Link design and optical Power budget

calculation in a DWDM network

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 Content
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• Introduction.
• DWDM link component.
• DWDM engineering.
• Technical specification.
• 80 channel DWDM link design and example.
• Results.
3
Introduction
• In this paper a detailed description of designing of DWDM link is
given followed by the power budget calculation at each point of the
link. The power management in a DWDM network is dependent on
the number of channels which are supported by the setup. This
technique is described with per channel calculation for an 80 channel
DWDM setup. Power budget analysis involves the description of gain
accumulation in the signal due to EDFAs, attenuation calculation due
to fiber and insertion losses caused due to ROADMs and DCMs.

• Power management is an important task to achieve optical receive

power for better BER. Placement of DWDM components in a
network requires analysis of the distance between two nodes, type of
data rate, technical specifications of the component, their gain and
insertion losses
 DWDM link component.
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• Transponders:
- In DWDM system, multiple light signals (which may have same
wavelength) client specific devices comes to DWDM system at input.
- Transponders are used to tune the incoming signal as per requirement of
DWDM system which supports operation in C-Band.
- Tuning is done by first converting the optical signal to electrical and then
again regenerated to optical signal with tuned λ.
- A transponder performs an O-E-O operation to convert wavelengths of light.
- As this optical signal is regenerated in transponder hence optical strength of
output of light signal of each transponder is expected to be same or nearby
 DWDM link component.
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• Optical Multiplexer:
- DWDM Multiplexers (MUXs) are the units that combine
multiple light signals exiting the multiple transponders which are
tuned to the wavelength as per the system requirement.
- MUX is a passive device and is capable of multiplexing the
multiple light signals and not strengthens the signal.
- There is a big insertion loss associated with DWDM MUX
which is around 14 dB
 DWDM link component.
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• Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier:

- Optical amplifiers (OAs) boost the amplitude or add gain to
optical signals passing on a fiber by directly stimulating the
photons of the signal with extra energy.
- Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are the most
commonly used type of amplifiers in optical fibers.
- EDFAs are commercially available since early 1990’s.
- They work best in the wavelength range of 1530 to 1565
nm, and gain can be extended up to 30 dB (1000 photons out
per photon in).
 DWDM link component.
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• Single Mode Fiber:
- SMF (standard, 1310 nm optimized, G.652): These are the most widely
deployed fibers, These give the characteristics of a single-mode optical
fiber and cable with performance specified at 1310 nm, 1550 nm and 1625
nm but intended for use at 1310 nm region with chromatic dispersion slope
in this region.
- DSF (Dispersion Shifted Fiber, G.653): Performance of this type of fiber
is specified at 1310 nm and 1550 nm but with a zero chromatic dispersion
slope in the 1550nm region. Support long-haul transmission systems using
erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) that only operate in the third
window.
- NZDSF(Non-Zero Dispersion Shifted Fiber, G.655): Performance of this
fiber type is specified at 1550 nm and 1625 nm with a non-zero chromatic
dispersion slope in these wavelength regions. Such optical fibers are
developed to support long-haul systems that use (DWDM) transmission
operating at 1530nm to 1625nm.
8 DWDM link component.
• Dispersion Compensation Module (DCM):
- Chromatic dispersion (CD) is one of the major concerns in the
DWDM link design. It is the result of spreading of a pulse along the
length of the fiber.
- It becomes very much important to recover the signal at the receiver,
by reshaping the pulse.
- Most commonly incorporated method for the compensation of
dispersion especially CD is the employment of specially designed
optical fiber having negative dispersion. Their negative chromatic
dispersion characteristics compensate for the transmission fiber’s
positive dispersion.
- The modules are typically specified by what length, in km, of
standard G.652 fiber will be compensated or by the total dispersion
compensation over a specific wavelength range, in ps/nm.
- Typical residual dispersion value range is -510 to 1020 ps/nm.
 DWDM link component.
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• ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer):

- ROADMs are the important components of a DWDM network.
- ROADM is a form of optical add-drop multiplexer that allows
individual or multiple wavelengths channels carrying data information to
be added or dropped from incoming fiber link.
- Main advantage of ROADM is it avoids the conversion of the signal on
all the DWDM channels to electric signal & back again optical signals
- Wavelength selective switching module is used to perform switching
operation of the traffic from a wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM).
 DWDM link component
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• Link Power Budget:

- The key to network design is Optical Power Budget, which is the amount
of light available to make a fiber optic connection.
- The allocation of power losses between optical source and detector is
referred to as the power budget.
- The power budget with various losses in an optical fiber, as shown in
figure below, is obtained by first determining the optical power emitted by
the source, usually expressed in dBm, and subtracting the power (expressed
in same units, e.g., dBm) required by the detector to achieve the design
quality of performance (Receiver Sensitivity).

Link Power Budget = Min Transmit Power - Min Receiver Sensitivity

11
DWDM engineering
• DWDM network evolution has contributed to deal with spectrum scarcity
issues. Designing of DWDM network is a challenging task.
• DWDM Link Engineering deals with designing of a link with proper
component placement and then making the link feasible with respect to
power values at each point of the link.
A brief diagrammatic representation of component arrangement in a
DWDM network span is shown in figure below.
12
DWDM engineering

• MDU (Mux- Demux Unit) at the transmitter end multiplexes multiple

wavelengths provided by the client node )Transponders). The composite
signal is sent through a ROADM node which switches the wavelengths as
per demand over the light path.

• In ROADMs, number of network connections terminating or originating

from the node is called “degree” of the node. Add/Drop ports of ROADM
cards can be interconnected for pass through traffic from one direction to
another direction OR can be connected to a local add/drop. For a ROADM
node of N degree we must have N number ROADM cards for each degree
and another ROADM in the local Add/Drop direction which provides
Direction-Less functionality. A directionless ROADM card gives the
ability to dynamically Add/Drop a channel in any of the directions
(degrees). For example if we have a directionless ROADM node of degree
4 then we need 4+1(directionless) = 5 ROADMs to form the central
optical cross connect.
13 DWDM engineering
• Booster amplifiers are the EDFAs placed after every ROADM site to boost
the signal power before sending it on the fiber link. Pre-Amplifiers are
placed before ROADM nodes to strengthen the signal that has traversed
through a long link and then is feed at the receiving ROADM node. The
criteria fulfilling the amplifier limitations need to be take care of at the
input and output of the signal.

• Another important component in the link design is DCM, which has to be

placed at ROADM or EDFA sites to manage dispersion of the signal
travelling over longer distance through fiber. Preferable location of DCM
placement is before the EDFA node, because DCMs also add up good
amount of insertion loss and EDFAs after DCMs can take care of the
losses. Finally at the receiver end the de-multiplexer part of MDU splits the
incoming composite signal into individual wavelengths and feeds to the
respective receivers.
14 Technical specification
• Operating wavelength band:
- The technicality of a DWDM system is mainly analyzed with the
wavelength specifications associated with it. The DWDM system
discussed here works in C band on 1550 nm window, ranging from 1530 to
1565 nm. For 80 channel performance analysis the spacing is 50 GHz. In
terms of frequency, the first channel considered is at 192 THz. The last
channel frequency is;
- F80 = 192 THz + 50 GHz x 79 = 195.95 THz
15 Technical specification
• Fiber Specifications:
- Fiber characterization involves attenuation factor and the chromatic
dispersion coefficient measured per kilometer of fiber length. The
common typical values of different fiber types are given in table below.
16 Technical specification
• ROADM Specifications:
Tables below give typical specifications related to ROADM insertion
losses that are used for the DWDM network design. Tables also include
MDU insertion losses. Typical maximum multiplexer input is around 24
dBm. Add to Common port specification involves insertion losses of the
MDU, D/L ROADM and degree ROADM when the signal is passing from
add port of each component to the common port at the other end of the
component. The insertion loss values w.r.t degree is shown in figure.
17 Technical specification
• Common to Drop Port
- Common to Drop port specification involves insertion losses of the MDU,
D/L ROADM and Degree ROADM for signal going from common to drop
port direction, shown in table

Other important specifications considered:

• Attenuator range: 0-15 dB
• XFP receiver sensitivity : -15 dBm to -25 dBm
• Connector loss: 0.5 dB
18 Technical specification
• Amplifier specification:
- Table below gives amplifier specifications which hold good for composite
power values i.e. Total power values when all 80 channels passing through
the EDFAs are combined. These are nominal values and care should be
taken such that power should not go beyond these boundary conditions for
betterment of the system. Output power of EDFA must be within output
saturation value
19 Technical specification
• DCM specification:
- DCM components are used in order to compensate for the dispersion at
the receiver. Table below gives various DCM specifications available in
market. Typical DCM loss that is being considered for the design is 4 dBm
for every module used. Fiber used in DCM has a dispersion coefficient of
17 ps/nm-Km. The residual dispersion left after compensation must be in
range from -510 to 1020 ps/nm.
20 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Link engineering involves placement of Optical amplifiers (OAs) and DCMs
for each fiber link to ensure sufficient minimization of all optical
impairments. A fiber link starts and ends at a central office containing a
ROADM site with intermediate sequence of fiber spans with known losses
and lengths. Intermediate endpoints of spans are pass through ROADMs,
OAs and DCMs. The overall goal is to minimize equipment cost and power
losses.

• This example focuses on DWDM network design for 80 channels with each
channel carrying 10 Gbps of data. Considering per channel calculations, the
output power of an amplifier per channel in an N channel DWDM network is
obtained by considering below formula:
21 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Pout (dBm) = Pin (dBm) + Gain (dB)
• Pout /ch = Maximum output power – 10*log10 (N)
• With N = 80 channels:
- Pout /ch = 20 – 10*log10 (80) = 1 dBm
• Per channel output power can be given as: Pin (dBm) + Gain (dB) = 1 dBm

• Therefore, in 80 channel DWDM link, for single channel calculation the

maximum output should be 1 dBm. In order to maintain 1 dBm output
power per channel, the gain has to be adjusted w.r.t the input power of the
EDFAs. And gain should be in the range of 15 to 30 dB with a typical
NF of 5.5 dB.
22 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• OSNR is an important parameter to be taken into consideration before
deciding the placement of the amplifier and setting the gain. The minimum
OSNR value for 10 Gbps transmission is 17 dB. Lower the input power of
an amplifier stage, better is the OSNR. But this is a trade-off between
OSNR improvement and number of amplifier components used throughout
the link. If amplifier is placed at a point to have less input power (at a lesser
distance), this will increase the OSNR, but the distance covered will be
less, and in order to compensate for the whole span, more amplifiers are
needed, which will have reduced input power, but will increase the design
cost. Formula used for OSNR calculation at (i + 1) stage of EDFA is:

• “NF” is the noise figure of (i + 1th) amplifier. “ν” represents optical frequency (193 THz),
“Δf” is the bandwidth (0.1 nm = 12.5 GHz) that measures the noise figure NF and “h” is
the Planks Constant (6.626 x 10 -34 J. s)
23
80 Channel DWDM Link design

1. DWDM network design with an Example link:

• Consider a DWDM link with two ROADM sites at transmitter and receiver
ends with an intermediate pass-through ROADM.
• ROADM sites at Tx and Rx are of degree 2 and pass-through ROADM had
degree equal to 4.
• Link has two spans with fiber of type SMF having lengths L1 and L2 . As
mentioned earlier, ROADMs are usually accompanied with Booster and Pre
amplifiers. B1 and B2 are Booster amplifiers whereas P1 and P2 are Pre-
amplifiers. Input given to Mux is 0 dBm which is given from the transponder.
24
80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Let L1 = 80 Km and L2 = 120 Km SMF fiber. Insertion losses w.r.t MDU,
D/L ROADM and Degree ROADM are specified before.

• Fiber Attenuation loss = α x Length

• L1 Loss = 0.257 dB/km x 80 km = 22 dB

• L2 Loss = 0.275 dB/km x 120 km = 33 dB

25 80 Channel DWDM Link design
2. Dispersion Compensation:

• Dispersion = Length x Dispersion coefficient

• L1 Dispersion = 80 Km x 17 ps/nm- km = 1360 ps/nm

• L2 Dispersion = 120 Km x 17 ps/nm- km = 2040 ps/nm

• Total Link Dispersion = 1360 ps/nm + 2040 ps/nm = 3440 ps/nm

(> 1020 ps/nm)
26 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• To compensate for this high dispersion of 3440 ps/nm, an 80 Km DCMs are
placed at the end of L1 and L2.
• Fig. below shows link with DCM placement at the end of L1 and L2.
• Therefore the dispersion now with DCMs at the receiver node is;

• Dispersion = 3440 ps/nm – (2 x 80 km x 17ps/nm-km) = 680 ps/nm

(-510 ps/nm < 680 ps/nm < 1020 ps/nm)
27 80 Channel DWDM Link design
3. EDFA placement:
• Placement of EDFA depends on the span loss.
• Maximum gain for an EDFA is 30 dB to have an output power of 1 dBm
per channel.
• So minimum input power will be -29 dBm (-29 dBm + 30 dB = 1 dBm).
• Since B1, B2, P1 and P2 are all EDFAs, their outputs need to be maintained
at 1 dBm / Ch.
28 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Gain calculation of B1:
• B1 I/P power = (Pin1 – MDU Loss – D/L ROADM Loss – Degree ROADM
Loss) = 0 – 14 – 4 – 4 = -22 dBm
• Therefore B1 Gain = 23 dB (15 dB < 23 dB < 30 dB)

• Gain calculation of P1:

• P1 I/P power = B1 O/P power – Span 1 Loss
• Span 1 Loss = (L1 Loss + (2 x Connector Loss) + DCM Loss) =
22 + 1 + 4 = 27 dB
• So P1 I/P power = 1 – 27 = -26 dBm
• Therefore P1Gain = 27 dB (15 dB < 27 dB < 30 dB)
29 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Gain calculation of B2:
• B2 Input Power = (P1 O/P power – Degree ROADM 1 – Degree ROADM 2) =
1 – 9 – 7 = -15dBm
• Therefore B2 Gain = 16 dB (15 dB < 16 dB < 30 dB)

• Gain calculation of P2:

• P2 I/P power = B2 O/P power – Span 2 Loss
• Span 2 Loss = L2 Loss + (2 x connector Loss) = 33 + 1 = 34 dBm
• P2 I/P Power = 1 – 34 = -33 dBm
• Therefore P2 Gain = 34 dB (> 30 dB)
30 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• By observing the gain value needed for P1 EDFA, it becomes clear that
power budget exceeds the limit and an extra Line amplifier is necessary for
second span of the link.
• Now it becomes important to decide at what point Line amplifier has to be
placed.
• Placement of amplifier must be such that:
- no more unnecessary line amplifiers must be needed further in the span.
- OSNR value at the receiver must be good enough and within the limit.
31 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Fig. below represents second span of the DWDM link split into L21 and
L22 on either sides of the Line Amplifier (LA) along with the 80 km DCM
at the end of L22.
• Amplifier is placed at a point where minimum gain can be achieved (15 dB)
This implies; Line Amp O/P power = Gain – Span Loss (Line Amp) =1dBm
• If Gain = 15 dB, then Line Amp I/P power = 14 dBm
• L21 Loss = (LA I/P power – (2 x Connector Loss) + B2 O/P power =
14 – 1 + 1 = 14 dB Thus,
• Length L21 = L21 Loss (dB) / α (dB/km) = 14 / 0.275 = 50.9 km
• L22 = L2 – L21 = 120 – 50.9 = 69.1 km
32 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• L22 Loss = 69.1 x 0.275 = 19 dB
• Total span loss of L22 = L22 Loss + DCM Loss + (2 x Connector Loss) =
19 + 4 + 1 = 24 dB
• P2 I/P power = LA O/P power – Total Span Loss of L22 = 1 – 24 = -23 dBm
• Thus Gain of P2 = 24 dB (15dB < 24dB < 30dB)
• After calculating I/P, O/P and gain power values for EDFA the last step
remaining is calculating the input power at the receiving XFP connected to the
De-Mux.
• I/P to XFP = (P2 O/P power – Degree ROADM Loss – D/L ROADM Loss –
MDU Loss) = 1 – 7 – 7 – 7 = -20 dBm (> -25 dBm)
33 80 Channel DWDM Link design
4. OSNR Measurements:
• OSNR calculation is another important criteria to check for the network
efficiency.
• OSNR should be above 17 dBm for 10 Gbps transmission data rate.
• The DWDM Link defined altogether includes 5 EDFAs and 2 DCMs after
placement of DCMs and Line Amplifier.
• Using the formula from equation of OSNR at each amplifier stage has been
calculated
34 Results
• Fig below gives a complete view of modified example link with all the
required component placement. Table.
• The design is optimized such that the system can be upgraded to support 80
number of wavelengths through a single fiber with a capacity of 10
Gbps/channel.
• Numbers ranging from 1 to 19 are the node names at i/p and o/p of each
component in the link
35 80 Channel DWDM Link design
• Table below gives detailed result values for Power, OSNR and Dispersion
at each node point. The power calculation results are obtained for single
channel
Node Numbers Power (dBm) OSNR (dB) Dispersion (ps/nm)
1 0 NA 0
2 -14 NA 0
3 -18 NA 0
4 -22 NA 0
5 1 30.4628 0
6 -22 30.4628 1360
7 -26 30.4628 0
8 1 25 0
9 -6 25 0
10 -15 25 0
11 1 24.766 0
12 -14 24.766 865.3
13 1 24.584 865.3
14 -19 24.584 2040
15 -23 24.584 680
16 1 23.361 680
17 -6 23.361 680
18 -13 23.361 680
19 -20 23.361 680
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