Welcome to the module on WDM fundamentals.

This module describes optical transmission

systems and components of WDM components.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 1

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:
• Discuss the optical transmission system
• Discuss components of the WDM system

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 2

In this section, you will learn about the WDM transmission system.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 3

In telecommunications, transmission is the process of sending, propagating and receiving an
analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
transmission medium, either wired, optical fiber, or wireless.
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another
by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. Light is a form of the carrier wave
that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high
bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference is required. This type of
communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks or across
long distances.
There are three main components in an optical transmission system:
• The transmitter, is an optical signal source. It converts the bit flow into an optical signal
• The receiver, is the optical signal destination. It recovers the bit flow from an optical signal
• A medium, is the signal propagation path. In this case, it is an optical fiber.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 4

A Laser Diode (LD) or a Light Emitting Diode (LED) performs the encoding that allows an optical
output in most cases of 850, 1310, or 1550 nanometers.
This figure shows a very basic amplitude modulation:
• The laser is always ON. The external modulator is driven by the digital signal and generates
light pulses.
• The contact is “CLOSED” to transmit a “1” (when there is light on the fiber).
• The contact is “OPEN” to transmit a “0” (where there is no light on the fiber).
The transmitter uses an electrical-optical interface to encode the user information through
Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM), Phase Modulation (PM), etc.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 5

The main characteristics of the light source are:
• Wavelength range: It can be fixed wavelength or tunable wavelength. It indicates the lambda
location in the optical spectrum, and its unit is in nm.
• Transmitted optical power: There are Begin of Life and End of Life optical power values. Both
dBm (decibel-milliwatts) and mW (milliwatts) are units of optical power. The powerP(dBm) in
dBm is equal to 10 times the base 10 logarithm of the powerP (mW)in milliwatts (mW) divided
by 1 milliwatt (mW). For example, 1 mW can be converted into 0 dBm.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 6

Photodiode Detectors perform the opposite function of light emitters. A data demodulator
converts the data back into its original electrical form.
The most important parameters are:
• The maximum received power, or saturation. If the received power is above this power limit,
then the receiver maybe damaged
• The minimum received power, or sensitivity. If the received power is below this power limit,
there would not enough power for the receiver to recover the signal.
The most common detector is the semiconductor photodiode (PIN photodiode) and Avalanche
photodiode (APD photodiode), which produces current in response to incident light. The
structural configuration of Avalanche photodiode is very similar to the PIN photodiode, but it is
more sensitive.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 7

Generally speaking, the transmitter and receiver are in the same module, which is called
transceiver. These are several types of optical modules commonly used in optical transmission
systems. Their working wavelength ranges, optical powers, and types of optical fiber interfaces
may be different.
SFP/SFP+: This is Small Form-Factor Pluggable. The SFP optical modules supports LC
connectors.
XFP: This is 10 Gigabit small form-factor pluggable, where X is the Roman numeral 10.
XFP optical modules supports LC connectors. They are wider and longer than SFP+ modules.
QSFP+: This is quad small form-factor pluggable. The QSFP+ optical modules supports MPO
fiber connectors and are larger than SFP+ optical modules.
QSFP28: These are the same size as a QSFP+ module. A QSFP28 interface can use a 100GE
QSFP28 optical module or a 40GE QSFP+ optical module.
CFP: This is centum form-factor pluggable. CFP is a new optical module standard that can be
used in data communication and telecommunications fields.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 8

The optical fiber connects the transmitter and receiver. It consists of four main regions:
• The core is located at the center of the fiber. The core carries the light (or, more precisely,
most of the light).
• The cladding is located around the core and made of glass with a different refractive index
than the core. This is so built that the rays of light (or waves) can be confined completely
within the core.
• A coating or buffer is typically made of plastic material. It is useful in providing strength and
protection to the fiber. It does not carry any optical signals.
• The jacket is the protective cover (also called “cable sheath”). No light is carried within the
jacket.
To optimize the light guiding in a fiber, the laser beam must be in a cone of incidence. The
critical angle is the maximum angle of incidence of light at which the light stops being refracted
and is reflected. This angle depends on the refractive index of the core (n2) and the refractive
index of the cladding (n1). The refractive index is the ratio between the speed of light in vacuum
(c) and the speed of light in the medium (v).

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 9

The fiber type used in the system is dependent on its application. There are two basic types of
fiber: multimode fiber and single-mode fiber.
For Multimode fiber (MMF), numerous modes or light rays are carried simultaneously through
the waveguide. MMF has a much larger core diameter that allows for a larger number of modes.
MMF is easier to couple than single-mode optical fiber. It may be categorized as step-index or
graded-index fiber.
Multimode fiber is best designed for short transmission distances and is suitable for use in LAN
systems and video surveillance.
Single-mode fiber (SMF) retains the fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances, allowing for
a higher transmission capacity. It exhibits no dispersion caused by multiple modes. Single-mode
fiber also provides lower fiber attenuation than multimode fiber, enabling more information to
be transmitted per unit of time. Modern single-mode fibers have evolved into complex designs:
matched clad, depressed clad, and other exotic structures.
Single-mode fiber is best designed for longer transmission distances. It’s suitable for long-
distance and multi-channel systems.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 10

With the rapid development of science and technology, information transmission in the
communication area expanded with accelerated speed. The Information Age requires a
transmission network with a larger capacity. There are many methods to increase the capacity
and flexibility of fiber network, and increase the transmission speed and expand capacity.
The Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) method increases the transmission capacity linearly by
adding the number of optical fibers, and the transmission equipment will be increased linearly.
The increase in the number of optical fibers will inevitably complicate the cable layout and
maintenance. If there are not enough optical fibers in the existing optical cable tunnel, you will
have to lay down additional cables to expand the capacity, and this method will multiply the
engineering cost. Therefore, the method to expand capacity in SDM is very limited.
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is also a commonly used method for capacity expansion. TDM
technology can enhance the capacity of optical transmission information in duplication and
greatly reduce the circuit cost in equipment and line. However, the TDM method has two
disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that upgrading will affect services. Secondly, rate
upgrade lacks flexibility. Presently, TDM equipment of a higher rate costs much more, and the
40Gbit/s TDM equipment has reached the rate limit of the electronic component.
All the basic transmission networks, whether using SDM or TDM to expand the capacity, utilise
optical signals on a single wavelength for transmission. This transmission method is a great
waste of optical capacity because the bandwidth of optical fiber is almost infinite when
compared to the single wavelength channel we currently use.
The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) utilizes the large bandwidth of low loss band
section in single-mode fibers to transmit by mixing optical signals with various rates
(wavelengths). The digital signals carried by optical signals with different wavelengths can be
either the format of the same rate and protocol or the format of different rates and protocols.
We can determine the network capacity according to the requirement of the users by adding
new features of wavelength. It can satisfy various requirements for transmission capacity and
transmission distance. The disadvantage of WDM is that it needs many fiber components and
increases the failure probability.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 11

Time Division Multiplexing was invented as a way of maximizing the amount of voice traffic that
could be carried over a medium. TDM increases the capacity of the transmission link by slicing
time into smaller intervals so that the bits from multiple input sources can be carried on the link,
effectively increasing the number of bits transmitted per second.
The telecommunications industry adopted the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) standard for optical transport of TDM data.
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM): The WDM technology multiplexes optical signals of
different wavelengths into one fiber for transmission (each wavelength carries one service
signal). The WDM technology is mainly used for transmission and multiplexing.
Before the WDM technology, all transmission technologies allow one fiber to transmit only one
wavelength, whereas WDM technologies allow one fiber to transmit multiple wavelengths.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 12

WDM assigns incoming optical signals to specific frequencies of light (wavelengths or lambdas)
within a certain frequency band. In a WDM system, each of the wavelengths is launched into the
fiber and the signals are demultiplexed at the receiving end. WDM carries each input signal
independently of the others. This means that each channel has its dedicated bandwidth. All
signals arrive at the same time, rather than being broken up and carried in time slots.
MUX: The main function of the combiner MUX is to combine multiple signal wavelengths into
one fiber for transmission. At the transmitting end, the N optical transmitters operate on N
different wavelengths respectively, and the N wavelengths are separated by appropriate
intervals, which are respectively recorded as λ1, λ2, … λn. A multiplexer combines these optical
wavelengths into a single-mode fiber.
DEMUX: The main function of DEMUX is to separate the multiple wavelength signals transmitted
in one fiber. In the receiving part, the optical carrier signals of different wavelengths are
separated by a Demux and further processed by the optical receiver to restore the original
signal. A De-multiplexer (Demux) is a device that reverses the processing of a multiplexer.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 13

An optical network using DWDM techniques consists of five main components.
A transmitter (or transmit transponder) receives the input optical signal from a client layer. It
converts that signal into the electrical domain and retransmits the signal using a 1550
nanometer band laser.
A multiplexer and a demultiplexer combine/separate discrete wavelengths on each transmit and
receive side.
Amplifiers: The amplifiers amplify optical signals to extend the transmission distance. The
location and type of amplifier are different, the final affection is different.
An optical fibre is the transmission media to carry optical pulses.
A receiver receives the channel band laser signal.It converts that signal into the electrical
domain, and retransmits the signal towards the client-layer.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 14

The client signal is usually an optical signal in 1310 nanometers or 1550 nanometers (Black and
White), and it requires a transponder. A transponder is made up of two transceivers placed after
each other: the first transceiver converts the client optical signal to/from an electrical signal. The
second transceiver converts the electrical signal to/from an optical signal at the required DWDM
wavelength.
Black & White optical Client Interface: It Receives the optical signal incoming into the DWDM
Network Element. It Performs optical to electrical conversion and data recovery. The interface
provides an outgoing optical signal from the DWDM Network Element, suitable for the client
equipment;
DWDM optical Line Interface: It Receives the optical signal incoming on the DWDM line. It
performs optical to electrical conversion, and provides an outgoing optical signal from the
DWDM Network Element, suitable with the ITU-T DWDM grid;
Electrical Process: It regenerates the electrical signal coming from the client NE or from the
DWDM line. It also Performs Forward Error Correction (FEC) (optional).

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 15

Single-fiber bi-directional is used to transmit and receive optical signals in two directions at the
same time in an optical fiber. This is just like the positive and negative lanes separated by the
separation belt on the road. Vehicles on both sides of the road run in their own lanes without
interfering with each other.
Dual-fiber DWDM Mux/ Demux uses two optical fibers, one of which only transmits the optical
signal in one direction, while the other transmits the optical signal in the other direction.
Most Mux/DeMux are reciprocal devices, hence can be used as both Mux and DeMux. Optical
Mux/DeMux can be broadly classified into passive and active.
"Passive" indicates the DWDM Mux/Demux is an unpowered, pure optical equipment. It requires
zero maintenance, upgrades, or electricity to function properly. However, passive DWDM
Mux/Demux does not have the OAM function and does not have protection means in case of
link failure.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 16

The optical amplifier is used in the C-band and L-band, where the loss of telecom optical fibers
becomes lowest in the entire optical telecommunication wavelength bands. Erbium Doped Fiber
Amplifier (EDFA) is the most commonly used to compensate the loss of an optical fiber in long-
distance optical communication. Another important characteristic is that EDFA can amplify
multiple optical signals simultaneously, and thus can be easily combined with WDM technology.
The use of EDFA has eliminated the need for such Optical to Electrical (O-E) and Electrical to
Optical (E-O) conversion. It makes the optical signal transparent, significantly simplifying the
system.
EDFAs are used as a booster, inline, and pre-amplifier in an optical transmission line, as
schematically shown in Figure. These amplifier details will be discussed later in quality
improvements.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 17

The figure shows the loss in decibels per kilometre by wavelength from Rayleigh scattering,
intrinsic absorption, and total attenuation from all causes. Three transmission ranges have been
identified for optical transmission:
• The “first window” is around 850 nanometers;
• The “second window” is around 1300 nanometers;
• The “third window” is around 1550 nanometers.
The absorption peak between the second and third windows (1440 nm) is due to OH (hydroxyl)
elements introduced in the fiber manufacturing process. This is not an issue in some new fiber
types.
The “third window” presents a minimal attenuation and is suitable for amplification through
EDFA devices.
The “third window” can be divided into three sub-bands:
The Short band (S-band): between 1460 and 1530 nanometers;
The Conventional band (C band): between 1530 and 1565 nanometers;
The Long band (L band): between 1565 and 1625 nanometers.
Originally, SDH used 1310 nanometers wavelength; later on, it used 1550 nanometers
wavelength.
Coarse WDM (CWDM) using the wavelengths from 1270 nanometers through 1610 nanometers
with a channel spacing of 20 nanometers. Many CWDM wavelengths below 1470 nanometers are
considered "unusable" on some old fibers, due to the increased attenuation in the 1270-1470
nanometer bands. Therefore, most Corse WDM systems only use the 8 channels coloured in
purple on the slide.
Dense WDM (DWDM)was defined by the ITU standard as a grid of wavelengths with either 200,
100, 50 or 25 Gigahertz space in the C and L bands.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 18

Let’s recap the main differences between the Coarse WDM and Dense WDM systems.
In Coarse WDM, the channel count usually limited to 8 wavelengths and there is no optical
amplification. The reach is limited to 80km or 20dB. This means that CWDM application is limited
to metro networks. CWDM systems are low-cost equipment; the highest bit rates are not
usually supported.
Dense WDM systems are more expensive. They are more versatile in terms of applications
(metro and backbone networks), and topologies (not only Point-To-Point, but also ring and
mesh).
In DWDM, the common spacing may be 200, 100, 50 or 25 Gigahertz with channel count
reaching up to 128 or more channels at distances of several thousand kilometers with
amplification and regeneration along such a route. Highest bit rates (including state-of-the-art
100Giga) are typically only transported by DWDM.
It is sometimes possible to mix Coarse and Dense WDM in the same system.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 19

The optical fiber connects the transmitter and receiver. It consists of four main regions:
• The core is located at the center of the fiber. The core carries the light (or, more precisely,
most of the light).
• The cladding is located around the core and made of glass with a different refractive index
than the core. This is so built that the rays of light (or waves) can be confined completely
within the core.
• A coating or buffer is typically made of plastic material. It is useful in providing strength and
protection to the fiber. It does not carry any optical signals.
• The jacket is the protective cover (also called “cable sheath”). No light is carried within the
jacket.
To optimize the light guiding in a fiber, the laser beam must be in a cone of incidence. The
critical angle is the maximum angle of incidence of light at which the light stops being refracted
and is reflected. This angle depends on the refractive index of the core (n2) and the refractive
index of the cladding (n1). The refractive index is the ratio between the speed of light in vacuum
(c) and the speed of light in the medium (v).

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 20

The fiber type used in the system is dependent on its application. There are two basic types of
fiber: multimode fiber and single-mode fiber.
For Multimode fiber (MMF), numerous modes or light rays are carried simultaneously through
the waveguide. MMF has a much larger core diameter that allows for a larger number of modes.
MMF is easier to couple than single-mode optical fiber. It may be categorized as step-index or
graded-index fiber.
Multimode fiber is best designed for short transmission distances and is suitable for use in LAN
systems and video surveillance.
Single-mode fiber (SMF) retains the fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances, allowing for
a higher transmission capacity. It exhibits no dispersion caused by multiple modes. Single-mode
fiber also provides lower fiber attenuation than multimode fiber, enabling more information to
be transmitted per unit of time. Modern single-mode fibers have evolved into complex designs:
matched clad, depressed clad, and other exotic structures.
Single-mode fiber is best designed for longer transmission distances. It’s suitable for long-
distance and multi-channel systems.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 21

With the rapid development of science and technology, information transmission in the
communication area expanded with accelerated speed. The Information Age requires a
transmission network with a larger capacity. There are many methods to increase the capacity
and flexibility of fiber network, and increase the transmission speed and expand capacity.
The Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) method increases the transmission capacity linearly by
adding the number of optical fibers, and the transmission equipment will be increased linearly.
The increase in the number of optical fibers will inevitably complicate the cable layout and
maintenance. If there are not enough optical fibers in the existing optical cable tunnel, you will
have to lay down additional cables to expand the capacity, and this method will multiply the
engineering cost. Therefore, the method to expand capacity in SDM is very limited.
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is also a commonly used method for capacity expansion. TDM
technology can enhance the capacity of optical transmission information in duplication and
greatly reduce the circuit cost in equipment and line. However, the TDM method has two
disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that upgrading will affect services. Secondly, rate
upgrade lacks flexibility. Presently, TDM equipment of a higher rate costs much more, and the
40Gbit/s TDM equipment has reached the rate limit of the electronic component.
All the basic transmission networks, whether using SDM or TDM to expand the capacity, utilise
optical signals on a single wavelength for transmission. This transmission method is a great
waste of optical capacity because the bandwidth of optical fiber is almost infinite when
compared to the single wavelength channel we currently use.
The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) utilizes the large bandwidth of low loss band
section in single-mode fibers to transmit by mixing optical signals with various rates
(wavelengths). The digital signals carried by optical signals with different wavelengths can be
either the format of the same rate and protocol or the format of different rates and protocols.
We can determine the network capacity according to the requirement of the users by adding
new features of wavelength. It can satisfy various requirements for transmission capacity and
transmission distance. The disadvantage of WDM is that it needs many fiber components and
increases the failure probability.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 22

Time Division Multiplexing was invented as a way of maximizing the amount of voice traffic that
could be carried over a medium. TDM increases the capacity of the transmission link by slicing
time into smaller intervals so that the bits from multiple input sources can be carried on the link,
effectively increasing the number of bits transmitted per second.
The telecommunications industry adopted the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) standard for optical transport of TDM data.
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM): The WDM technology multiplexes optical signals of
different wavelengths into one fiber for transmission (each wavelength carries one service
signal). The WDM technology is mainly used for transmission and multiplexing.
Before the WDM technology, all transmission technologies allow one fiber to transmit only one
wavelength, whereas WDM technologies allow one fiber to transmit multiple wavelengths.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 23

WDM assigns incoming optical signals to specific frequencies of light (wavelengths or lambdas)
within a certain frequency band. In a WDM system, each of the wavelengths is launched into the
fiber and the signals are demultiplexed at the receiving end. WDM carries each input signal
independently of the others. This means that each channel has its dedicated bandwidth. All
signals arrive at the same time, rather than being broken up and carried in time slots.
MUX: The main function of the combiner MUX is to combine multiple signal wavelengths into
one fiber for transmission. At the transmitting end, the N optical transmitters operate on N
different wavelengths respectively, and the N wavelengths are separated by appropriate
intervals, which are respectively recorded as λ1, λ2, … λn. A multiplexer combines these optical
wavelengths into a single-mode fiber.
DEMUX: The main function of DEMUX is to separate the multiple wavelength signals transmitted
in one fiber. In the receiving part, the optical carrier signals of different wavelengths are
separated by a Demux and further processed by the optical receiver to restore the original
signal. A De-multiplexer (Demux) is a device that reverses the processing of a multiplexer.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 24

An optical network using DWDM techniques consists of five main components.
A transmitter (or transmit transponder) receives the input optical signal from a client layer.It
converts that signal into the electrical domain and retransmits the signal using a 1550
nanometer band laser.
A multiplexer and a demultiplexer combine/separate discrete wavelengths on each transmit and
receive side.
Amplifiers: The amplifiers amplify optical signals to extend the transmission distance. The
location and type of amplifier are different, the final affection is different.
An optical fibre is the transmission media to carry optical pulses.
A receiver receives the channel band laser signal.It converts that signal into the electrical
domain, and retransmits the signal towards the client-layer

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 25

The client signal is usually an optical signal in 1310 nanometers or 1550 nanometers (Black and
White), and it requires a transponder. A transponder is made up of two transceivers placed after
each other: the first transceiver converts the client optical signal to/from an electrical signal. The
second transceiver converts the electrical signal to/from an optical signal at the required DWDM
wavelength.
Black & White optical Client Interface: It Receives the optical signal incoming into the DWDM
Network Element. It Performs optical to electrical conversion and data recovery. The interface
provides an outgoing optical signal from the DWDM Network Element, suitable for the client
equipment;
DWDM optical Line Interface: It Receives the optical signal incoming on the DWDM line. It
performs optical to electrical conversion, and provides an outgoing optical signal from the
DWDM Network Element, suitable with the ITU-T DWDM grid;
Electrical Process: It regenerates the electrical signal coming from the client NE or from the
DWDM line. It also Performs Forward Error Correction (FEC) (optional).

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 26

Single-fiber bi-directional is used to transmit and receive optical signals in two directions at the
same time in an optical fiber. This is just like the positive and negative lanes separated by the
separation belt on the road. Vehicles on both sides of the road run in their own lanes without
interfering with each other.
Dual-fiber DWDM Mux/ Demux uses two optical fibers, one of which only transmits the optical
signal in one direction, while the other transmits the optical signal in the other direction.
Most Mux/DeMux are reciprocal devices, hence can be used as both Mux and DeMux. Optical
Mux/DeMux can be broadly classified into passive and active.
"Passive" indicates the DWDM Mux/Demux is an unpowered, pure optical equipment. It requires
zero maintenance, upgrades, or electricity to function properly. However, passive DWDM
Mux/Demux does not have the OAM function and does not have protection means in case of
link failure.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 27

The optical amplifier is used in the C-band and L-band, where the loss of telecom optical fibers
becomes lowest in the entire optical telecommunication wavelength bands. Erbium Doped Fiber
Amplifier (EDFA) is the most commonly used to compensate the loss of an optical fiber in long-
distance optical communication. Another important characteristic is that EDFA can amplify
multiple optical signals simultaneously, and thus can be easily combined with WDM technology.
The use of EDFA has eliminated the need for such Optical to Electrical (O-E) and Electrical to
Optical (E-O) conversion. It makes the optical signal transparent, significantly simplifying the
system.
EDFAs are used as a booster, inline, and pre-amplifier in an optical transmission line, as
schematically shown in Figure. These amplifier details will be discussed later in quality
improvements.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 28

The figure shows the loss in decibels per kilometre by wavelength from Rayleigh scattering,
intrinsic absorption, and total attenuation from all causes. Three transmission ranges have been
identified for optical transmission:
• The “first window” is around 850 nanometers;
• The “second window” is around 1300 nanometers;
• The “third window” is around 1550 nanometers.
The absorption peak between the second and third windows (1440 nm) is due to OH (hydroxyl)
elements introduced in the fiber manufacturing process. This is not an issue in some new fiber
types.
The “third window” presents a minimal attenuation and is suitable for amplification through
EDFA devices.
The “third window” can be divided into three sub-bands:
• The Short band (S-band): between 1460 and 1530 nanometers;
• The Conventional band (C band): between 1530 and 1565 nanometers;
• The Long band (L band): between 1565 and 1625 nanometers.
Originally, SDH used 1310 nanometers wavelength; later on, it used 1550 nanometers
wavelength.
Coarse WDM (CWDM) using the wavelengths from 1270 nanometers through 1610 nanometers
with a channel spacing of 20 nanometers. Many CWDM wavelengths below 1470 nanometers are
considered "unusable" on some old fibers, due to the increased attenuation in the 1270-1470
nanometer bands. Therefore, most Corse WDM systems only use the 8 channels coloured in
purple on the slide.
Dense WDM (DWDM)was defined by the ITU standard as a grid of wavelengths with either 200,
100, 50 or 25 Gigahertz space in the C and L bands.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 29

Let’s recap the main differences between the Coarse WDM and Dense WDM systems.
In Coarse WDM, the channel count usually limited to 8 wavelengths and there is no optical
amplification. The reach is limited to 80km or 20dB. This means that CWDM application is limited
to metro networks. CWDM systems are low-cost equipment; the highest bit rates are not
usually supported.
Dense WDM systems are more expensive. They are more versatile in terms of applications
(metro and backbone networks), and topologies (not only Point-To-Point, but also ring and
mesh).
In DWDM, the common spacing may be 200, 100, 50 or 25 Gigahertz with channel count
reaching up to 128 or more channels at distances of several thousand kilometers with
amplification and regeneration along such a route. Highest bit rates (including state-of-the-art
100Giga) are typically only transported by DWDM.
It is sometimes possible to mix Coarse and Dense WDM in the same system.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 30

Let us look at the Benefits of WDM Technology:
1. Ultra-large Capacity Transmission: WDM is capable to transmit and receive high-capacity
data, which is a ready-made option for high-bandwidth transmissions like 100G, and 400G.
2. Ultra-long Distance Transmission: EDFA is often adopted in the WDM system, which will help
to further boost the intensity of optical signals for long-range transmission.
3. Transparent Transmission: due to the physical properties of light, all the wavelengths are
independent since the channels don't interfere with each other to ensure transmission
transparency. Adopting optoelectronic devices will help to guarantee the reliability of the
WDM system.
4. Flexible for Smooth Expansion: The WDM technique allows new channels to be connected as
needed without disrupting the existing traffic services, making the upgrades easier.
5. Saving Both Fiber Resources & Expenses: for the single-wavelength system, one SDH system
requires a pair of fibers, while the entire WDM system only requires one pair of fibers
regardless of the number of SDH subsystems. Fiber exhaust will be prevented accordingly. In
this way, WDM not only maximizes the utilization of fibers but also helps to optimize overall
network investments.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 31

Let us now check your understanding. Read the question on the screen and answer it correctly.

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 32

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 33
© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 34
In this module we have covered the following items:
• The optical transmission system
• The components of the WDM system

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 35

© Nokia 20223- Nokia Confidential 36