Abstract

With the data traffic increase, telecommunication transport networks require more and more capacity. Optical transmission with Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) can offer this capacity increase. First used for backbone networks, DWDM is now introduced in metropolitan networks. To get scalability and cost reduction, we can introduce both waveband switching and transparency, which are innovative but promising solutions both for DWDM backbone ([1]) and metropolitan networks.([2]) We already demonstrated a new metropolitan concept of dual hubbed hierarchical interconnected rings based on wavebands both on logical aspect with network simulations and experimental aspect with a re-circulation loop experiment.([3]) Such a loop experiment has the drawback to use the same node for the cascade (optical signals go through the exactly same components through each loop) and to require a quite long fiber span ( 50 km) in the loop, which is not representative of real optical metropolitan networks (shorter and heterogeneous spans). Moreover, we used Single Mode Fiber (SMF) and Dispersion Compensating Fiber (DCF) for this span, DCF being quite expensive for metropolitan networks.

© 2002 Optical Society of America