1686 WM

WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING SYSTEM

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.01 July 2001

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 2
 Contents

Page

1 Overview.............................................................. 5

2 Applications ......................................................... 8

3 System configurations ....................................... 11

3.1 Bi-directional configuration on a pair of fibers ..... 11

4 Optical Protections ............................................ 23

4.1 Linear Protections ............................................... 23
4.2 Ring Protections .................................................. 25

5 Equipment features ........................................... 28

5.1 Saturation wavelength......................................... 28
5.2 Optical performance monitoring ......................... 29
5.3 Optical Safety ..................................................... 31
5.4 Dispersion compensation .................................... 33

6 Optical interfaces .............................................. 35

6.1 Tributary interfaces ............................................. 35
6.2 Aggregate interfaces ........................................... 36

7 Management ..................................................... 37
7.1 The Supervisory Channel..................................... 37

8 Technical Data ................................................... 40

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 3

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 4
 1 Overview
The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is a new
transmission technology that overcomes the capacity
limitation of the conventional Time Division Multiplexing
(TDM) technology. It consists of combining on the same
fiber different wavelengths each transmitting a different
channel.
On the transmission side an optical multiplexer is used to
combine the different wavelengths as sketched in Figure
1, where three channels at 2.5 Gb/s and three channels
at 10 Gb/s are multiplexed. Lasers emitting at specific
and dedicated wavelengths transmit each individual
channel.

Figure 1.

The optical multiplexer does not need any synchronization

to combine the different channels to be transported. The
optical signals are individually transported on the optical
fiber without interacting each other at least at the first
order.
An optical demultiplexer is used at the receive side to
divide each single channel in different output fibers as
showed in Figure 2. As for the multiplexer, this device
does not require any synchronization.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 5

 Figure 2.

The multiplexing function does not require a wavelength

selective device; it can be achieved by means of a simple
optical combiner. On the contrary the demultiplexing
function does need a wavelength selective device.
Another key device used in WDM system is the optical
amplifier. This device, if from one side enables very long
transmission without any use of conventional
regenerators, on the other side limits the available
wavelength range for the transmitted channels to
approximately 1530-1560 nm into the conventional band.
It can amplify any number of channels at its input
without introducing any inter-modulation on signals at
high bit rate.
The combined use of the optical multiplexing technology
and the optical amplifiers are modifying the transmission
system as represented in Figure 3, where, for the sake of
simplicity, only STM-64 signals are represented.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 6

 STM-16 STM-16
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1
Terminal 3R 3R 3R Terminal 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64

WDM Opto/electronic
regenerators

64 x STM-1
Terminal Terminal
D 64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64
M E
32 channels U M 32 channels
X U
64 x STM-1
Terminal X Terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64
Optical amplifiers

Figure 3.

In the reported example, the WDM approach allows a total

capacity of 320 Gb/s over a single fiber. Only one fiber is
used to transport such a huge capacity with a big impact
also on the line equipment used (only one optical
amplifier instead of 32 regenerators).
As the optical multiplexing and demultiplexing does not
require any synchronization, the host signal in principle
could have every format (622 Mbit/s, 2,5 Gbit/s or
10 Gbit/s; ATM, SDH, etc.). Of course in order to insure
long distance transmission without regeneration points an
optimized transmission system must be defined, for
instance defining properly the transmit and receive optical
interfaces.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 7

 2 Applications
The 1686 WM is a Dense Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (DWDM) system that supports up to 32
wavelength transmission in the Conventional band (C-
band). Transmission over G.652, G.653, G.654 and G.655
fibers is supported.
It covers the following applications:
• point to point links without in-line amplifiers;
• point to point links with in-line amplifiers;
• (multi)point to multi-point links with in-line amplifiers
and optical add/drop;
• ring architectures.
Each of the previous application is supported with two
different kinds of input interfaces. A generic tributary
with a wavelength not compliant to ITU-T G.692 grid can
be interfaced by means of a WaveLength Adapter (WLA).
The WLA gives to the 1686 WM a fully open interface
allowing any vendor interconnection. A cost optimized
interface is also available for Alcatel equipment. By means
of so-called colored interfaces, Alcatel equipment are
compliant to ITU-T G.692 grid and can be interfaced
directly to the 1686 WM enabling a cost optimized
solution with a very limited floor occupation.
The first application is related to short link and it is
usually associated to metropolitan networks. Typical
distances in this case are less than 40 km (Figure 4).

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX
MUX - DEMUX
MUX - DEMUX

WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP

MUX - DEMUX
MUX - DEMUX

WLA_TX WLA_TX

WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 4.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 8

 The second application is related to very long distances in
the backbone network. Taking advantage of the low noise,
wide band and flat gain optical fiber amplifier technology
and special long reach features, the 1686 WM can bridge
up to about 310 dB attenuation between to DWDM
terminals without any intermediate regeneration point
(Figure 5).

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX
MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP
MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_TX WLA_TX

In-Line In-Line
WLA_RX Optical Optical WLA_RX
Repeater Repeater
SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 5.

With the 1686 WM it is possible to add/drop wavelengths

at any intermediate amplification site. Up to a maximum
of 16 bi-directional channels can be inserted and/or
extracted allowing a (multi)-point to multi-point
application that is schematically represented in Figure 6
for a linear topology.
For transmission over very long distances it is possible to
install Regenerators for the pass-through wavelengths in
the terminal sites. The Regenerators can be placed
directly between the Multiplexing/Demultiplexing units
and represent an optimized solution in terms of cost and
floor occupation (Figure 7).
By using two (or more) terminals in back-to-back
configuration and Regenerators, optical ring
configurations are possible with the 1686 WM. Ring
dimension is only related to the equipment/link
configuration. Also in ring configuration it is possible to
exploit the add/drop capability of the 1686 WM at any
amplification site as it is represented in Figure 8.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 9

 WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment
WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX

MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP
OADM
MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_TX WLA_TX

In-Line
OADM Optical
WLA_RX WLA_RX
Repeater Repeater

SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 6.

WLA
1686 WM term.

WLA ADM
1686 WM term.

1686 WM term.
WLA

1686 WM term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
1686 WM term.

1686 WM term.
WLA

1686 WM term.
WLA OADM REG.
WLA OADM REG. WLA
Repeater WLA
Repeater REG.
WLA REG.
WLA WLA
WLA
ADM
WLA ADM
WLA WLA
WLA
ADM
ADM

Figure 7.

AA
DDMM
1686 WM term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
1686 WM term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
WLA
WLA
OOA epaetae

WLA
rerp

WLA
ADDM trer
e

ADM
ADM

1686 WM term. 1686 WM term.

1686 WM term. 1686 WM term.
REG.

REG.

REG.

REG.
ADM

ADM

ADM

ADM
REG.

REG.

REG.

REG.
ADM

ADM

ADM

ADM

1686
1686WM
WMterm.
term. 1686
1686WM
WMterm.
term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
1686

OAeepaetaer

ADM
rep
1686 WM term.
1686WM

OA
r
DM ter
DM

WLA
WLA
WMterm.

WLA
WLA
term.

M
ADM
ADM ADDM
A

Figure 8.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 10

 3 System
configurations
The 1686 WM has been designed to support long-haul bi-
directional transmission on two fibers. Besides optimized
configuration for metropolitan transmission are supported
by the 1686 WM architecture. The transmission
performances of the system depend on its configuration
and the network architecture.

3.1 Bi-directional
configuration on a
pair of fibers
3.1.1 WDM Terminal Equipment
The 1686 WM is able to multiplex up to 32 tributary input
signals in the C-band by exploiting the 100 GHz ITU-T
G.692 grid. In Figure 9 and in Figure 10 the block
diagrams of the WDM terminal station for applications
with in-line amplifiers and without in-line amplifiers
(Metro) are respectively represented.
The 16 inputs with longer wavelengths (RED band) are
multiplexed in the RED Mux/Demux unit. The 16 inputs
with shorter wavelengths (BLUE band) are multiplexed in
the BLUE Mux/Demux unit.
Their outputs are coupled by means of the Expansion
unit, giving a 32 channels aggregate WDM signal.
The Expansion unit is also devoted to multiplex and
manage the saturation wavelength (see Section 5.1). For
applications with in-line amplifiers the multiplexed signal
goes in the Booster amplifier, which amplifies it and adds
the Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC). For Metro
applications the Booster amplifier is not installed and the
OSC is inserted in the transmission line by means of the
SPV-coupler unit (SPV-CPL in figure).
In reverse way, the signal coming from the line, after the
extraction of the OSC, is amplified. The Expansion unit
splits the RED and BLUE bands. The two Mux/Demux
units demultiplex the Expansion outputs into single
wavelength outputs.
The 1686 WM supports both the open system
architecture, to be interconnected to any other vendor
equipment by means of WLA and, if interfaced to Alcatel
ADM equipment, a cost optimized integrated solution. The
integrated configuration is able to host up to 32
wavelengths in only one 300x600 19” ETSI shelf. Also
mixed configurations are available for the best reuse of
already existing equipment.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 11

 SDH master shelf
TX/RX Slave shelf
SDH WLA
TX/RX
sat. BOOSTER
RED
λ +
MUX
SPV
DEMUX
EXP.
SDH UNIT PREAMP.
WLA
TX/RX +
SPV
POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A

BLUE
Slave shelf MUX
DEMUX
SDH
TX/RX WLA

SDH POWER
TX/RX
WLA EQ.CONTR AUX/SPV POWER

POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A
F Q A B
Line Terminal Equipment

Figure 9.

SDH master shelf

TX/RX Slave shelf
SDH WLA
TX/RX
sat.
RED
λ SPV-CPL
MUX
DEMUX
EXP.
SDH UNIT PREAMP.
WLA
TX/RX +
SPV
POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A

BLUE
Slave shelf MUX
DEMUX
SDH
TX/RX WLA

SDH POWER
TX/RX
WLA EQ.CONTR AUX/SPV POWER

POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A
F Q A B
Line Terminal Equipment

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 12

 Figure 10.

AS shown in Figure 10 the SPV-Coupler is used in the

Metro configuration in order to transmit the Optical
Supervisory channel (OSC) in the optical line. In this case
the OSC wavelength is 1480 nm.
Figure 11, Figure 12, Figure 13 and Figure 14 show the
layout of the shelves of the terminal station. In case of an
integrated system with colored interfaces, only the main
shelf is needed (Figure 11 for applications with in-line
amplifiers and Figure 12 for Metro). The main shelf for
applications with in-line amplifiers contains:
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels
(DCC)
• the Expansion board
• one or two Mux/Demux boards depending on the
number of wavelengths
• the preamplifier
• the booster amplifier.

ACCESS PANEL
BLUE MUX/DEMUX
RED MUX/DEMUX

PRE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
EXPANSION

DC/D C CONVERTER

DC/D C CONVERTER
BOOSTER

DCC_AUX

Figure 11.

ACCESS PANEL
BLUE MUX/DEMUX
RED MUX/DEMUX

PREAMPLIFIER
SPV COUPLER

CONTROLLER
EXPANSION

DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 13

 Figure 12.

ACCESS PANEL

SERIALIZER

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER
WLA

WLA

WLA
WLA

WLA

WLA

WLA
WLA
Figure 13.

WLA 10 G WLA 10 G WLA 10 G WLA 10 G ACCESS PANEL

DC/DC
S

DC/DC

DC/DC
E
R
+

Figure 14.

The main shelf for Metro applications is obtained from the

previous one by removing the Booster and installing the
SPV-Coupler.
If WLA’s are needed to properly adapt an input signal to
the 1686 WM, they are hosted in the slave shelves (Figure
13, Figure 14). Up to eight slave shelves are needed for a
fully equipped 32 wavelength configuration with transmit
and receive WLA’s both at 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s.
One 2.5 Gb/s slave shelf contains (Figure 13):
• the DC/DC converters in a 1+1 configuration
• up to eight WLA’s (four Rx and four Tx)

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 14

 • the serializer unit that supervises the unit and send
to the equipment controller the acquired data.
One 10 Gb/s slave shelf contains (Figure 14):
• the DC/DC converters in a 2 +1 configuration
• up to four bi-directional WLA’s
• the serializer + unit that supervises the WLA’s and
send to the equipment controller the acquired data.
The rack layout is schematically represented in Figure 15
for the integrated (a) or open (b) system configuration. In
the open configuration the system in Figure 15 is
equipped with a possible example of long reach 2.5 WLA
and 10 Gb/s WLA, fans might be installed as represented.
For 10 Gb/s transmission the master rack can be
equipped also with DCU shelves.

MASTER RACK MASTER RACK EXPANSION RACKS

Top rack unit Top rack unit Top rack unit Top rack unit

1686 WM 1686 WM
1686 WM 1686 WM SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
MASTER MASTER (TX+RX) (TX+RX)

Attenuator manager Attenuator manager

Attenuator manager
Fans Fans
Attenuator manager
Attenuator manager 1686 WM 1686 WM 1686 WM
SLAVE STM-16 SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
Attenuator manager (TX+RX) (TX+RX) (TX+RX)

Attenuator manager Attenuator manager Attenuator manager

Fans Fans Fans

1686 WM 1686 WM 1686 WM

SLAVE STM-16 SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
(TX+RX) (TX+RX) (TX+RX)
Attenuator manager Attenuator manager Attenuator manager
DCU shelf DCU shelf Fans Fans
DCU shelf DCU shelf

(a) (b)

Figure 15.

3.1.2 In-Line Optical Repeater

The aggregate WDM signal is amplified along the link by
means of the in-line optical repeaters. The in-line optical
repeater consists of two optical in-line amplifiers in order
to boost the optical power of the aggregate WDM signal
avoiding demultiplexing and costly electronic regeneration
of the different channels. Before entering the optical
amplifier, the OSC is extracted from the aggregate signal
to allow the Network Element (NE) management. The OSC
is added after the optical amplification of the aggregate
signal. This gives the benefit to remotely manage the NE
also in case of optical amplifier failure.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 15

 A special double stage optical amplifier with wide band,
low noise figure and improved gain flatness is one of the
key technological enabler of the 1686 WM. The double
stage technology with interstage access allows:
• the in-service upgrade from 2.5 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s by
means of previously installed Dispersion
Compensation Unit (DCU);
• the Add/Drop capability by means of the OADM unit
without any span design penalty.
The line repeater is housed in one main shelf. It contains
(Figure 16):
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels
(DCC)
• the In-Line Amplifier for the E-W line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the W-E line.

ACCESS PANEL
IN LINE AMPLIFIER

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER

Figure 16.
3.1.3 OADM Repeater
A very important feature of the Alcatel 1686 WM system is
the optical Add/Drop capability along the line. With the
1686 WM it is possible to extract and/or to insert up to
16 wavelengths (8 per direction) in an OADM repeater site
without fully demultiplexing/multiplexing the aggregate
WDM signal. This gives a total A/D capacity of 16
bidirectional channels per OADM repeater site.
The 1686 WM OADM repeater configuration is software
configurable. Through the management system, an
operator can decide whether a determined wavelength
3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 16
 from a selected set can pass through the station or can be
added and dropped.
The planning of the networks, in this way, becomes very
flexible. Linear and ring structures can be easily
implemented with significant economic convenience with
respect to the costly back-to-back solution.
The very long haul applications are available also for
(multi)point to multi-point application using the OADM
repeater. Adding/dropping wavelengths in the OADM
repeater station has no impact on the link design in term
of maximum reach or span by using the high performance
double stage amplifier with interstage access.

Pre Post
Double Stage Amplifier
amp amp
W-E line

4 wavelength access

Band splitter

Band splitter
λ Red A/D
4λ

λ Blue A/D
4λ OADM board
W-E line

4 wavelength access
4 wavelength access

OADM board

Band splitter
Band splitter

λ Blue A/D
4λ E-W line

λ Red A/D
4λ

4 wavelength access

Double Stage Amplifier

Pre Post
amp E-W line amp

Figure 17.

In Figure 17 it is represented the schematic of the OADM

board used for the 32 channel system in the 100 GHz
grid. As highlighted in the figure up to four wavelengths
can be added/dropped in the red band and the remaining
four in the blue band.
Dropping a channel transported by a dedicated
wavelength does not reduce the maximum transported
capacity along the line. Another channel can be added at
the same wavelength in the OADM repeater, this special
feature is achieved by means of a particular design of the
OADM repeater. Moreover there are no limitations in term
of how many times the same wavelength is dropped or
added in the line.
The complete block diagram of the OADM repeater is
represented in Figure 18.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 17

 Main shelf
Optical in line
amplifier

OADM
Optical in line
amplifier
AUX/SPV

A OADM
POWER
POWER F
B EQ.
CONT Q

OADM Slave
SERIALIZER
Repeater shelf
A
POWER
POWER WLA WLA WLA WLA
B

Towards SDH terminal equipment

Figure 18.

The OADM repeater consists of one main shelf and up to

4 slave shelves (in case of the open system architecture).
The main shelf contains (Figure 19):
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels
(DCC)
• The OADM unit for the W-E line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the E-W line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the W-E line
• The OADM unit for the E-W line.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 18

 ACCESS PANEL

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER
OADM
OADM

Figure 19.

In case of need of WLA’s they are housed in the slave

shelves as in the WDM terminal equipment configuration.
The number of required shelves depends on the needed
A/D capability. For the full A/D capability for 16 bi-
directional channels up to 4 slave shelves are required
(see Figure 20 for an example with both Wla’s both at 2.5
Gb/s and 10 Gb/s).

MASTER RACK EXPANSION RACK

Top rack unit Top rack unit

1686WM
MASTER

1686WM 1686 WM
SLAVE STM 16 SLAVE STM 64
(TX+RX) (TX+RX)
Attenuator manager Attenuator manager
Fans Fans

1686WM 1686WM
SLAVE STM 16 SLAVE STM 64
(TX+RX) (TX+RX)
Attenuator manager Atten
Attenuator manager
DCU shelf Fans
DCU shelf

Figure 20.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 19

 3.1.4 STM-64 WDM Regenerator
For very long links it’s necessary to regenerate the signal
periodically along the line. It’s very important to
implement this feature in a cost effective way: with the
1686 WM this is possible by using the regenerator unit.
The regenerator unit at 10 Gb/s is a bi-directional module
equipped with two colored Tx and two colored Rx designed
in order to be placed between the Demux and Mux units
in a regenerator site. In this way it’s possible to regenerate
the optical signals without installing a double set of WLA’s
in back-to-back configuration, thus saving floor
occupation and costs (Figure 21).

Regenerator Units
M M
U U
X X
- Rx Tx -
D D
E Tx Rx E
M M
U U
X X
E
E
X
X
P
P
M M
U U
X X
- Rx Tx -
D D
E Tx Rx E
M M
U U
X X

Main Shelf Main Shelf

Figure 21.

3.1.5 4x2.5 Gb/s Concentrator

The number of 2.5 Gb/s signals that the 1686WM can

transmit can be increased up to 128 by using the 4x2.5
Gb/s concentrator. In this way the very high transmission
capacity @ 10 Gb/s of the 1686WM can be exploited even
if the client signals are @ 2.5 Gb/s.
The Concentrator is a bidirectional unit, equipped with 4
Tx/Rx B&W interfaces @ 2.5 Gb/s and one Tx/Rx WDM
interface @ 10Gb/s. It aggregates four 2.5Gb/s signals

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 20

 into a single 10 Gb/s WDM channel that can be
connected to the standard 1686WM MUX/DEMUX units.
A drawing showing the block diagram of the concentrator
and the interconnection with the MUX/DEMUX units is
reported in the following figure.

2.5 Gb/s B&W Interfaces 10 Gb/s WDM Interfaces

Tx
M
Rx U
Tx
Tx X
-
Rx
D
Tx E
Rx M
Tx
Rx U
X
Rx
E
X
P
Tx M
Rx U
Tx X
Tx
-
Rx D
Tx E
Rx
M
Rx U
Tx X
Rx
Main Shelf

Figure 22.
3.1.6 Datacom bit-rates support by means of the 4xany
board

A complete aggregation capability, long haul transmission

and 3R functionality on datacom bit-rates (the
asynchronous WLA available for the 1686WM is a 2R
transponder) can be implemented by combining the 4xany
board of the 1696WM with the 1686WM STM-16 WLA’s.
The 4xany board can have up to 4 datacom client
interfaces (GbEth Escon, Fiberchannel etc) and provides
an aggregate B&W output @ 2.5 Gb/s that can be
connected to the available 1686WM transponders. In this
way all the long haul transmission and regeneration
feature of the 1686WM can be applied to datacom signals
without being forced to use wavelengths for low bit-rate
channels.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 21

 In this configuration the 4xany board is managed as a
separate NE with respect to the 1686WM.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 22

 4 Optical
Protections
A generic unprotected host signal may require a protected
transport via the optical layer. The optical protections can
be implemented, with the 1686WM, by means of the OCP
equipment, able to provide to a generic host tributary
both linear optical channel protection and ring optical
channel protection.
4.1 Linear Protections
4.1.1 Optical Channel protection
The Optical Channel (OCh) linear optical protection is
schematically represented in Figure 23. It applies between
two 1686 WM terminal stations or between a 1686 WM
terminal station and an OADM Repeater. This feature is
implemented by means of the OCP equipment as a
separate NE.
The tributary signal is bridged over two different lines
(working line and protected line). In this way the signal is
delivered towards two different paths. At the receiver side
an optical switch selects between the two diversely routed
signals. The protection is triggered by the Loss of Signal
(LOS).

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 23

 Figure 23.

One single board is devoted to the protection of two

independent channels. In this way up to 16 channels can
be protected in the optical layer by means of only a single
OCP shelf with 8 OCh protection boards (Figure 24). The
OCP configuration necessary to fully protect a 32 chs
system is reported in Figure 25.

ACCESS PANEL
SER+ OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh PW-1 PW-2

Figure 24.

REFFORMATVERBINDEN
Figure 25.

REFREFRing Protections

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 24

 The optical protection available with the OCP equipment
is applicable also to ring configurations. The channel
protection applied to a ring topology is the optical layer
equivalent of the SubNetwork Connection Protection
(SNCP) of the SDH layer. For this clear equivalence we will
refer to the ring channel protection also as Optical SNCP
(O-SNCP).

4.2.1 Optical Channel protection or O-SNCP

The protection applied to the ring topology is implemented
by means of the OCP equipment, as for the linear
topology, by splitting the host tributary signal with a
passive 1x2 splitter and routing the two output signals in
the two opposite directions of the ring.
At the receiver side the signal delivered by the WLA’s is
selected by means of a 1x2 optical switch and delivered to
the host system.
The switching criterion is the LOS and the optical
switching time is as quick as tents of milliseconds.
In Figure 26 REFand Figure 27 REFthe O-SNCP,
implemented between two hosts tributary located in two
1686 WM terminal station or between a 1686 WM
terminal station and an OADM Repeater, is represented.
In the last figure the working and protected path for the
tributary signal are underlined respectively with a black
and a red dashed line.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 25

 Host
Host

Mux Dem Mux Dem

Mux Dem Mux Dem
WLA WLA

Splitter
Switch
WLA WLA

EXP
EXP

Host
Host
OADM
Host

OADM
Host

OADM repeater
OADM repeater
repeater
repeater

Mux Dem Mux Dem

Mux Dem Mux Dem

EXP

EXP
Splitter
WLA Switch WLA

WLA WLA
Host
Host

Figure 26.
Mux Dem Mux Dem
Mux Dem Mux Dem

WLA WLA
Splitter
Switch

WLA WLA
EXP
EXP

Host

Host
Host

OADM
OADM
OADM repeater
repeater
OADM
repeater
repeater

OADM
Repeater
WLA
WLA
WLA
WLA

Splitter
Host
Switch

Figure 27.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 26

 REFREFFORMATVERBINDEN

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 27

 5 Equipment
features

5.1 Saturation
wavelength
As the total optical power depends on the number of
transmitted wavelength, the characteristics of optical
amplifiers may change according to the total number of
wavelengths.
As for example, the output power of the aggregate WDM
signal shows a variation of 3 dB any time the number of
wavelength is doubled. A Wavelength Division
Multiplexing based system may work without degradation
taking into account the huge possible variation of the
optical power.
The second aspect is the working condition of optical
amplifiers. As the input power of the one located just after
the optical multiplexer unit changes of 3 dB any time the
number of channels is doubled, its gain, its gain flatness
and the output power per channel will also change. This
variation will depend on the configuration of the optical
amplifier.
If it is working in gain control configuration, its needed
power will also increase as the number of channel
increases. It will more than double if the number of
channels is multiplied by two.
If it is working in output power controlled mode, then the
gain will decrease as the number of channel increases.
Accordingly the per-channels power will be also decrease
and this could have some influence of the transmission
quality of the individual channels.
To avoid these drawbacks, Alcatel has introduced in the
1686 WM the saturation wavelength. The aim of this
feature is to provide optical power tank that will
compensate the number of channel.
The number of wavelength transmitted by the 1686 WM
will always be one count more than the number of input
signal.
If the number of channels to be transmitted is double
then the output power of the saturation wavelength will
be reduced by 3 dB in order to keep constant the input
power of the first optical amplifier.
This input power is kept constant regardless the number
of transmitted channels is and its working point will not
change. As the optical amplifiers included in the 1686
WM are working in output power controlled mode, also
the output power of the amplifier will remain constant.
3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 28
 This offers to service providers fast and secure channel
upgradability with limited actions to be made by operator.
This also provides non-disturbances on existing traffics
due to the adding of a new channel.
The wavelength of the saturation channel is around 1545
nm.

5.2 Optical
performance
monitoring
In the 1686 WM an accurate Performance Monitoring (PM)
of the quality of each transported channel of the WDM
aggregate is possible.
This feature is implemented by means of B1 non-intrusive
monitoring of the client signal at the WDM input interface
(Figure 28) and checking the FEC corrected/uncorrected
errors at the WDM output (Figure 29). By means of the
FEC frame overhead analysis it is possible to monitor the
transmission related impairments or, more generally, the
DWMD related impairments. The implementation of OOB-
FEC on the 1686 WM is performed without modifying the
transported signal frame.
Using the error correction capability it is possible to
enhance the B1 signal quality monitoring available so far.
The analysis of the errors corrected by the FEC
encoding/decoding algorithm gives early warnings and
enables the advance maintenance actions before any
significant impact on the Quality of Service delivered to
the end customer. Moreover in large dimension networks
it will be possible to locate easily each faulty section.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 29

 Figure 28.

Figure 29.

5.2.1 B1 Monitoring
The collection of the B1 Performance Monitoring data is
performed on the base of the following definitions.
• Erroneous Seconds (ES): a second containing one or
more B1 erroneous bit
• Severely Erroneous Seconds (SES): a second
containing at least 30% of B1 erroneous bits or at
least one defect
• Background Blocks Errors (BBE): B1 erroneous bit
occurring outside a SES
There are different counters associated with ES, SES and
BBE, for each counter alarms with adjustable threshold
values are available. The count of ES, SES and BBE can
be performed during 15 minutes or 24 hours.

5.2.2 PM Monitoring based on FEC counters

The FEC-based PM data collection gives the two following
sets of information:
• Number of errors that the FEC is not able to correct
and are delivered to the client.
• Number of corrected errors at the WDM receiver.
The number of corrected errors at the WDM receiver gives
an indication of the real transmission quality of the WDM
optical channel and allows the early scheduling of
maintenance actions.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 30

 The FEC-based PM feature is implemented by means of
counters containing the number of un-corrected and
corrected errors during 15 minutes or 24 hours time-
windows.
As for B1 monitoring there are available alarms with
adjustable thresholds related to the values of the
counters.
5.3 Optical Safety
The 1686 WM is equipped with an Automatic Power
ShutDown (APSD) mechanism designed to lower the
transmitted optical power to safe values whenever the
optical line is interrupted (examples: optical cable
breaking, amplifier failure etc.).
The following figure describes this feature in case of cable
breaking. It can be seen that the mechanism is slightly
different depending on the possible presence of OADM
repeaters in the line.

5.3.1 APSD without OADM Repeater

The first amplifier located after the breakdown point
detects a Loss of Signal (LOS) at its input and, according
to APSD mechanism, shuts down; all the following
amplifiers will shut down one after the other upon LOS
detection. At the terminal site the Expansion unit receives
the LOS from the faulty line and shuts down the first
amplifier transmitting in the opposite direction and so on.

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

TRIB. TRIB.
TRIB. TRIB.
EXP

EXP

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

TRIB. TRIB.
TRIB. TRIB.
OADM
OADM
EXP

EXP

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 31

 Figure 30.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 32

 5.3.2 APSD with OADM Repeater
The first stage of the amplifier located after the
breakdown point detects a Loss of Signal (LOS) at its
input and, according to APSD mechanism, shuts down.
The OADM, located in the same site in Figure 30, detects
the LOS on the West to East line and shuts down the
second stage of the amplifier transmitting in the opposite
direction. In this way, in the example shown, the APSD
mechanism affects only the section between the Terminal
Equipment WEST and the OADM Repeater, where the
failure has taken place, without disturbing the
transmission between the Terminal Equipment EAST and
the OADM Repeater.
Once the failure is repaired the system restarts
automatically.
The shut down and restart procedures are implemented
according to G. 681.

5.4 Dispersion
compensation
The dispersion is a physical phenomenon that affects the
optical signals traveling in optical fibers. Because of
dispersion the different frequencies of an optical signal
experience different velocities of propagation.
The net result is a broadening of the optical transmitted
pulses at the receiver.
The transmission at 10 Gb/s is more sensitive to
dispersion, with respect to the transmission at 2.5 Gb/s,
because of the higher bit/rate.
The 1686 WM WLA units guarantee a correct
transmission on links with dispersion up to 12800 ps/nm
at 2.5 Gb/s and on links with dispersion up to 1000
ps/nm at 10 Gb/s.
When these values are exceeded it is necessary to install
Dispersion Compensating Units (DCU) along the link.
A DCU unit is composed by a certain length of special
fiber, designed in order to have the dispersion value
opposite to that of the transmission fiber.
By properly installing the DCU units in the 1686 WM
Terminal and Line sites, it’s possible to keep the total
dispersion experienced by the optical signals within the
limits required by the receivers.
DCU units with different amount of special fiber are
available, thus allowing the dispersion compensation of
transmission links with various lengths.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 33

 The Optical Amplifiers of the 1686 WM have double stage
architecture and the DCU units are inserted between the
two stages. In this way it is possible to compensate the
link dispersion without affecting the optical performances
of the system.
In general, the target is to completely compensate the
dispersion of the link by uniformly distributing the DCU
units in the link sites.
Nevertheless it is difficult to give a general rule, since the
amount of required compensation depends on the link
characteristics such as: fiber type, optical power launched
in the line, signal bit/rate, presence of OADM repeaters,
number of channels etc. All the previous parameters must
be taken into account when designing a WDM link.
In the following figure a diagram showing the amplifier
structure and the logical DCU position is reported.

Input
Output
Pre Post
amp amp

980- nm pump -
1480 - nm pump

DCU
Monitoring Monitoring Monitoring

Figure 31.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 34

 6 Optical
interfaces

6.1 Tributary interfaces

The 1686 WM can work with the following type of
tributary interfaces:
• Plesiochronous interfaces with bit-rate in the range
100 Mbit/s- 1.25 Gb/s
• STM-1
• STM-4
• STM-16
• STM-64
In the open system configuration all the single channel
inputs are interfaced with the WLA’s. They translate the
spectral characteristics of the sources from the ITU-T
G.957 standard ones to the ITU-T G.692 wavelength grid.
For STM-16 and STM-64 interfaces, the Alcatel ADM
systems (1664 SM, 1661 SMC) can be equipped with
“colored” aggregates with emission wavelength already in
compliance with the ITU-T G.692 grid. In this case an
integrated system configuration is possible without WLA’s.
The WLA type depends on the input signal type.
The following different WLA’s are included in the 1686
WM:
• STM-64 WLA with OOB-FEC (Out Of Band-Forward
Error Correction), compliant to S-64.2 interfaces as
defined in ITU-T G.691 recommendation.
• STM-64 WLA Regenerative with OOB-FEC. This unit
can be placed in back-to-back sites in order to
perform a 3R regeneration for the pass-through
wavelengths.
• STM-16 WLA with OOB-FEC compliant to S-16.1 or L-
16.2 interfaces as defined in ITU-T G.957
recommendation.
• STM-16 WLA compliant to S-16.1 interfaces as
defined in ITU-T G.957 recommendation.
• STM-16 WLA Regenerative. This item can be used, for
example, in back-to-back stations, for wavelengths in
the pass-through configuration.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 35

 • Asynchronous WLA compliant to S-1.1, S-4.1, L-1.2
and L-4.2 interfaces as defined in ITU-T G.957
recommendation. This unit performs the 2R
regeneration of input signals with bit rate ranging
from 100 Mb/s to 1.25 Gb/s.

• 4x2.5 Gb/s concentrator with OOB-FEC, able to

aggregate 4 signals @ 2.5 Gb/s into a 10 Gb/s signal.
The 2.5 Gb/s B&W interfaces are I-16.1.
6.2 Aggregate interfaces
The 1686 WM Optical Amplifier is a double stage unit
available in three different versions depending on the
output power: Pout = +14 dBm, + 17 dBm and 20 dBm.
The double stage technology allows the 10 Gb/s
transmission and the wavelength A/D capability without
degrading the transmission performances. By means of
the interstage access the gain flatness of the amplifier is
under control.
By inserting between the two amplification stages the
OADM unit, the wavelength A/D capability of the 1686
WM is achieved without any penalty on the span. By
inserting the DCU between the two amplification stages
the 10 Gb/s upgrade form a previous installed 2.5 Gb/s
signal is possible without affecting the other installed
traffic.

Input Output

Pre Post
amp amp

980 - nm pump 1480 - nm pump

Inter -
stage
loss
Monitoring Monitoring Monitoring

Figure 32.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 36

 7 Management

7.1 The Supervisory

Channel
As the 1686 WM system has remote amplifiers, it is
therefore necessary to access this equipment to manage
them. This is the purpose of the supervisory channel. This
channel holds all the information for the in line amplifiers
management, auxiliary channels for data transmission at
64 Kbit/s and EOW. The 1686 WM supports the OSC
both with wavelength at 1480 nm and 1510 nm.
The 1510 nm wavelength allows optical budget compatible
with very long application covered by long reach WLA with
OOB-FEC.
The supervision channel allows failure location. In case of
a cable breakdown, the line amplifier located just after the
breakdown indicates a loss of input signal and sends this
information to management system through the
supervisory channel. In the meantime, APSD is activated
to avoid high optical power on the fiber, leaving the
supervisory channel in working condition. In case of an
in-line amplifier defect, as the supervisory channel is
independent of the amplifier status, it continues to work.
The defect information is sent to the management system.
In case of a defect on the management unit or on the
supervisory channel system in a terminal or in a line
amplifier, the WDM transmission continues to work and
the following equipment raise an alarm indicating a loss
of the supervisory channel.
The 1686 WM system is managed either by a local craft
terminal through the F interface or, as part of Alcatel
family, by a central management station through the Q3
interface.
With the local management, it is possible to access the
status, the configuration and the alarms coming from
every unit of the system.
All management information is collected from the units by
the Equipment Controller unit. Equipment controllers
included in the different racks exchange information with
the supervisory channel allowing one craft terminal to
manage the entire link. This is described in the following
chart.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 37

 Combining inside Offering maintenance
the same fiber capabilities of
all the wavelengths in-line amplifiers
In-line
Amplifier (: new network elements)
Line Terminal Equipment Line Terminal Equipment
Optical
supervisory λ1
DATA IN Tx λ1 Rx DATA OUT
M channel
Σ λ + λsupervisory λ2
DATA IN Tx λ2 U Rx Tx Rx DATA OUT
L λ3
DATA IN Tx λ3 T D Rx DATA OUT
DATA IN Tx λ4 I E λ4 Rx DATA OUT
P M λ5
DATA IN Tx λ5 L U Rx DATA OUT
DATA IN Tx λ6 E X λ6 Rx DATA OUT
X λ7
DATA IN Tx λ7 E Rx DATA OUT
R Tx λ λ8
DATA IN Tx λ8 sup Amplifying Rx λsup Rx DATA OUT
System simultaneously System
control all the channels control
processor processor

Providing correct Network Network Selecting

powers and management management one channel
wavelengths per output fiber

The craft terminal is a standard PC, running with

Windows NT or Windows 2000, with at least 128 Mb RAM.
The equipment controller of the 1686 WM also has a Q3
interface allowing central management of the equipment
with the same system that manages Alcatel family of
products. The 1686 WM is then considered as a group of
network elements, their number depends on the system
configuration, one terminal is one network element as the
in line amplifier.
The management solution is the same regardless of the
type of equipment used, SDH or WDM.
Any kind of management provides continuous access to
some parameters of the system.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 38

 Examples of parameters under supervision are the
following:
• Multiplexer and demultiplexer operation
• input and output signal of the booster and
preamplifier board
• booster and preamplifier pump modules parameters
• input and output signal of the in line amplifier
• in line amplifier pump module parameters
• hardware failure
• optical protection cover removed
Some of these parameters can be measured by the system
itself as:
• Input and output power of the in line amplifier
• Input and output power of the booster
• input and output power of the preamplifier
These measurement are made upon a management
system request and are stored in a file in order to follow
the evolution of these parameters and to decide some
preventive maintenance actions.
Each optical amplifier unit is provided with a non-
intrusive optical port, which allows the monitoring of the
optical signal with the help of a spectrum analyzer.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 39

 8 Technical Data
Mechanical specifications
S9 rack (in mm): 2200 high x 600 wide x 300 or 600
deep
(net height for the equipment: 1850
mm)

Optinex rack (in mm): 2200 high x 600 wide x 300 deep
(net height for the equipment: 2000
mm)

Master shelf (in mm): 450 high x 482 wide

Optional Slave shelf (in mm):

450 high x 482 wide (19”) for WLA 2.5
Gb/s,
422 high x 533 wide (21”) for WLA 10
Gb/s

In line subrack (in mm): 450 high x 482 wide

Power Specifications
Battery: 48/60 V DC Acc. DE/EE 2001
Maximum power dissipation: ≈ 400 W per subrack (shelf
WLA 10G fully equipped)

Environmental specifications
Storage condition ETS 300 019 class 1.2
Transport condition ETS 300 019 class 2.2
Operating condition ETS 300 019 class 3.2
ESD/EMC condition ETS 300 386-1 (Telecom
Centre)

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 40

 Optical Grid
The following optical grid is applied by in accordance with
ITU-T G.692 recommendation:

Frequency 100 GHz 200 GHz Channel Wavelengt

in THz spacing spacing number h in
vacuum
in nm
195.8 * 58 1531.12
195.7 * * 57 1531.90
195.6 * 56 1532.68
195.5 * * 55 1533.47
195.4 * 54 1534.25
195.3 * * 53 1535.04
195.2 * 52 1535.82
195.1 * * 51 1536.61
195.0 * 50 1537.40
194.9 * * 49 1538.19
194.8 * 48 1538.98
194.7 * * 47 1539.77
194.6 * 46 1540.56
194.5 * * 45 1541.35
194.4 * 44 1542.14
194.3 * * 43 1542.94
194.2 1543.73
194.1 1544.53
194.0 1545.32
193.9 1546.12
193.8 1546.92
193.7 * * 37 1547.72
193.6 * 36 1548.51
193.5 * * 35 1549.32
193.4 * 34 1550.12
193.3 * * 33 1550.92
193.2 * 32 1551.72
193.1 * * 31 1552.52
193.0 * 30 1553.33
192.9 * * 29 1554.13
192.8 * 28 1554.94
192.7 * * 27 1555.75
192.6 * 26 1556.55
192.5 * * 25 1557.36

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 41

 Frequency 100 GHz 200 GHz Channel Wavelengt
in THz spacing spacing number h in
vacuum
in nm
192.4 * 24 1558.17
192.3 * * 23 1558.98
192.2 * 22 1559.79
192.1 * (1) 21 1560.61

(1) dedicated Mux/Demux board required

Table 1.

Optical safety ITU-T G.681

Mechanical characteristics of the optical interfaces

Optical connectors SC/SPC & SC2/SPC
Monitoring Optical connectors FC/SPC

Protection
Optical network protection OCh protection: linear &
ring

Operation
Station alarms Urgent, Non Urgent, Attended
NM access Q interface G.773 10 base 2, 10 base
T
Craft interface RS232 9600 Baud/s
PC compatible 9 pin D type
Housekeeping 8 inputs + 8 outputs
System alarms One LED on each card plus central LED
Data channels 2 V11 or G.703 64kbit/s
Operation processes Remote inventory at card level
Software download without traffic
interruption

Management application
Alarm and status
Configuration
Remote inventory
Software downloading
Measurement application

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 42

 ZAO ALCATEL

Petrovka str., 5
103031 Moscow
Russia

Tel. +7 (095) 937 0900 - Fax +7 (095) 937 0915 /08 /09

Alcatel reserves the right to modify the specifications in this document without prior warning, as a result of
technical upgrades or new regulations.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 43