| Survivable fiber optic communications networks can benefit greatly from increased distance between optical amplifier sites because it reduces the number of sites that must be hardened. We proposed, using numerical simulations, and experimentally demonstrated, at the MITRE optical networking laboratory, the feasibility of an alternative Optical Transport System (OTS) architecture that is based on ultra long amplifier spacing of 175 km (i.e. more than twice the span length of conventional fiber optic links using EDFA amplification only).
The proposed architecture used state-of-the-art high-gain, low noise figure, hybrid Raman – Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA). We demonstrated the proposed architecture proof of concept using an approximately 900 km link which incorporated only five in-line optical amplifiers.
The lab demonstration achieved outstanding optical transport results-- validating our numerical simulations, and showing that 40 – 10 Gbs (OC192) wavelengths can be supported on similar links with plenty of surplus margin.
These results indicate that significant cost savings could be achieved by significantly reducing the number of optical amplifier sites with all of their associated capital and operational costs
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