Design and characterization of WDM ring access network

In this paper we describe the technical issues of access and metro networks based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technologies, some studies are done to precise the effect of different parameters over the quality of transmission by measuring the bit error ratio (BER). A WDM star access network with colorless optical network units (ONUs) is a known model of access network. For realizing the colorless ONU, two approaches are introduced; optical carrier supply and spectrum slicing. In addition, a WDM metro ring network with scalable optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs), namely the tapped-type OADM, is proposed to effectively accommodate the large amount of traffic issued from access networks. Prototype is studied and analyzed to verify the efficiency of WDM technologies in such access networks.