Photonic Network Design Based on Reference Circuits

Abstract

The ever increasing demand for network capacity is driving new technologies into realization. One of these are future transparent Photonic Networks, providing considerably more functions than plain transmission only through independent routing of signals by means of Wavelength Division Multiplexing. However, the analogue nature of such Photonic Networks results in an accumulating degradation of the transported optical signals and prevents the application of simple design rules.The objectives of this presentation are to clarify specific terms like transparency and transverse compatibility, and then to derive guidelines as a first approach to an engineered Photonic Network. These guidelines are applied to the planning of a core network with 8 and 16 wavelength channels per link and verified by first numerical results.Complementary to a layered network architecture, our methodology is based on the use of a specific reference configuration. Degradation effects like amplifier noise, chromatic and polarization-mode dispersion, non-linear self phase modulation are covered as well as node crosstalk and the impact of optical frequency misalignments. Based on ITU-T recommendations, a classification of ranges of bitrates and other preliminary specifications, our method allows to assemble a general Photonic Network from its elements in a bottom-up scheme.As a result, we show that Photonic Networks could exhibit transparent optical paths, ranging from 400 to several thousands of kilometres. A number of 16 wavelength channels at individual bitrates of up to 10 Gbit/s traversing a couple of crossconnecting nodes can be implemented, taking into account present-day optical components like amplifiers, standard fibres, multiplexers and demultiplexers, fibre switches as well as dispersion compensating techniques. The potential benefits of such networks are to be seen in their inherent high capacity and in a high degree of flexibility, supporting various applications.Considering the results obtained so far, it can be concluded that a country of the size of Germany could be covered by a transparent Photonic Network.KeywordsWavelength Division MultiplexNetwork PlanningOptical AmplifierChromatic DispersionWavelength ChannelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.