WDM Solution 2/2

Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)

    By making it possible to carry the large loads that DWDM is capable of transmitting over long distances, the EDFA was a key enabling technology. Erbium is a rare-earth element that, when excited, emits light around 1.54 micrometers—the low-loss wavelength for optical fibers used in DWDM. The picture below shows a simplified diagram of an EDFA. A weak signal enters the erbium-doped fiber, into which light at 980 nm or 1480 nm is injected using a pump laser. This injected light stimulates the erbium atoms to release their stored energy as additional 1550-nm light. As this process continues down the fiber, the signal grows stronger.

 There are two general types of OADMs. The first generation is a fixed device that is physically configured to drop specific predetermined wavelengths while adding others. The second generation is reconfigurable and capable of dynamically selecting which wavelengths are added and dropped.

Operation of a Transponder Based DWDM System

    Within the DWDM system, a transponder converts the client optical signal. The following picture shows the end-to-end operation of a unidirectional DWDM system.

The following steps describe the system shown in the picture above.

1. The transponder accepts input in the form of standard single-mode or multimode laser. The input can come from different physical media and different protocols and traffic types.

2. The wavelength of each input signal is mapped to a DWDM wavelength.

3. DWDM wavelengths from the transponder are multiplexed into a single optical signal and launched into the fiber. The system might also include the ability to accept direct optical signals to the multiplexer; such signals could come, for example, from a satellite node.

4. A post-amplifier boosts the strength of the optical signal as it leaves the system (optional).

5. Optical amplifiers are used along the fiber span as needed (optional).

6. A pre-amplifier boosts the signal before it enters the end system (optional).

7. The incoming signal is demultiplexed into individual DWDM lambdas (or wavelengths).

8. The individual DWDM lambdas are mapped to the required output type (for example, OC-48 single-mode fiber) and sent out through the transponder.