Design of low‐power all‐optical networks under the constraint of four‐wave mixing

Abstract

SummaryIn this paper, we propose a static lightpath establishment method to design low‐power all‐optical networks under the constraint of four‐wave mixing (FWM). Since the FWM causes nonlinear interchannel crosstalk, it degrades the communication quality of optical signals. The FWM crosstalk effect becomes strong in a fiber as the number of passing optical signals increases. Therefore, we should reduce the number of optical signals passing through the same fiber from the perspective of the FWM. Meanwhile, in order to enhance the power efficiency of optical amplifiers, which are deployed at each optical fiber, it is preferred that multiple optical signals are transmitted in the same fiber. In order to decrease the power consumption while keeping high communication quality, the proposed method statically selects routes, wavelengths, and fibers for each traffic demand, considering the FWM crosstalk effect and the usage efficiency of the optical amplifiers. We show the performance of the proposed method through numerical experiments.