Preface WDM Systems: in This Module, We Study The Basic Concepts of WDM Systems

Preface
In this module, we study the basic concepts of WDM systems.

In WDM systems, the simultaneous transmission of many different data signals is achieved
using light of different wavelengths to distinguish between the signals.
The intensity modulated optical carriers of different wavelengths are combined by a
multiplexer. The combined optical signals are then transmitted through the fiber
together.
After transmission, the combined signals are separated by a demultiplexer, and each
signal is detected individually.
In many aspects, a WDM system is like many single channel systems combined, with the
optical signals at different wavelengths all sharing one common fiber-optic channel. Thus
the capacity of one fiber can be divided amongst many wavelength channels.
Ideally, the different wavelengths remain independent of each other. However, the broad
band noise and side mode of each channel will pass to other channels and result in cross-
talk (interference) between the different wavelength channels.
Optical amplifiers are critical in long haul WDM systems, but the gain (as a function of
wavelength) of optical amplifiers needs to be flat.
Note:
For details on the handling of VPItransmissionMaker / VPIcomponentMaker
please read the Users Manual before starting this unit.
2 Copyright VPIsystems. All rights reserved.
WDM Systems
An example of a four channel WDM system is shown below (open setup System1_1).
The output of four externally modulated transmitters are combined by an ideal
multiplexer WDMMUXN1Ideal and transmitted through a fiber, FiberNLS.
After transmission, the combined signals are demultiplexed by the WDM_DEMUX_1_4
module and detected by the receiver Rx_OOK. Results are displayed by the SignalAnalyzer
(Scope and OSA) at different points of the system.
In this example, the nonlinearity and dispersion effects of the fiber are not considered.
WDM Systems
Run the simulation. The optical spectrum of the signal at the input of the MUX is
shown in the figure below.
The peaks at the four different wavelengths represent the four WDM channels. Each of
those wavelengths is modulated by a different data source.
Exercise 1: Measure the channel spacing between each channel and check that the result
is the same as the value specified by the global parameter ChannelSpacing
WDM Systems
The optical spectrum of the signal at the output of the MUX is shown below.
Question 1: Compared with the optical spectrum of the input of MUX, what is the
difference between the two spectra?
Exercise 2: Measure the Channel Spacing between each channel and check that the result
WDM Systems
The optical spectrum of the signal at the output of the Demux is shown in the figure
below.
Question 2: Compared with the optical spectrum of the output of MUX, what is the
difference between the two spectra?
Exercise 3: Measure the Channel Spacing between each channel and check that the result
WDM Systems
The bottom-left figure shows the waveform of the signal of Channel 2 at the output of
the transmitter. The waveform of the Channel 2 signal at the receiver is shown in the
bottom-right figure.
Note that the signal has been recovered almost perfectly. The result is similar for the
other channels.
WDM Systems
Exercise 4: Reduce the global parameter ChannelSpacing to 10.0e9 Hz, and run the
simulation again. Check that the data in channel 2 is fully recovered at the receiver.
If it is not, explain why.
try the different System1_1 rates and spacing

Exercise 5: Open System1_1_a. Plot the Bit Error Rate (BER) of the received data in channel
2 versus the channel spacing for 40 Gbit/s: 100, 50 and 10 GHz

Channel Spacing & Bit Rate Per
Channel
The BER of the received data in channel 2 versus channel spacing for 40 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s
and 2.5 Gbit/s signal is shown below
Question 3: If the BER is required to be below 1e-9, the maximum channel spacing of WDM
system for transmission 40 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s and 2.5 Gbit/s per wavelength is
55 GHz, 13.8 GHz and 3.4 GHz respectively (from the figure below). What determines the
minimum channel spacing of this WDM system?
Multiplexer
Open setup System1_2. The schematic is shown below
This example shows the response of a non ideal multiplexer, WDM_MUX_2_1.
The output of a WDM comb with 100 channels, WDM_Comb, is set to one of the
multiplexer inputs which has limited bandwidth and Bessel transfer function.
The optical spectrum at the input and output of the multiplexer are displayed by the
SignalAnalyzer (OSA).
Multiplexer
Set WDM_MUX_2_1 ActiveFilterBandwidth to 1e12 Hz and then run the simulation.
The spectrum of the MUX input and output are shown below on the left and the right
respectively.
The figure on the left shows the channels of the MUX input as the channel spacing of the
WDM_Comb is set to 10e9 Hz and the number of channels to 100.
The spectrum at the MUX output show the response of MUX. It resembles a band-pass
filter.
Multiplexer
Set WDM_MUX21 ActiveFilterBandwidth = 0.5e12 Hz and run the simulation.
The spectrum at the output of the MUX is shown below.
We can see the bandwidth of the MUX response is reduced, which is correlated with the
drop of the ActiveFilterBandwidth value.
Filtering effect of MUXs and
DEMUXs
Now, we investigate the filtering effect of MUXs and DEMUXs in WDM systems.
Open setup System1_3. The schematic is shown below.
In this example, we isolate and focus only on one channel of a WDM system.
A non-ideal transmitter (with a significant side mode) is used in this simulation.
The optical spectrum of the transmitter output, multiplexer and de-multiplexer outputs are
visualized by SignalAnalyzer (OSA) modules and the receiver output by a SignalAnalyzer
(RFSA).
Run the simulation.
DEMUXs
The optical spectrum of the transmitter
output is shown in the top right figure. In
addition to the lasing mode at 193.05 THz,
there is a side mode at 193.15 THz. The
side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) is 20 dB.
The optical spectrum of the signal after
transmitter multiplexer is shown in the
button right figure. The side mode
suppression ratio has increased to 39 dB
because of the bandpass filtering effect of
the multiplexer.
20 dB
39 dB
Lasing
mode
Side
mode
DEMUXs
The optical spectrum of the signal after passing through the DEMUX is shown below. The
side mode suppression ratio has further increased to 57.6 dB.
Question 4: The filtering effect of a MUX and DEMUX will reduce the cross talk in a WDM
system. Explain why.
57.6 dB
DEMUXs
Exercise 6: Change the bandwidth of both MUX and DEMUX and run the simulation again.
Measure the side mode suppression ratio of the transmitter output (SMSR
T
), the side
mode suppression ratio of the MUX output (SMSR
M
) and the side mode suppression ratio
of the DEMUX output (SMSR
D
). Fill in the following table.
Bandwidth
(GHz)
SMSR
T
(dB) SMSR
M
(dB) SMSR
D
(dB) SMSR
M
-SMSR
T

(dB)
SMSR
D
-
SMSR
T
(dB)
40
60
80
100
120
Filtering effect of a MUX
In this example, we will show the importance
of the filtering effect of the multiplexer.

Open setup System1_4. The schematic is
shown on the right. Two configurations of
WDM system are used to provide a
comparison. They are basically the same,
except that one uses a multiplexer
WDM_MUX_2_1, while the other uses a
coupler CombinerPowN1, to combine two
channels together for transmission in a single
fiber.
The transmitter of channel 1 in both systems
has a side mode with a SMSR of 25 dB. Note
that this side mode will cause cross talk in
channel 2.
The recovered signals are visualized by
SignalAnalyzer (Scope) and SignalAnalyzer
(OSA).
WDM System 1
(using MUX)
WDM System 2
(using Coupler)
Switch channel 2 off in both systems (by setting
TxExtModLaser Active = Off) and run the
simulation.
The optical spectrum of the DEMUX channel 2
output in system 1 and system 2 are shown in the
figures on the right, top and bottom,
respectively.
The cross talk from channel 1 to channel 2 in
system 1 (using a MUX) is only 111 dBm, while
that in system 2 (using a coupler) is 40 dBm.
In system 2, the coupler combines 2 channels
together without any filtering. The side mode
from channel 1s transmitter is not suppressed by
the coupler. Conversely, the side mode is
suppressed by the MUX in system 1 (through its
filtering effect) in each channel. Therefore, the
cross talk (from channel 1 to channel 2) in
system 2, is larger than that in system 1.
-111 dBm
-40 dBm
Now switch channel 2 on by setting the
two TxExtModLaser Active = On. Switch
on the disabled SignalAnalyzer for
channel 2 in both systems and run the
simulation again.
The eye diagram of the received signal
corresponding to channel 2 in system 1,
and system 2, are shown on the right,
top and bottom, respectively.
The eye of received channel 2 signal in
system 1 is better than that of system
2. This corresponds to the fact that the
cross talk in system 1 is less than that
in system 2.
Exercise 7: Increase the side mode power
by setting the global parameter
SideModePower to 1.0e-4. Measure the
SMSR of the transmitter, cross talk
from channel 1 to channel 2 and the
BER of the received channel 2 signal,
for both systems.
Optical Fiber Amplifiers in
WDM
Optical amplifiers can be used in WDM system to boost the power of all channels of the
transmitted signal. This can be performed by a single amplifier.
The profile of the gain spectrum of an optical amplifier (EDFA) has several peaks and
valleys and will not amplify all channels with the same gain. Signals near the peak of the
gain will grow at the expense of the other signals. This can be a limitation if the receiver
does not have a dynamic range sufficient to cover the spread of signal powers at the end
of the system.

One way to combat this effect is to keep all wavelength channels in a very limited
bandwidth region where the gain is more or less flat. This is restrictive, however, in terms
of the available bandwidth and overall channel capacity, given a minimum channel
spacing.

Without the help of additional gain-shaping and gain-flattening elements, gain flatness is
a difficult goal to achieve in a system where several erbium-doped fiber amplifiers are
cascaded. The simulation of the behavior of amplifiers in a WDM system can provide a
guide for optimizing the transmission characteristics of the system, both in terms of the
choice of the amplifier and possible gain flattening as well as shaping filters.
WDM
Open the setup System1_5. The schematic is shown below. In this example, we will
investigate the limitations imposed on the WDM system due to the profile of the EDFA gain
spectrum.
WDM
Verify that the parameter Loops is set to 1, and run the simulation. The SignalAnalyzer
(OSA) directly after the amplifier shows clearly the wavelength dependence of the gain
and the ASE noise (see figure below).
WDM
The SignalAnalyzer (Scope) trace of channel 1 (bottom left figure) shows the signal
detected at the receiver. The corresponding eye diagram (bottom right figure) is
clearly open. In order to see it press the eye-button in the toolbar of the
VPIphotonicsAnalyzer.
WDM
Set Loops to 7 for simulate a cascade of 7 amplified spans. The optical spectrum
below is that of the WDM signal after transmission through 7 amplifiers.
Question 5: What is the difference between this spectrum and the one for Loops = 1?
WDM
The scope trace of channel 1 (bottom left figure) shows the signal detected at the
receiver. This time, the detected signal is of poor quality, as confirmed by the
corresponding closed eye diagram (bottom right figure).
Question 6: What is the cause of signal degradation in channel 1? Hint: Compare the
spectrum of the WDM signal when Loops = 1 to the one when Loops = 7.
Summary
In this module, the performance of simple WDM systems is demonstrated.
Key components of a WDM system, i.e. multiplexer, de-multiplexer, and optical
amplifier, are introduced and their effect on system performance are investigated.
How the channel spacing is limited by the bit rate of each channel is presented.
The difference between using a WDM multiplexer and a optical coupler to combine
channels is demonstrated.
Why the gain profile of optical amplifier need to be flattened is discussed.

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Preface

In this module, we study the basic concepts of WDM systems.

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