Amplifier placement in transparent DWDM ring networks

Abstract

In high speed DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) networks, meeting the targeted physical-layer performance is largely dependent on the total number and the placement of the optical amplifiers. An efficient design not only cuts down the network cost by minimizing the required number of amplifiers, but also effectively reduces the undesirable fiber nonlinearities and the end-to-end OSNR (Optical Signal-to-Noise Ratio) degradation on the propagating channels. By capturing major transmission impairments, such as fiber attenuation, nonlinear effects, amplifier and receiver noises, this paper proposes an algorithm for a given static lightpath scenario to find the most efficient solution of the amplifier placement that satisfies the performance constraints. We then adapt this algorithm to the dynamic traffic case. Numerical results show that our algorithm outperforms uniform placement schemes in controlling the nonlinear effects and providing targeted BER performance using the minimum number of amplifiers.