Optical Dispersion Monitoring Technique using Double Sideband Subcarriers

BACKGROUND: The tremendous growth in Internet traffic has presented the need to scale networks far beyond current speeds, capacities, and performance levels. Optical fiber is capable of transmitting large amounts of data at high speeds without needing to periodically retransmit signals over long distances. Simultaneously transmitting optical signals over the same fiber from many different light sources that have properly spaced peak emission wavelengths can dramatically increase the information capacity of an optical fiber. In wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), sources are operated at different peak wavelengths to maintain the integrity of the independent messages from each source so that they can be subsequently converted to electrical signals at the receiving end. This system offers possible solutions to performance and scaling bottlenecks in Internet Protocol (IP) networks, as well as the potential for limited transparency to packet data-rate and format. However, current methods for monitoring channel performance and data degradation are not applicable to dynamically reconfigurable optical networks.

DESCRIPTION: Scientists have developed a novel method that allows the monitoring of digital signal quality and degradation in dynamically reconfigurable optical networks. This technique can determine the quality of a given wavelength channel without returning the signal to the electronic domain, electronic termination, or explicit knowledge of the signal's transport history.

APPLICATIONS: This new invention has applications in high-bandwidth transparent WDM optical networks.

ADVANTAGES: The new technology provides the following benefits:

* Allows measurement of the accumulated dispersion independently of the data origin and transport history;
* Provides high-accuracy and large dynamic range dispersion monitoring.

REFERENCE: 2001-082

Patents:
US 6,912,359   [MORE INFO]

Type of Offer: Licensing



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