Optical Networking

Technologies

Outline
Introduction to Fiber Optics
Passive Optical Network (PON) point-topoint fiber networks, typically to a home
or small business
SONET/SDH
DWDM (Long Haul)

Optical Transmission
electrical
signal

Optical
Fibre
Transmission
System

optical
signal

Optical
Fibre
Transmission
System

electrical
signal

Advantages of optical transmission:

1. Longer distance (noise resistance and less attenuation)
2. Higher data rate (more bandwidth)
3. Lower cost/bit

Optical Networks
Passive Optical Network (PON)
Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
Fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC)
Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP)

Metro Networks (SONET)

Metro access networks
Metro core networks

Transport Networks (DWDM)

Long-haul networks
4

Optical Network
Architecture
DWDM

SONET

Long Haul
Network

Metro
Network
transport network

Metro
Network

PON
Access
Network

Access
Network

Access
Network

Access
Network

CPE (customer premise)

5

All-Optical Networks
Most optical networks today are EOE
(electrical/optical/electrical)
All optical means no electrical component
To transport and switch packets photonically.

Transport: no problem, been doing that for years

Label Switch
Use wavelength to establish an on-demand end-toend path

Photonic switching: many patents, but how

many products?

Optical 101
Wavelength (): length of a wave and is
measured in nanometers, 10-9m (nm)
400nm (violet) to 700nm (red) is visible light
Fiber optics primarily use 850, 1310, & 1550nm

Frequency (f): measured in TeraHertz, 1012

(THz)
Speed of light = 3108 m/sec

Optical Spectrum

IR

UV

125 GHz/nm

Visible
850 nm

1550 nm

1310 nm

Light
Bandwidth

Ultraviolet (UV)
Visible
Infrared (IR)
Communication
wavelengths

1550nm

193,548.4GHz

1551nm

193,424.6GHz

1nm

125 GHz

850, 1310, 1550 nm

Low-loss wavelengths
8

Optical Fiber
An optical fiber is made of
three sections:
The core carries the
light signals
The cladding keeps the light
in the core
The coating protects the glass

Core

Cladding

Coating

Optical Fiber (cont.)

Single-mode fiber
Carries light
pulses by laser
along single path

Multimode fiber
Many pulses of
light generated
by LED travel at
different angles

SM: core=8.3 cladding=125 m

MM: core=50 or 62.5 cladding=125 m

10

Bending of light ray

7.11

Figure 7.12 Propagation modes

7.12

Figure 7.13 Modes

7.13

Figure 7.14 Fiber construction

7.14

Figure 7.15 Fiber-optic cable connectors

7.15

Figure 7.16 Optical fiber performance

7.16

Note: loss is relatively flat

Fiber Installation
Support cable every 3 feet for indoor cable (5 feet for
outdoor)
Dont squeeze support straps too tight.
Pull cables by hand, no jerking, even hand pressure.
Avoid splices.
Make sure the fiber is dark when working with it.
Broken pieces of fiber VERY DANGEROUS!! Do not
ingest!
7.17

Optical Transmission Effects

Attenuation
Dispersion & Nonlinearity
Distortion

Transmitted Data Waveform

Waveform After 1000 Km

18

Optical Transmission Effects

Attenuation:
Loss of transmission power due to long distance

Dispersion and Nonlinearities:

Erodes clarity with distance and speed

Distortion due to signal detection and recovery

19

Transmission Degradation
Ingress Signal

Egress Signal

Loss of Energy
Optical Amplifier

Shape Distortion
Dispersion Compensation Unit (DCU)

Loss of Timing (Jitter)

Phase Variation

Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) cross-connect

20

Passive Optical Network

(PON)

Standard: ITU-T G.983

PON is used primarily in two markets:
residential and business for very high
speed network access.
Passive: no electricity to power or maintain
the transmission facility.
PON is very active in sending and receiving
optical signals

The active parts are at both end points.

Splitter could be used, but is passive

21

Passive Optical Network

(PON)
OLT: Optical Line Terminal
ONT: Optical Network Terminal

Splitter
(1:32)

22

PON many flavors

ATM-based PON (APON) The first Passive optical
network standard, primarily for business applications
Broadband PON (BPON) the original PON standard
(1995). It used ATM as the bearer protocol, and
operated at 155Mbps. It was later enhanced to
622Mbps.
ITU-T G.983

Ethernet PON (EPON) standard from IEEE Ethernet

for the First Mile (EFM) group. It focuses on
standardizing a 1.25 Gb/s symmetrical system for
Ethernet transport only
IEEE 802.3ah (1.25G)
IEEE 802.3av (10G EPON)

Gigabit PON (GPON) offer high bit rate while

enabling transport of multiple services, specifically
data (IP/Ethernet) and voice (TDM) in their native
formats, at an extremely high efficiency
ITU-T G.984

23

xPON Comparison
BPON

EPON

GPON

Standard

ITU-T G.983

IEEE 803.2ah

ITU-T G.984

Bandwidth

Down: 622M
Up: 155M

Symmetric:
1.25G

Down: 2.5G
Up: 2.5G

Downstream

1490 &1550

1550

1490 & 1550

Upstream

1310

1310

1310

Transmission

ATM

Ethernet

ATM, TDM,
Ethernet

24

PON Case Study (BPON)

Optical Line Terminal (OLT)
(Central Office)

Packet Core
(IPoATM)

Optical Network Terminal (ONT)

(customer premise)
Two Ethernet ports
One T1/E1 port
Optical transport: 622M bps

T1/E1

802.3

CES

RFC2684

AAL1

AAL5

SAR/CS

ATM
TDM Core
(PSTN)

PON (G.983)

25

GPON

26

EPON Evolution

27

28

29

30

EPON Downstream

31

EPON Upstream

32

SONET in Metro Network

Long Haul
(DWDM)
Network

Core Router
ADM

ADM

Metro SONET Ring

ADM

Voice Switch

ADM
ADM

Access Ring

Access Ring
T1

ADM

Access Ring

ADM

T1

PBX
33

IP Over SONET
SONET is designed for TDM traffic, and todays need is packet (IP)
traffic. Is there a better way to carry packet traffic over SONET?
T1

DS3

OC-3
IP
IP
????

SONET

SONET

802.3
RFC2684

IP

IP

AAL5

PPP

802.3

ATM

RFC1619

GFP

SONET

SONET

SONET

TDM Traffic
RFC 2684: Encapsulate IP packet over ATM
RFC 1619: Encapsulate PPP over SONET

GFP: Generic Frame Procedure

34

ATM over SONET (STS-3c)

Cell 1

Cell 2

Cell 3

260 columns (octets)

Cell 1

Cell 2

Cell 3

OH

9 rows

STS-3c Envelope
35

PPP over SONET

RFC 1619 (1994)
The basic rate for PPP over SONET is
STS-3c at 155.520 Mbps.
The available information bandwidth
is 149.760 Mbps, which is the STS-3c
envelope with section, line and path
overhead removed.
Lower signal rates use the Virtual
Tributary (VT) mechanism of SONET.
36

PPP over SONET (STS-3c)

PPP Frame 1 (HDLC)

PPP Frame 2 (HDLC)

PPP Frame 3 (HDLC)

260 columns (octets)

PPP Frame 1a
PPP Frame 2a

PPP Frame 1b

PPP Frame 2b

POH

PPP Frame 2c
2d

Path overhead

9 rows

PPP Frame 3

STS-3c Envelope
37

Dense Wave Division

Multiplexing (DWDM)

Ref: Cisco DWDM Primer

38

Continue Demands for More

Bandwidth
Same bit rate, more fibers

More Fibers

Slow Time to Market

Expensive Engineering
Limited Rights of Way
Duct Exhaust

W
D
M
Faster Electronics
(TDM)

Same fiber & bit rate, more s

Fiber Compatibility
Fiber Capacity Release
Fast Time to Market
Lower Cost of Ownership
Utilizes existing TDM Equipment

Higher bit rate, same fiber

Electronics more expensive
39

TDM vs. WDM

Time division multiplexing
Single wavelength per fiber
Multiple channels per fiber
4 OC-3 channels in OC-12
4 OC-12 channels in OC-48
16 OC-3 channels in OC-48

Wave division multiplexing

Multiple wavelengths per fiber
4, 16, 32, 64 wavelengths per
fiber
Multiple channels per
wavelength

Channel 1
Channel n

Single
Fiber (One
Wavelength)

l1
l2

Single Fiber
(Multiple
Wavelengths)

ln

40

TDM vs. WDM

TDM (SONET/SDH)
DS-1
Take sync and async
DS-3
signals and multiplex them OC-1
to a single higher optical
OC-3
bit rate
OC-12
E/O or O/E/O conversion OC-48

SONET
ADM

Fiber

WDM
Take multiple optical
OC-12c
signals and multiplex themOC-48c
OC-192c
onto a single fiber
No signal format
conversion

DWDM
OADM

Fiber

41

FDM vs. WDM vs. DWDM

Is WDM also a Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) which

has been widely available for many years?
Short Answer: Yes. There is no difference between
Wavelength Division and Frequency Division. In general,
FDM is used in the context of Radio Frequency (MHz GHz)
while WDM is used in the context of light ( THz)
WDM: The original standard requires 100 GHz spacing to
prevent signals interference.
Dense WDM (DWDM): support multiplexing of up to 160
wavelengths of 10G/wavelength with 25GHz spacing
The use of sub 100GHz for spacing is called Dense WDM.
Some vendors even propose to use 12.5GHz spacing, and it
would multiplex up to 320 wavelengths
Spectrum A

spacing

Spectrum B

42

DWDM Economy
Conventional TDM Transmission10 Gbps
40km 40km 40km 40km 40km 40km 40km 40km 40km
1310
1310
1310
1310
1310
1310
1310
1310
TERM
TERM
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
TERM
TERM
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
TERM
TERM
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
RPTR
1310
TERM
TERM
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR
RPTR

OC-48
OC-48
OC-48
OC-48

DWDM Transmission10 Gbps

OA

120 km

120 km
OA

4 Fiber Pairs
32 Regenerators

OA

120 km

OA

OC-48
OC-48
OC-48
OC-48

1 Fiber Pair
4 Optical Amplifiers

43

Optical Transmission Bands

Band
New Band
S-Band
C-Band
L-Band
U-Band

Wavelength (nm)
1360
1460
1530
1565
1625

1460
1530
1565
1625
1675

44

DWDM: How does it work?

TDM: multiple services onto a
single wavelength
TDM

DWDM
TDM

TDM

Single pair of fiber strand

Multiple wave lengths

45

DWDM Network

MUX

DEMUX

46

DWDM Network
Components
1

15xx

1...n

2
3

Transponder
Optical => DWDM
Usually do O-E-O

Optical Multiplexer

1
2

1...n

ADM

Optical De-multiplexer
Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer
(OADM)
47

Optical Amplifier (OA)

Pin

gain

Pout

EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier) amplifier

Separate amplifiers for C-band and L-band

48

Optical ADM (OADM)

OADM is similar in many respects to SONET ADM,
except that only optical wavelengths are added
and dropped, and there is no conversion of the
signal from optical to electrical.

Q: there is no framing of DWDM, so how do we add/drop/pass light?

A: It is based on and only.
49

Cisco ONS 15800

TO build a long haul network

Up to 64 channels (i.e., wavelengths)
OC-12, OC-48, OC-192
up to 500 km

LEM: Line Extension Module

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/si/on15800s/prodlit/ossri_ds.pdf
50

DWDM Network
(point-to-point)

OLA: Optical Line Amplifier

51

DWDM Network
Add-and-Drop
Note: this is a linear topology, and not a ring topology.

Chicago
1: to Pittsburg
2: to New York

Pittsburg
1: drop
2: pass

New York

52

SONET and DWDM

DWDM
terminal

ADM

ADM

DWDM
terminal

Long Hall

SONET
Chicago

SONET

SONET

DWDM

DWDM
ADM

SONET
New York

OC-3

ADM

OC-3

IP

IP

PPP

PPP

SONET

SONET
53

IP over DWDM ???

IP

IP

IP
DWDM
terminal

???

DWDM
terminal

DWDM
Note: There is no protocol called IP over DWDM or PPP
over DWDM. However, there are many publications on IP
over DWDM and they all require a layer-2 protocol which
provides the framing to encapsulate IP packets. (see the
previous slide)

54

Summary

Optical Fiber Network the market needs

Access Network
Passive Optical Network (PON)

Metro Network
SONET/SDH

Transport Network (Long-Haul)

DWDM
DWDM can be applied to metro and access networks as well, but unlikely
for its high cost.

Optical network is a layer-1 technology, and IP is a layer-3

protocol. There must be a layer-2 protocol to encapsulate IP
packets to layer-2 framing before it goes to the optical layer
ATM (via RFC2684)
SONET (via PPP)
Ethernet (via GFP)

55