Self-configuring metro-access network with OpenXR Pluggables and filter-less OADMs

Abstract

We present a proof-of-concept (PoC) of a metro-access optical network that uses automatically reconfigurable OpenXR Pluggables and filter-less optical add-drop multiplexers (OADMs) over a chain of access nodes connected to two metro nodes in a horseshoe topology. Each OADM consists of optical splitters and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), whose gains are individually managed by an open-source network controller. Two sets of XR Pluggables were stacked operating both in point-to-point (P2P) and point-to-multipoint (P2MP) configurations. We conducted physical-layer experiments and evaluated control plane aspects to assess the performance of the proposed network.