also reduce
the effect.

XPM
Crosstalk

λ
 Summary of Optical Effects

Linear Optical Effects

 Summary of Optical Effects

Nonlinear
Fiber Effects
DWDM NETWORK COMPONENTS
DWDM Components
DWDM Components
Filters and Gratings
Filters and Gratings
Fabry Perot Interferometer
Dielectric Thin Film Filters
Bragg Grating
Optical Multiplexers and
Demultiplexers
Optical Demultiplexer
Optical Demultiplexer
Arrayed Waveguide Grating
Optical Amplifiers
Optical Amplifiers
Applications for Optical Amplifiers
Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)
 Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)

• Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA)

• Operating range: C-band: 1530 to 1565 nm
L-band: 1605 to 1625nm
• Gain up to 30 dB, 1000x amplification for small signals
• High output saturation power up to +27 dBm, 500 mW
• Low signal distortion and cross-talk
• Optically Transparent
 Signal format and Bit rate independent

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 EDFA Gain Mechanism

•The photon generated by the decay of the

Erbuim ion back to Its fundamental state is in
phase with the signal photon that initiated the
Stimulated Emission
Excited State
Transition to a lower energy state
Metastable State
Energy = h . 

Pump Photon Energy = h . 

at 980 nm
+=
Amplified Telecom
Telecom signal Signal
photon at 1550 nm Photon at 1550 nm

Fundamental State Fundamental State

= Erbium Ions
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 EDFA Components

•Gain though high power pump laser(s) at either 980nm or 1480nm pumping
into the absorption bands of the erbium ions
•Input and output isolators stop the EDFA “lasing” due to reflected power
passing back through EDFA
• WDM coupler efficiently combines pump and signal wavelengths

Basic EDFA configuration

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Advantages and Disadvantages of EDFA
 EDFA OSNR Degradation

• EDFAs are the source of noise, Amplified Spontaneous Emission noise

(ASE) in a system
• The difference between the optical power of a channel and the noise
power is called the Optical Signal to Noise Ratio, OSNR
• Between EDFAs, the OSNR stays constant
• The lower the input power to the EDFA the lower the OSNR at the output
• The only way to recover OSNR is via an OEO Regeneration.
• OSNR is tracked on a per channel basis, each channel will have a
different OSNR
Every optical interface (line card, Transponder etc) has a minimum
OSNR specification that must be met

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Raman Amplifier
 Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS)

The mechanism behind Raman Amplifier

Schematic illustration of the

Raman-scattering process from a
quantum mechanical viewpoint. A
Stokes photon reduced energy
hws is created spontaneously
when a pump energy hwp is lifted
to a virtual level shown as a
dashed line.

Schematic of a fiber-based Raman

amplifier in the forward pumping
configuration. The optical filter passes
the signal beam but blocks the
residual pump.

Stimulated Raman scattering power threshold - at atleast 500 mW

 Raman Gain Coefficient
• Raman scattering is a scattering caused by the interaction between pump light
and optical phonon.

The Raman-gain coefficient gR(Ω), where Ω ≡ ωp-ωs represents

the frequency difference between the pump and Stokes waves,
is the most important quantity for describing SRS
 Raman Amplifier Types

 Distributed Raman Amplifier

(DRA): uses the transmission fiber
itself as the medium into which a
backward Raman pump is
injected.

 Discrete(Lumped) Raman
Amplifier (RA): consists of a coil
of dedicated fiber together with
pumps.
EDFA vs Raman Amplifier
Dispersion Compensation Modules
Dispersion Compensation Fiber
Chirped Fiber Bragg Grating
Laser Chirping
Laser Chirping
PMD Compensation
PMD Compensation
Lasers and Modulators
Introduction to Lasers
Fabry Perot Laser
Distributed Feedback Laser
Properties of Laser Types
Comparison of Lasers
Laser Classification

Laser Classifications chart (Courtesy of Light Brigade)

Modulators
Modulators
Photodetectors
PIN Diode
APD Diode
Isolators, Circulators and Connectors
Isolators
Circulators
Connectors
Connector Types
Connector Types
Optical Switching Units
Optical Cross-Connect (OXC)
 Micro-electromechanical Optical Switches (MEMS)
(a) 2-D MEMS optical switch. (b) 3-D MEMS optical switch.
DWDM NETWORK DESIGN
Typical Link Scenarios
 Optical Budget

Link Optical Budget = Ptx – Prx

WHERE: PTX = TRANSMITTER OUTPUT POWER

Prx = Receiver input sensitivity to achieve required BER performance

Ptx = +3 dBm Prx = -26 dBm

Budget = 29 dB
Optical Budget is affected by:
Fiber attenuation
Splices
Patch Panels/Connectors
Optical components (filters, amplifiers, etc)
Bends in fiber
Contamination/dirt on connectors

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 Span Design Limits: Attenuation

Transponder Spec
Speed 2.5G
Transmit Power 0 dBm
Receive Power -28 dBm Outside of spec
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28
Distance 120 km –30dBm
Loss per KM .25 dB
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km
–25dBm

–5dBm

0dBm
 Span Design Limits: Amplification

Transponder Spec EDFA

Speed 2.5G Input Power -9 dBm
Transmit Power 0 dBm Output Power +5 dBm
Receive Power -28 dBm Gain 14 dB
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm Noise Figure 6 dB
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28
–25dBm
Distance 120 km
Loss per KM .25 dB
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km –20dBm

0dBm
-9dBm

+5dBm
 Span Design Limits: Dispersion
Transponder Spec
Speed 2.5G
Transmit Power 0 dBm
Receive Power -28 dBm
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm Outside of spec
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28
Distance 120 km
2004ps/nm
Loss per KM .25 dB
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km

1670ps/nm

334ps/nm

0ps/nm
 Span Design Limits: Dispersion Compensation

Transponder Spec EDFA

Speed 2.5G Input Power -9 dBm
Transmit Power 0 dBm Output Power +5 dBm
Receive Power -28 dBm Gain 14 dB
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm Noise Figure 6 dB
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28
–35dBm
Distance 120 km 54ps/nm
Loss per KM .25 dB
–25dBm
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km
2004ps/nm
DCF
Compensation 1950 ps/nm –20dBm
Loss 10 dB 1670ps/nm

+0dBm
334ps/nm
–9dBm

+5dBm
0ps/nm
 Span Design Limits: OSNR Limited
OSNR
17 dB
Transponder Spec EDFA 2
Speed 2.5G Input Power -35 dBm
Transmit Power 0 dBm Output Power -15 dBm
Receive Power -28 dBm Gain 20 dB Noise
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm Noise Figure 6 dB
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber Outside of spec

Type SMF-28 –15dBm
Distance 120 km
Outside of spec 54ps/nm
Loss per KM .25 dB –25dBm
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km 2004ps/nm
DCF
Compensation 1950 ps/nm –20dBm
1670ps/nm
Loss 10 dB

+0dBm
334ps/nm
–9dBm

+5dBm
0ps/nm
Add RAMAN
Estimating OSNR
 Span Design Limits: OSNR Limited
Option #1 OSNR
22 dB
Transponder Spec RAMAN
Speed 2.5G Gain 5 dB
Transmit Power 0 dBm Noise Figure 0 dB
Receive Power -28 dBm Noise
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm Add RAMAN
OSNR Tolerance 21dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28 Outside of spec –15dBm
Distance 120 km 54ps/nm
Loss per KM .25 dB –20dBm
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km 2004ps/nm
DCF
Compensation 1950 ps/nm –20dBm
Loss 10 dB 1670ps/nm

+0dBm
334ps/nm
–9dBm

+5dBm
0ps/nm
 Span Design Limits: OSNR Limited
Option #2 OSNR
17 dB
Transponder Spec
Add FEC to Transponder
Speed 2.5G
to improve OSNR
Transmit Power 0 dBm
Tolerance
Receive Power -28 dBm Noise
Dispersion Tolerance 1600 ps/nm
OSNR Tolerance (E-FEC) 12 dB

Fiber
Type SMF-28 –15dBm
Distance 120 km 54ps/nm
Loss per KM .25 dB –25dBm
Dispersion 16.7 ps/nm*km 2004ps/nm
DCF
Compensation 1950 ps/nm –20dBm
Loss 10 dB 1670ps/nm

+0dBm
334ps/nm
–9dBm

+5dBm
0ps/nm
DWDM MEASUREMENTS
Key Optical Measurement Equipment
Basic Structure of an OTDR Analyzer
Example of an OTDR output
PMD Measurement
Configuration of a PMD Measurement
Optical Power Measurements
 ITU-T Rec. G.692 Optical power Measurement Reference points

S1 R1
Tx1 Rx1
RM1 SD1

S2 RM2 SD2 R2
Tx2 OMX OB MPI-S R‘ OA S‘ MPI-R OP ODX Rx2
RMn SDn

Sn Rn
TxN RxN
Optical Spectrum Analysis
 Optical Spectrum Analysis

Optical Spectrum Analyser

Display
Optical signal Tuneable
to analyze optical filter

Filter control
signal
 Scanning of a Spectrum with a certain Resolution Bandwidth (RBW)

In spectrum analysis, the resolution

bandwidth (RBW) is defined as the frequency
span of the final filter that is applied to the
input signal. Smaller RBWs provide finer
frequency resolution and the ability to
differentiate signals that have frequencies that
are closer together
Measurement Parameters
Measuring OSNR using an OSA
Evaluation of an OSNR Spectrum

Wavelength / nm
THANK YOU!