Autonomous Raman Amplifiers Using Standard Integrated Network Equipment

Practical needs related to infrastructure management are driving optical network operators to include Raman amplification in order to improve the performance of long fiber spans. Compared to standard erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) management, Raman amplifiers require a greater degree of control and monitoring due to their distributed nature. Inevitably, this update leads to a key consideration; the introduction of additional telemetry devices with respect to standard EDFA photodiodes, resulting in an increase in required investments. In this work, we present an embedded controller architecture in combination with an ad-hoc probing procedure to manage Raman amplification within disaggregated optical networks, using only standard integrated equipment, allowing an efficient implementation without the introduction of optical channel monitors (OCMs). This proposal is validated using a fully representative experimental campaign, testing both the probing procedure on a single fiber span and the operation of a Raman amplifier using the extracted information.

Automated summary

The practical needs of infrastructure management are prompting optical network operators to consider implementing Raman amplification for improved performance, which requires greater control and monitoring compared to standard EDFA management. This study proposes an embedded controller architecture and probing procedure to efficiently manage Raman amplification in disaggregated optical networks without the need for additional optical channel monitors.