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From O to L: The
Evolution of Optical
Wavelength Bands
In optical fiber communications system, several transmission bands have been defined and
standardized, from the original O-band to the U/XL-band. The E- and U/XL-bands have typically
been avoided because they have high transmission loss regions. The E-band represents the water
peak region, while the U/XL-band resides at the very end of the transmission window for silica glass.
Intercity and metro ring fiber already carry signals on multiple wavelengths to increase bandwidth.
Fibers entering the home will soon do the same. Now there are several types of optical telecom
systems have been developed, some based on time division multiplexing (TDM) and others on
wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), either dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) or
coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM). This article may represent the evolution of optical
wavelength bands mainly by describing these three high-performance systems.
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In order to meet the demand for unlimited bandwidth, it was believed that DWDM would have to
be extended to more bands. In the future, however, the L-band will also prove to be useful. Because
EDFAs are less efficient in the L-band, the use of Raman amplification technology will be
re-addressed, with related pumping wavelengths close to 1485 nm.
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Current systems use the S-, C- and L-bands because these bands inhabit the natural region for low
optical losses in glass fiber. Although extension into the O and E-band (1310 nm to 1450 nm) is
possible, system reach (the distance the light can travel in fiber and still provide good signal without
amplification) will suffer as a result of losses incurred by use of the 1310 nm region in modern
fibers.
Conclusion
In each case, sufficient performance has been demonstrated to ensure high performance for today
s and tomorrows systems. From this article, we know that the original O-band hasnt satisfied the
rapid development of high bandwidth anymore. And the evolution of optical wavelength bands just
means more and more bands will be called for. In the future, with the growth of FTTH applications,
there is no doubt that C- and L-bands will play more and more important roles in optical
transmission system. Fiberstore offer all kinds of products for WDM optical network, such as
CWDM/DWDM MUX DEMUX and EDFA. For more information, please visit www.fs.com.
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