Working and basic concepts of Optical Line Protection

board - OLP
Created: 2 days 14:18Latest reply: May 24, 2022 18:04:32  403  14  7  0  1
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Hi everyone, 

today let’s introduce one of the main boards used for protection schemes in WDM networks.  
OLP (optical line protection) is a board used in WDM systems to protect the line and services
in case of faults, avoiding great interruptions. Its protection scheme is based on the
transmission of two signals (working and protection) by splitting the main transmitted signal,
so in this case, both paths transmit the same data simultaneously. In the reception, the signal
with better optical signal power is selected by the OLP board. So, the reception works as an
optical switcher between working and protection paths. 
By using the OLP board, the transmission network can be protected at the OTS or OMS level
for line protection, or in an intra-board 1+1 scheme. The main difference between these
schemes is where the OLP board is positioned on the signal flow as shown in the following
figures below:

Figure 1: OLP board protecting the OTS trail

Figure 2: OLP board protecting the OMS trail

Figure 3: OLP board in a intra-board 1+1 scheme 

The OLP board can also work together with other protection schemes as ASON, in a Optical-
layer ASON.
In terms of intern hardware, the OLP board consists of 3 main modules: optical module,
control and communication module and power supply module. For this post,
the TNG2OLP board is used as an example for better working understanding. 
 Optical module: 
 Performs the splitting from the source signal to working and protection signals at the transmit
direction. At the receiving direction, the working and protection signals are measured for
 switching, based on the signals optical power. In this module the optical power in both
directions can also be adjusted. 
 Control and communication module: 
 Basically compares the signal power from working and protection paths and selects the
higher optical power on the optical switcher. This module also does the communication with
the control board, collecting alarms and events. 
 Power supply module: 
 Converts the DC power from the backplane to the specific board voltage.
This  board model also has 10 ports in its front
panel: SIN, SOUT, WIN, PIN, WOUT, POUT, VIN1, VIN2, VOUT1 and VOUT2.

Now that we've learned all these basic board concepts, let's see the signal flow of this
board:

In the transmit direction, the SIN port works as an input to the source signal which is splitted
in two different paths (working and protection) that carry the same data both. These optical
signals are transmitted by the WOUT and POUT ports, respectively. In both ports, the optical
power is also splitted to the Power Detection Module. If the transmitted signals need to be
leveled, the VIN and VOUT ports can be used. These ports work as a VOA (Variable optical
attenuator). In this scenario, the WOUT and POUT signals transmit the signals to VIN1 and
VIN2 ports. Now the optical output occurs at VOUT1 and VOUT2 ports, respectively. 
In the receiving direction, both Working and Protection paths are received at the WIN and
PIN ports. These optical signals are splitted for the Power Detection Module to compare
them. As mentioned earlier the optical signal with higher power that was selected is then
switched to be output through the SOUT port of the OLP board. If the received signals need
to be leveled, the working and protection signals are input through VIN1 and VIN2
respectively, and then the VOUT1 and VOUT2 are connected to the WIN and PIN ports to its
optical powers be compared internally.