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V500R002 V100R001

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Li Duntao/wx478771 2020.07.20 Yuan Changlong/00544555

Yu Yingni/wx18657 2020.08.18 Yuan Changlong/00544555

1 Huawei Confidential
WDM Principles
 Foreword


The wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology is an
advanced technology for optical fiber communication. It is mature
and has entered the commercial use stage.

This course will help you gain a basic understanding of WDM
principles.

3 Huawei Confidential
 Objectives


On completion of this course, you will be able to:

Understand the basic concepts, principles, transmission modes, and
basic composition of WDM.

Know the WDM transmission media.

Have a good command of WDM technical principles and key
technologies.

4 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. System Overview
2. WDM Transmission Media
3. Key Technologies of WDM

5 Huawei Confidential
How to Increase Network Capacity?

 TDM+WDM
 Largest rate
 Largest
number of
 TDM  WDM channels
 Higher bit  Economic  Largest
rates  Fast system
 STM-16 ->  Mature capacity
STM-64
 SDM  Higher cost
 New optical and
cable layout complexity
 Time and
cost

Capacity expansion solution

6 Huawei Confidential
What Is WDM?

Refueling station

Highway

Patrol car

7 Huawei Confidential
WDM Concept

WDM refers to a technology that allows optical signals at multiple
wavelengths to transmit over one optical fiber.

λ1
SDH signal λ1 λ2 λn
IP package
λ2
ATM cells …

…
λn

8 Huawei Confidential
WDM System Structure

Components of a WDM system that multiplexes N wavelengths:

Optical transponder unit (OTU)

Optical multiplexer unit/Optical demultiplexer unit (OMU/ODU)

Optical amplifier (OA) (Note: BA is short for booster amplifier, LA is short for line amplifier,
and PA is short for pre-amplifier.)

Optical supervisory channel/Electrical supervisory channel (OSC/ESC)

OTU OTU
OM

OD
TU LU OA OA OA LU TU

TU LU LU TU
OSC OSC OSC

Cross-connect unit Cross-connect unit

9 Huawei Confidential
Transmission Mode (1)

Single-fiber unidirectional transmission

MUX DMUX

OTU
OTU

T
U

10 Huawei Confidential
Transmission Mode (2)

Single-fiber bidirectional transmission

MUX/DMUX DMUX/MUX

O O
OTU

OTU
T T
U U

11 Huawei Confidential
Application Mode (1)

Integrated system

MUX DMUX

Client device Client

device

12 Huawei Confidential
Application Mode (2)

Open system

MUX DMUX

O O
T T
OTU

OTU
U U

Client device Client

device

13 Huawei Confidential
Advantages of WDM

Ultra-large capacity and ultra-long haul transmission

Transparent transmission of data

Maximum investment protection during system upgrades

High networking flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and reliability

Compatibility with all-optical switching

14 Huawei Confidential
DWDM

Extended C
Even wavelengths: 192.10 THz to 196.00 Even wavelengths: 191.30 THz to 196.00
C band

THz THz

band
Odd wavelengths: 192.15 THz to 196.05 Odd wavelengths: 191.35 THz to 196.05
THz THz

ITU-T G.694.1 Extended C band: 192 wavelengths at a 25 GHz channel

spacing
C band: 160
wavelengths 32 wavelengths
extended

196.075 THz 192.100 THz192.075 THz 191.300 THz

15 Huawei Confidential
CWDM

(dB/km)

(nm
)
Coarse WDM (CWDM) systems generally work on bands ranging
from 1271 nm to 1611 nm at a 20 nm spacing.

16 Huawei Confidential
 Quiz

1. (Multiple-answer question) Which of the following are the components of

a WDM system?
A. Optical transponder unit (OTU)

B. Optical amplifier (OA)

C. Optical multiplexer unit/Optical demultiplexer unit (OMU/ODU)

D. Optical supervisory channel/Electrical supervisory channel (OSC/ESC)

17 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. System Overview
2. WDM Transmission Media
3. Key Technologies of WDM

18 Huawei Confidential
Optical Fiber Structure

An optical fiber consists of a cylindrical glass fiber core and a glass cladding.
The outer layer is a flexible and wearable plastic sheath, and the entire
optical fiber is cylindrical.
Refraction

n2 Cladding
θ

Total reflection n1 Fiber core

Sheath

19 Huawei Confidential
Light Guide Principles of Optical Fibers (1)

Light is transmitted in a straight line in a homogeneous medium, but
reflection and refraction occur on the boundary surfaces of two different
media, as shown in the following figure.

Incidence angle θ1 Reflection angle

θ3

Air: n1 = 1

Glass: n2 = 1.5

Refraction angle θ2

Reflection and refraction of light

20 Huawei Confidential
Light Guide Principles of Optical Fibers (2)

Optical fiber transmission uses the principle of total reflection of light, as
shown in the following figure.

Air: n1 = 1

Glass: n2 = 1.5

Critical angle: θ

Total reflection of
light

21 Huawei Confidential
Number of Fiber Modes

According to the number of transmission modes, optical fibers can be
classified into single-mode optical fibers and multi-mode optical fibers.

2b
2a
Light transmission inside a single-mode
fiber

2b

2a
Light transmission in a step-index Light transmission in a graded-
multi-mode fiber index multi-mode fiber

22 Huawei Confidential
Attenuation

dB/km

Multi-mode (850–900 nm)

5
C L U
4 O E S

3
OH-

800 900 120 130 140 150 160 170 nm

0 0 0 0 0 0

24 Huawei Confidential
Dispersion


Chromatic dispersion (CD)

Power
Optical pulse signal

Transmission Transmission
L1 (km) L2 (km)

Time

25 Huawei Confidential
CD Compensation

To mitigate the impact of CD, dispersion compensation modules (DCMs) are mainly
used to compensate for accumulated CD through their dispersion compensation
fibers (DCFs).

The difference between a DCF and a common optical fiber is that the DCF has a
negative dispersion coefficient in the 1550 nm window. Because of this feature, the
DCF is connected to counterbalance the positive dispersion of the G.652/G.655
Dispersion
optical fiber. coefficient
G.652

Wavelength
Common DCF

Dispersion slope compensation fiber

(DSCF)
26 Huawei Confidential
PMD

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD)

Fast

Elliptical fiber core

Fiber
profile
Slow
Delay difference

27 Huawei Confidential
Optical Fiber Categories
G.655: It has small
dispersion in the 1550 nm
G.652: It is widely used
window
in China and has zero
and effectively controls the
dispersion in the 1310
non-linear effect.
nm window.

Dispersion
coefficient
G.653: It has zero dispersion in
G.652 the 1550 nm window and
G.655 severe four-wave mixing
17
(FWM).
ps/(nm·km)

G.653

Wavelengt
1310 nm 1550 nm h

28 Huawei Confidential
 Quiz

1. (Multiple-answer question) Which of the following statements about fiber

features are true?
A. The G.652 fiber is the single-mode fiber that has the best 1310 nm
performance.

B. The G.653 fiber has the best 1550 nm performance and is called dispersion-
unshifted fiber (DSF).

C. The G.654 fiber is mainly applied to submarine fiber communication that

requires long regeneration sections.

D. The G.655 fiber is a non-zero dispersion-shifted single-mode fiber and is

applicable to DWDM systems.
29 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. System Overview
2. WDM Transmission Media
3. Key Technologies of WDM

30 Huawei Confidential
Key Technologies of WDM

 Light source  Optical multiplexing

technologies and demultiplexing
technologies

Key technologies

 Optical amplification  Supervisory

technologies technologies

31 Huawei Confidential
Requirements on WDM Light Sources

1 High dispersion tolerance

Output of standard and stable

2
wavelengths

32 Huawei Confidential
Modulation Technology

Modulation is a process in which information of a signal source is processed and added to a
carrier to make the information suitable for channel transmission. It is a technology in which a
carrier changes with a signal.

There are two types of modulation signals: analog signals and digital signals. Analog
modulation controls the parameters of carrier signals by analog signals. Digital modulation
controls the parameters of carrier signals by digital signals.

Digital modulation is an important method of modern communication, and it has many
advantages compared with analog modulation. Digital modulation has better anti-interference
performance, better performance withstanding the channel loss, and higher security. Error
control techniques can be used in digital transmission systems to support complex signal
conditions and processing techniques such as source coding, encryption, and equalization.

33 Huawei Confidential
Modulation Mode

Non-coherent modulation

Direct modulation

Electroabsorption (EA) modulation

Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) modulation

Coherent modulation

34 Huawei Confidential
 PDM Modulation Technology (1)

Pulse density modulation (PDM)

A polarization beam splitter (PBS) splits a beam of laser light into two
perpendicular polarizations: x-pol and y-pol.

Polarization of a
photon
Transmission Splitting polarized
direction of signals to the x-pol
optical signals

Splitting polarized
signals to the y-pol

a. Laser signal (electromagnetic wave) b. Passing through the PBSc. Signals split into the x-pol and y-po

35 Huawei Confidential
PDM Modulation Technology (2)

PDM modulation

A polarization beam combiner (PBC) combines the modulated optical signals in
polarizations on the x-pol and y-pol into one optical fiber.

QPSK-modulated signal
on the x-pol

QPSK-modulated signal
on the y-pol

36 Huawei Confidential
QPSK Modulation Technology
28 Gbit/s
data Pre- I
cod Input Signal Signal Output Phase
Cosωt
er I Q θ
+
Optical signal on 0 0 π/4
the x-pol Σ
- 0 1 3π/4
π/2
Pre- 1 1 5π/4
Sinωt s(t) = I x Cosωt – Q x Sinωt = √2
28 Gbit/s cod Q
er Cos(ωt+θ) 1 0 7π/4
data
Mapping relationship (constellation
diagram)
Stream Q
01 00
θ I
I
11 10

Q The distribution diagram of signal vector

endpoints is called a constellation diagram. The
constellation diagram completely and clearly
QPSK expresses the mapping relationship of digital
modulation, and digital modulation is often
referred to as constellation modulation.

37 Huawei Confidential
Coherent Detection Technology

Coherent detection

At the receive end, the received signal light is divided into two parts. One is
allocated to the x-pol and the other is allocated to the y-pol.

Splitting polarized
signals to the x-pol

Splitting
polarized signals
to the y-pol

38 Huawei Confidential
Comparison Between Modulation Technologies

Modulation Technology Direct modulation EA modulation M-Z modulation Coherent modulation

Dispersion Tolerance
1200~4000 7200~12800 > 12800 40000
(ps/nm)

Cost Medium High Quite high Quite high

Wavelength Stability Good Relatively good Very good Excellent

39 Huawei Confidential
OA Types

EDFA Erbium-doped fiber amplifier

RFA Raman fiber amplifier

OA

OA
40 Huawei Confidential
Working Principles of EDFAs

E3 excited state

1550 nm
signal photon
E2 metastable state
Stimulated radiation

1550 nm
signal photon
980 nm
pump photon
E1 ground state

 Er3+ ion energy level diagram

41 Huawei Confidential
EDFA Structure

Signal input Optical splitter Isolator Coupler Isolator Optical splitter Signal output

TAP TAP

Erbium-doped fiber

Pump light source

Photoelectric Photoelectric
detection PIN detection PIN

42 Huawei Confidential
EDFA Characteristics

Advantage Disadvantage


Operating wavelength

Fixed gain range
consistent with the 
Gain unflatness
minimum attenuation 
Optical surge problem
window of single-mode
fibers

High coupling efficiency

High energy conversion
efficiency

High gain, low noise figure,
and high output power

Good gain stability

43 Huawei Confidential
Automatic Gain Control (AGC)

λ1~ λn

λ1~ λn Gai
n
EDF
Pin Pout
A

The gain remains

unchanged.

Gain = Pout/Pin, which remains unchanged

Input optical power: Pin Coupler EDF Output optical power: Pout

Splitter Pump Splitter

PIN DSP PIN

44 Huawei Confidential
Working Principles of a Raman Amplifier

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS)

Gain
Pump

30 nm

13 THz (70–100 nm)

Gain
Pump 1Pump 2 Pump 3

30 nm
70–100 nm

45 Huawei Confidential
Raman Amplifier Characteristics

Advantage Disadvantage


Flexible gain range

High pump power

Low energy conversion

Simple structure efficiency

Use of the non-linear effect

High costs

Low noise

46 Huawei Confidential
OA Application

OTU OTU
...

...
OM

OD
OA OA OA

OTU OTU

Booster amplifier (BA) Line amplifier (LA) Pre-amplifier (PA)

47 Huawei Confidential
Optical Multiplexers and Demultiplexers

TFF
TFF Thin film filter

AWG
AWG Arrayed waveguide grating

λ1 λ2 λn λ1 λ2 λn λ1
λ1 . λ2
λ2 λn
OM

OD
..

.
..
.
..

λn

Optical multiplexer Optical demultiplexer

49 Huawei Confidential
Thin Film Filter (TFF)

λ1–λ4
λ1 filter

Self-focusing lens
λ1

λ3 filter
λ2

λ3

λ4 Glass

50 Huawei Confidential
Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG)

Waveguide
W1 array

Wn
Fiber array

λ1 + λ 2 + λ 3 + λ1
…λn
λn

51 Huawei Confidential
Supervisory Technologies

TFF
OSC Optical supervisory technology

AWG
ESC Electrical supervisory technology

52 Huawei Confidential
Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC)

Requirements on the OSC:

The pump optical wavelength on the OA board should not be restricted.

Services in the 1310 nm window in future should not be restricted.

The OSC is still valid when the OA board fails.

The OSC supports ultra-long haul transmission and provides the function of span-
specific bidirectional transmission.
OSC OSC
OTU1
OTU1 OTU1

FIU

FIU
SCC

SCC
OTU2
OTU2 OTU2

OD
OM

OTU2
OTU3
OTU3 OTU3
OTU3
OTU4
OTU4 OTU4
OTU4

53 Huawei Confidential
OSC Frame Structure

TS1 TS1 TS1

TS0 TS1 TS2 TS3 ... ... TS31
4 5 6

TS0 FA framing byte TS17 F2 byte

TS1 E1 byte TS18 F3 byte
TS2 F1 byte TS19 E2 byte
Reserve
TS14 ALC byte Others
d
TS3-TS13, TS15 D1 to D12 bytes

54 Huawei Confidential
Electric Supervisory Channel (ESC)

Feature:

Simple structure and low costs

Redundancy backup

Optimized optical power budget

Reduced system complexity

OTU1 OTU1
SCC

OTU2

SCC
OM OTU2

OD
OTU3 OTU3
OTU4 OTU4

55 Huawei Confidential
 Quiz

1. (Single-answer question) Which of the following is not an advantage

of EDFAs?
A. High gain

B. High output power

C. Large working optical bandwidth

D. Gain flatness

56 Huawei Confidential
 Summary


WDM overview

WDM transmission media

Key technologies of WDM

57 Huawei Confidential
Thank you. 把数字世界带入每个人、每个家庭、
每个组织，构建万物互联的智能世界。
Bring digital to every person, home, and
organization for a fully connected,
intelligent world.

Copyright©2021 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

The information in this document may contain predictive

statements including, without limitation, statements regarding
the future financial and operating results, future product
portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors
that
could cause actual results and developments to differ materially

from those expressed or implied in the predictive statements.

Therefore, such information is provided for reference purpose
only and constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance. Huawei

may change the information at any time without notice.