Introduction to DWDM Technology

James Tai
 Outline

• General Background
• Why DWDM?
• Fundamentals of DWDM Technology
• Future Trend
 General Background
• Bandwidth Explosion

Optical Transmission
Doubling every 9 Months

Data Storage
Doubling every 12 Months

Silicon Processing (Moore’s Law)

Doubling every 18 Months

Year
 Why DWDM?
• High Bandwidth Demand:
- Bandwidth are doubling every 3 months
- Internet traffic increases thousand-fold every 3 years
 How to increase Bandwidth
• SONET& TDM: Increase the bit rate by using high speed electronics
OC-12 OC-48 OC-192 OC-768
622 Mb/s 2.5 Gb/s 10 Gb/s 40 Gb/s
Note: For signal rate <10 Gbps, the cost per bit will drop approximately
40% when the bit rate increases fourfold.

• FDM: Increase the radio frequency channel (BW)

• WDM: Increase the capacity of a single fiber by using a technology of

combining and separating optical signals of different wavelengths
sent along an optical fiber

- e.g. Multiplex multiple TDM signals of OC-N over a single fiber

(multiple OC-N signals each over a single fiber X N fibers)
= NX(OC-N) signal over a single fiber
What is WDM ?
Evolution of WDM
 TDM vs WDM

SONET TDM WDM (DWDM)

Electronically multiplex Optically multiplex individual

signals to a single higher bit wavelengths over a single
rate at a single wavelength fiber
for transmission
Optical-to-electrical (O-to-E) No O-to-E conversion
conversion before signals before signals being
being multiplexed/demuxed multiplexed/demuxed

Carry synchronous TDM Carry multiple protocols

hierarchy (protocol independent)
 WDM v.s. DWDM

• DWDM spaces the wavelengths more closely than does WDM,

and therefore has a greater overall capacity
• State-of-the-art technology: 273 wavelengths, 40Gbps/wavelength
10.9Tbps over single fiber (NEC, Mar2001)
this capacity means (1) 1,560M of DS0 or
(2) 167M of MPEG-2 or
(3) 2.5K of CD-ROM (500MB/CD-ROM)
Fundamentals of DWDM Technology

1. Optical Fiber
2. Optical Light Source and Detector
3. Optical Amplifier
4. DWDM Multiplexer and Demultiplexer
5. Optical Switch (Optical Cross-Connect)
6. Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer
7. Wavelength Router
8. Optical DWDM Transponder
 Optical Fibers
• Fiber cable: core /cladding layer diameter
Multi-mode fiber (MMF): 50/125 or 62.5/125 µm
Single-mode fiber (SMF): 9/125 µm

MMF core

SMF core

Cladding layer
Light path
 Fiber Attenuation &
DWDM Operating Bandwidth

“S” band
Note:DWDM BW
(1) S-band: 1485~ 1520 nm
(2) C-band:1530 ~ 1562 nm
(3) L-band: 1570 ~1610 nm
 Transmission Problems in Optical Fibers

• Linear Effects: can be compensated

(1) Attenuation
(2) Dispersion

• Non-Linear Effects: will accumulate (not so critical in short-haul network)

(1) Polarization Mode Dispersion (not a problem at speeds < OC-192)
(2) Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
(3) Stimulated Raman Scattering
(4) Self-Phase Modulation
(5) Four-Wave Mixing
(the most critical effect; will limit the channel capacity of DWDM system)
 Dispersion

Concept of Dispersion

Horse Race
Input
Output
 Dispersion

17 ps/(Km*nm) -100 ps/(Km*nm)

 Stimulated Raman Scattering

Tilt Output
Flat Input (After SRS)
Power

Optical Fiber

Optical Channels
(Optical Frequency, nm)
 Four-Wave Mixing

Channels f 1, f 2, f 3 interact to Four Wave Mixing creates

create a intermodulation product cross-talk for channel f 1
(sideband) at (f1+f2+f3)

f1 f2 f3 f4 Frequency
Optical Carriers (@ 50/100GHz Spacings)
 Optical Fibers

• Fiber cable attenuation: Depend on core size and operating wavelength

MMF SMF
Core Diamater
50 62.5 9
(µm)
Wavelength 850 1300 850 1300 1310 1550
(nm)
Loss (dB/Km) 2.7 0.8 3.2 0.9 0.35 0.22
BW (MHz) x
Length (Km) 400 1000 200 500
Dispersion
ps/(nm x Km)
1 17

New Fiber: 10GbpsX40m

 Optical Fibers

• Limitation on System Performance Using MMF

(1) Insufficient bandwidth and transmission distance

(2) Higher loss than SMF’s

(3) Interference induced modal noise → SNR degradation

 Optical Fibers
• Three MajorTypes of Single Mode Fiber (SMF):
(1) Non-dispersion-shifted fiber (NDSF), G.652 (standard SMF)
(a) >95% of deployed plant; has serious fiber dispersion problem
(b) suitable for TDM use in single channel 1310 nm or DWDM use in
1550 nm window (with dispersion compensators)
(2) Dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF), G.653
(a) exhibits serious fiber nonlinearity problem, i.e. FWM
(b) Suitable for TDM use in the 1550 nm window, but not suitable for DWDM
(3) Non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber (NZ-DSF), G.655
(meet the needs of DWDM applications)

As bit rates approach to 10 Gb/s and beyond, the interdependence between

system and fiber design will be very important for system planning
Chromatic Dispersion
 Optical Light Sources and Detectors
• Light Source:
(a) Light Emitting Diode (LED)
(b) Laser Diode (LD): VCSEL, Fabry-Perot (FP) Laser, Distributed Feedback Laser (DFB)

LED FP DFB

BW Narrow ~ Wide

Noise High ~ Low

Linearity Poor ~ Good

Environmental
Unstable ~ Stable
Influence
Application Digital, Digital & DWDM Digital
<1 Gbps Analog (10Gb/s) &
Analog
 Optical Light Sources and Detectors
• L-I Response of Light Source:

(a) LED (b) Laser Diode

Power (mW)
Optical

Modulated Optical Signals

Distorted Signals

Bias (mA)

AC Signal AC Signal
 Comparison of Key Performance Features for
VCSEL, DFB, and FP lasers
(Source: 2001, Mar. issue of Fiber Optic Product News)
VCSEL DFB Fabry Perot
Emission Type Surface Edge Edge
Emission Pattern Circular Elliptical Elliptical
Divergence Angle ~ 10 degree ~ 30 degree ~ 30 degree
Spectral Width 0.1 nm 0.1 nm 2 ~ 5 nm
Peak Modulation Speed 20 Gb/s ~ 10 Gb/s ~ 10 Gb/s
Threshold Current 1 ~ 5 mA 10 ~ 15 mA 2 ~ 5 mA
Fiber Coupling Efficiency 80% 10% 10%
Coupling Optics Not required Aspheric lens Aspheric lens
Wavelength Drift ~0.1 nm/deg C ~0.1 nm/deg C ~0.5 nm/deg C
Link Distance for 10 GbE VSR (850 nm, 300m of IR (Direct IR
Transponder new MM fiber) Modulation)
IR (1310 nm, 2~12Km)
Power Consumption for 10 3W ~ 4W 7W ~ 10W 7W ~ 10W
GbE Transponder
Rel. Price of packaged 1X 25X 4.5X
Laser @ 1Gb/s
 Direct Modulation v.s. External Modulation
• Direct Modulation: Chirp can become a limiting factor at high bit rates (> 10 Gb/s)

RF Input Optical Output (SMF)

DFB

• External Modulation: help to limit chirp

Phase
Modulator RF Input Bias Control
VRF VBIAS

SMF fiber
DFB out
PM fiber 3 dB -
in Coupler
λ @ ITU -grid
 ITU Defined Wavelengths
(100GHz = 0.8 nm)
Channel W a v e len g th Frequency Channel W a v e len g th Frequency
N u m b er (n m ) (G H z ) N u m b er (n m ) (G H z )
15 1 5 6 5 .4 9 6 1 1 9 1 ,5 0 0 44 1 5 4 2 .1 4 2 5 1 9 4 ,4 0 0
16 1 5 6 4 .6 7 9 0 1 9 1 ,6 0 0 45 1 5 4 1 .3 4 9 6 1 9 4 ,5 0 0
17 1 5 6 3 .8 6 2 8 1 9 1 ,7 0 0 46 1 5 4 0 .5 5 7 6 1 9 4 ,6 0 0
18 1 5 6 3 .0 4 7 5 1 9 1 ,8 0 0 47 1 5 3 9 .7 6 6 3 1 9 4 ,7 0 0
19 1 5 6 2 .2 3 2 9 1 9 1 ,9 0 0 48 1 5 3 8 .9 7 5 9 1 9 4 ,8 0 0
20 1 5 6 1 .4 1 9 3 1 9 2 ,0 0 0 49 1 5 3 8 .1 8 6 3 1 9 4 ,9 0 0
21 1 5 6 0 .6 0 6 5 1 9 2 ,1 0 0 50 1 5 3 7 .3 9 7 4 1 9 5 ,0 0 0
22 1 5 5 9 .7 9 4 5 1 9 2 ,2 0 0 51 1 5 3 6 .6 0 9 4 1 9 5 ,1 0 0
23 1 5 5 8 .9 8 3 4 1 9 2 ,3 0 0 52 1 5 3 5 .8 2 2 2 1 9 5 ,2 0 0
24 1 5 5 8 .1 7 3 1 1 9 2 ,4 0 0 53 1 5 3 5 .0 3 5 8 1 9 5 ,3 0 0
25 1 5 5 7 .3 6 3 6 1 9 2 ,5 0 0 54 1 5 3 4 .2 5 0 3 1 9 5 ,4 0 0
26 1 5 5 6 .5 5 5 0 1 9 2 ,6 0 0 55 1 5 3 3 .4 6 5 5 1 9 5 ,5 0 0
27 1 5 5 5 .7 4 7 3 1 9 2 ,7 0 0 56 1 5 3 2 .6 8 1 5 1 9 5 ,6 0 0
28 1 5 5 4 .9 4 0 4 1 9 2 ,8 0 0 57 1 5 3 1 .8 9 8 3 1 9 5 ,7 0 0
29 1 5 5 4 .1 3 4 3 1 9 2 ,9 0 0 58 1 5 3 1 .1 1 5 9 1 9 5 ,8 0 0
30 1 5 5 3 .3 2 9 0 1 9 3 ,0 0 0 59 1 5 3 0 .3 3 4 4 1 9 5 ,9 0 0
31 1 5 5 2 .5 2 4 6 1 9 3 ,1 0 0 60 1 5 2 9 .5 5 3 6 1 9 6 ,0 0 0
32 1 5 5 1 .7 2 1 0 1 9 3 ,2 0 0 61 1 5 2 8 .7 7 3 6 1 9 6 ,1 0 0
33 1 5 5 0 .9 1 8 3 1 9 3 ,3 0 0 62 1 5 2 7 .9 9 4 4 1 9 6 ,2 0 0
34 1 5 5 0 .1 1 6 3 1 9 3 ,4 0 0 63 1 5 2 7 .2 1 6 0 1 9 6 ,3 0 0
35 1 5 4 9 .3 1 5 3 1 9 3 ,5 0 0 64 1 5 2 6 .4 3 8 4 1 9 6 ,4 0 0
36 1 5 4 8 .5 1 5 0 1 9 3 ,6 0 0 65 1 5 2 5 .6 6 1 6 1 9 6 ,5 0 0
37 1 5 4 7 .7 1 5 5 1 9 3 ,7 0 0 66 1 5 2 4 .8 8 5 6 1 9 6 ,6 0 0
38 1 5 4 6 .9 1 6 9 1 9 3 ,8 0 0 67 1 5 2 4 .1 1 0 3 1 9 6 ,7 0 0
39 1 5 4 6 .1 1 9 1 1 9 3 ,9 0 0 68 1 5 2 3 .3 3 5 9 1 9 6 ,8 0 0
40 1 5 4 5 .3 2 2 2 1 9 4 ,0 0 0 69 1 5 2 2 .5 6 2 2 1 9 6 ,9 0 0
41 1 5 4 4 .5 2 6 0 1 9 4 ,1 0 0 70 1 5 2 1 .7 8 9 3 1 9 7 ,0 0 0
42 1 5 4 3 .7 3 0 7 1 9 4 ,2 0 0 71 1 5 2 1 .0 2 0 0 1 9 7 ,1 0 0
43 1 5 4 2 .9 3 6 2 1 9 4 ,3 0 0 72 1 5 2 0 .2 5 0 0 1 9 7 ,2 0 0
 ITU-Grid (ITU-G.692) Wavelengths

• Optical channel numbers can be increased by spacing the wavelengths more

closely, at 50 GHz, to double the number of channels.
However, spacing at 50 GHz limits the maximum data rate per λ to 10 Gb/s

• The closer the wavelength spacings, the more optical channel crosstalk results

• Nonlinear interactions among different DWDM channels creates intermodulation

products (FWM) that can induce interchannel interference, resulting in crosstalk
and SNR degradation.
The closer the spacings, the more FWM interference results
 Optical Transceiver Evolution (using SMF)
Short Short Reach Long Reach
Reach Intermediate Reach
1300 nm 1550 nm
100

10
Optical Line Rate

VCSEL

0.1

0.01
1 10 100
Distance (Km)
Spectral Response for Photodiode

Si Ge InGaAs
 Optical Receiver Design Issue
• PIN Photodiode:

CONTACT
METALIZATION
p-InGaAs
p or electron
p-InP diffusion V
Tuning +
DEPLETION i n-InGaAs carrier Matching To 50 Ohm Load
Wd LAYER drift
Circuit
hole RL Photo-
n-InP diffusion
SUBSTRATE n diode

hν

- Two Important Design Issues for “impedance matched receiver”:

(1) Low Noise
(2) Wide Bandwidth
 Photodiode

PIN Photodiode Avalanche

Photodiode (APD)
Photon-Electron 1:1 1:N (N=10)
Conversion
Receiver Sensitivity Medium High
Cost Low High
Reliability High Moderate
Temperature Sensitivity Low High
 Optical Amplifiers
- DWDM Enabler -
(1) Conventional Design

Tx Repeater Rx
3R Functions:
- Retiming
- Reshaping
- Retransmission

(2) New Design (can save 60 to 80% regenerator costs)

Optical
Tx Amplifier Rx

1R Function:
-Retransmission or
Reamplification
Optical Amplifiers
DWDM Bandwidth
 Optical Amplifiers
• Optical Fiber Amplifier
- Pr-Doped Fiber Amplifier (PDFA; 1310nm region)
- Th-Doped Fiber Amplifier
(TDFA; S Band in 1500 nm region, 20 dB gain, 35 nm gain BW)
- Er-Doped Fiber Amplifier
(EDFA; C or L Band in1550nm region, 30~ 40 dB gain)

• EDWA: Er-Doped Waveguide Amplifier (14dB gain)

• Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)

- can operate in 1310 nm or 1550 nm region, 30 nm gain BW
- not suitable for DWDM transmission

• Raman Amplifier
- can provide gain from 1300 to 1550 nm or wider, 20 dB gain
 Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier
• Single Channel EDFA

• DWDM EDFA
EDF, pre-amp stage EDF, booster stage

Dispersion Gain Flattening

Compensation Unit Filter

980-nm pumps 1480-nm pumps

EDFA Flattened Gain Response
 Erbium-Doped Waveguide Amplifier

Gain @3~5dB/cm;
Total length: 5~ 10 cm

Note: Pump Mux, Tap Coupler, and Mode Adapter can be integrated on to a
single chip. (Drawback: absence of integrated isolators)
Performance Comparison among Optical Amplifiers
 Optical Raman Amplifier

(A) Discrete Raman Amplifier (B) Distributed (Lumped) Raman Amplifier

(using specialty fiber) (using transmission fiber)
- pump @ 1450 nm,
- remote & back inject into 100Km fiber
- distributed gain over 40 Km
- pumping efficiency ~ 1/5* EDFA’s
 Why use Raman Amplifier?
• Improve system signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
• Permit higher-speed (40Gbps) transmission by reducing
fiber nonlinearity
• Extend repeater span
• Raman gain from 1300 to 1500 nm or wider
 DWDM Transmission Span
• 80 Km for each span
• DWDM terminal spacing ~ 400~600 Km (followed by a regenerator)

80 Km (span)
DWDM

DWDM
Cascaded Optical Amplifiers
400 ~ 600Km (link)

• Concerned Factors:
(1) Fiber type (4) Amplifier spacing
(2) Transmission distance (5) Amplifier noise
(3) Channel count and bit rate (6) Amplifier power
 DWDM Multiplexer/Demultiplexer

Technologies include:
• Arrayed waveguide gratings
• Thin film coating filters
• Fused biconic tapered devices
• Fiber Bragg gratings
• Inter-leaver devices
• Diffraction gratings
 Device Aspects of WDM Filter

- Figure of merit, -0.5 dB bandwidth/ -30 dB bandwidth

- Low loss
- Low Polarization sensitivity
- Flat top
Channel Filter
- Steep roll-off Spacing Bandwidth
- Stable & Manufacturable

Crosstalk
 DWDM Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
Advantages
Thin Film Coating Filters (1) Flexible in channel count and
irregular wavelength plan
(2) Totally passive/temperature stable
(3) Good optical performance in
isolation, insertion loss, PDL, and
PMD
(4) wideband application (up to 16 Chs)
Fiber Bragg Gratings (1) Excellent filter shape
(2) Good optical performance in
isolation, insertion loss(when used
as a notch filter)
(3) Short development time
(4) Fused coupler + FBG, achieve 50
GHz spacing
Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (1) Cost is not proportional to channel
Count (cost effective for DWDM )
(2) Short development time to dense
channel spacings
(5) Relative low insertion loss for high
channel count
(6) Compact size
(7) Potential to integrate with other
functions
Disadvantages
(1) Takes longer time to develop
and accumulate filters with
dense channel spacing
(2) Cost is proportional to channel
count
(1) Not suitable for wideband
applications
(2) Need temperature stabilization
(3) Cost is proportional to channel
count
(1) Poor filter shape
(2) High nonadjacent channel
noise
(3) Need temperature stabilization
(4) High PDL and PMD
DWDM Multiplexer/Demultiplexer

Interleaver
 Optical Switch
• MEMS(micro-electromechnical system)-Based Photonic Switch:
 Performance for 1X2/2X2 MEMS-Based
Latching Optical Switch (using 2-D MEMS)
 MEMS Crossconnects
• 2-D Design MEMS

Plan 4

Plan 3 Plan 3

Plan
Plan2 2 Plan 2 Plan 2

Plan 1 Plan 1 Plan 1

• 3-D Design
 Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer

• Current OADM (Add/Drop fixed wavelengths)

• Emerging OADM (Add/Drop any selection of wavelengths)
 Characteristics of Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer

• Has one or more optical fiber inputs and corresponding outputs, with multiple
wavelengths multiplexed on each fiber

• Demultiplexes some or all of the wavelengths on the coming fiber and drops these
wavelengths, one wavelength per fiber, to subscribers and directly or via electronic
demultiplexing to lower data rates

• Add signals from subscribers, one wavelength per fiber, multiplexes these
on outgoing fiber
 Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer

• Current Throughput: 8 ~ 16 X 2.5 Gb/s = 20 ~ 40 Gb/s

λ1 ~ λ8

DWDM
DWDM
Optical
Amplifier

R: Receiver
R R T T T: Transmitter @ fixed λ

Fiber to Fiber from

Subscriber Subscriber
Electronic Add/Drop
 Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer
• Estimated Throughput in 2008: 128 X10Gb/s = 1.28 Tb/s
Optical
Crossconnect
(128X256)

DWDM
λ1 ~ λ128

Optical DWDM
Amplifier

R: Receiver
R R T T T: Tunable Transmitter

Fiber to Fiber from

Subscriber Subscriber
Electronic Add/Drop
Wavelength Router (Dynamic WDM Crossconnect)

Tunable laser inside (Source: 2001, Mar issue of Lightwave)

(1) Tuning speed < 2 ns,
(2) Tuning throughout the C-band <15ns
(3) Synchronization time < 40 ns
 Optical Transponder / Wavelength Adapter

DWDM Optical Transponder

DWDM
λ @850/1310/1550nm)

Optical Transponder

(1) Embeded DWDM Operation (2) Open DWDM Operation

Operation of DWDM-Based System

DWDM

DWDM
Pre-
 Optical Bandwidth
• Optical bandwidth can be increased by increased by improving DWDM
system in three areas:
Channel Spacing
Current benchmark 50 GHz
State-of-the-art technology 25 GHz
Improvement gain X2
Challenge (1) Laser stabilization
(2) Mux/DeMux tolerance
(3) Filter technology
(4) Fiber nonlinear effects
Channel Bit Rate Fiber Bandwidth
10 Gb/s @ 50GHz spacing C band
40Gb/s @ 100GHz spacing S and L band
X2 X3
(1) PMD mitigation (1) Optical Amplifier
(2) Dispersion (2) Band Splitters &
compensation Combiners
(3) High speed SONET (3) Gain tilt due to
Mux/DeMux stimulated Raman
scattering
Current Networking Status

Migrating the SONET Ring

to DWDM

DWDM
Terminal
 Future Trend

Elimi
natin
g Pro
Current IP / ATM / SONET tocol
Layering layer
s
Packet-over-SONET
IP / MPLS
Layering
Direct IP-over-DWDM
ATM IP / MPLS
Layering

SONET / SDH SONET / SDH IP / MPLS

Optical Transport

Time
Key requirements in the MAN for DWDM systems

• Multiprotocol support
• Scalability
• Reliability and availability
• Openness (interface, network management, stand fiber types,
electromagnetic compatibility)
• Ease of installation and management
• Size and power consumption
• Cost effectiveness
Metro DWDM Systems

Metropolitan Area Networks

• Metro Core
• Metro Access
• Enterprise
Optical Networking Applications in MAN