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The Advancement of Optical Transport Network Technology

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Leena Shedmake
The Advancement of Optical Transport Network Technology

Introduction of Optical Networking

Optical networking began its development in the 1970s and has since grown to become the technological backbone of today's telecommunications infrastructure. The earliest long-distance fiber optic networks could transmit data over distances of up to a few kilometers using LED light sources. However, it was the invention of continuous wave and pulsed lasers in the 1960s that enabled optical signals to travel much farther without amplification, laying the foundation for modern optical networking. In the 1980s, telephone companies began exploring optical fiber as a replacement for old copper cable infrastructure to meet exponentially growing bandwidth demands fueled by the rise of the internet.


Growth of DWDM Technology


A major breakthrough was dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), which allows multiple optical carrier signals to be transmitted on the same fiber concurrently yet independently by utilizing different wavelengths of laser light. Early DWDM systems in the 1990s had capacities of a few gigabits per second (Gb/s) and operated on 8-16 wavelengths varying between 1530-1570 nm on the infrared spectrum. Over the next decade, vendors continued driving increases in DWDM channel counts, capacities, and transmission distances. By 2010, long-haul networks were routinely handling 100 Gb/s capacities per fiber over intercontinental distances by multiplexing up to 160 wavelength channels. Today's state-of-the-art DWDM systems operate at transmission speeds exceeding 1 terabit per second (Tb/s) on almost twice as many wavelengths.


Evolution of Optical Transport Architecture


As Optical Transport Network DWDM networks expanded rapidly and traffic loads grew exponentially, the need arose for sophisticated optical transport architectures to manage this burgeoning infrastructure. In the first generation of DWDM networks in the 1990s, each wavelength was point-to-point with no switching capabilities. Add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) provided basic connectivity for local traffic insertion/extraction. Then evolved reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) allowed dynamic provisioning of wavelengths without having to repatch cables physically. Later generations incorporated optical transport hierarchy (OTH) concepts with multiplexing of sub-wavelengths into wavelengths and wavelengths into superchannels. This enabled greater statistical multiplexing gains and efficient bandwidth utilization at every layer. Today's flexible grid networks support on-demand bandwidth allocation through software-defined networking capabilities.


Application of Coherent Optics


Coherent optical transmission, in which both the amplitude and phase of the optical signal are modulated, has hugely boosted achievable transmission performance leading to a new era of long-haul and undersea cable systems. Early coherent DWDM systems deployed in the late 2000s offered data rates up to 10 Gb/s per wavelength. Newer coherent technologies such as polarization-division multiplexing, higher-order modulation formats like 128QAM/256QAM, digital signal processing, and advanced error correction coding have since made 100 Gb/s transmission commonplace. Vendors are now commercially shipping coherent systems operating at up to 1.2 Tb/s per wavelength, with ongoing roadmaps promising multi-petabit superchannels in the future. Coherent optics paired with space division multiplexing has also enabled ultra-high fiber capacities in dense space-division multiplexed cables containing up to 12 fiber pairs.


5G and Internet of Things Driving Further Growth


The rise of 5G networks and the exploding Internet of Things (IoT) are projected to provide even stronger impetus for the continued evolution of optical networking capabilities. 5G with its focus on higher throughputs, lower latencies, and ubiquitous broadband connectivity will strain backhaul infrastructure, necessitating upgrades to 100G, 200G and beyond. Ever-increasing numbers of connected IoT devices will similarly fuel insatiable bandwidth demands. Optical networks are poised to stay at the forefront through continuous DWDM capacity boosts, flexible OTN architectures, coherent technologies, integrated photonics, and innovative network orchestration tools to efficiently support multi-terabit backhaul. Data center interconnectivity too will remain a key arena where long-reach coherent DWDM systems play a critical connectivity role. With technological progress advancing at an unrelenting pace, the optical transport network of tomorrow is guaranteed to be even more powerful, adaptive and future-proof than today's robust foundation.


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