Gain characteristics of coherent optical amplifiers using aMach-Zehnder interferometer with Kerr media

This paper investigates the gain characteristics of coherent optical amplifiers that amplify only one of two quadrature phase components in an input signal light according to the phase of pump light. It is constructed around a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with Kerr media. To heuristically obtain the design parameters of the coherent optical amplifier, small-signal analysis is adapted to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer with Kerr media. The theoretical results are then compared to experimental results and shown to agree well, which confirms the validity of this design approach. By utilizing low-loss and high-nonlinearity silica fiber as the Kerr medium and optimizing its length, a coherent optical amplifier is constructed that yields high-gain (up to 26 dB) operation     

Noise figure of phase-sensitive parametric amplifier using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with lossy Kerr media and noisy pump

The noise figure (NF) of a phase-sensitive parametric amplifier using a nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer (NMZI) with Kerr media is analyzed for amplitude-modulation signals. In the analysis, the distributed loss of the Kerr media and the excess noise of the pump light are taken into account. As for the distributed loss of the Kerr media, the quantum Langevin equation for the NMZI is derived and solved. The results elucidate a simple degradation factor in the NF representation of the amplifier. This factor implies that the NF can be less than the standard quantum limit (SQL) of 3 dB, even if the total loss of the Kerr media exceeds 3 dB. As for the excess noise of the pump light, the semi-classical small signal analysis is utilized. The results clearly indicate that the signal-to-noise ratio of the pump light must be four times higher than that of the input signal in order to realize a low-noise optical amplifier under the SQL of 3 dB.     

Topics in Optical Communications - Operational Evaluation of ASON/GMPLS Interdomain Capability over a JGN II Network Testbed

Traffic engineering in backbone networks is an important issue in supporting an appropriate QoS level to accommodate various types of traffic flows efficiently. Automatically switched optical networks and generalized multiprotocol label switching control planes are promising functionalities to achieve the sophisticated mechanism of interdomain traffic engineering. In this article we address dynamic operational scenarios to control IP traffic flows using the ASON/GMPLS control plane. This includes cut-through IP/MPLS routers and the rerouting of failed links through the tunnel of optical label-switched paths. This article presents an operational evaluation of traffic engineering. More specifically, we present QoS recovery for protecting high priority traffic using policy controllers and fault recovery of inter-domain LSPs over the JGN II network testbed. This article evaluates and discusses the feasibility of these operational scenarios using state-of-the-art optical switching and control- plane technologies.     

Distributed virtual network topology control mechanism in GMPLS-based multiregion networks

This paper proposes a distributed virtual network topology (VNT) reconfiguration method for Internet Protocol over a wavelength-division-multiplexing network under dynamic traffic demand. We have developed a simple heuristic algorithm for calculating the VNT for distributed control. A generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS)-based routing protocol has been developed. The VNT is quickly reconfigured by setting up and/or tearing down lightpaths using a GMPLS signaling protocol. Traffic demand is measured at the ingress node and advertised by the extended GMPLS routing protocol. Performance of the proposed method is investigated using variable traffic model.     

Evaluation of amount of equipment on single-layer optical path networks managing multigranularity optical paths

The authors propose novel nongrooming, optical path cross-connect (OXC), single-layer optical path (OP) networks that can route multigranularity optical paths with reduced optical switch (OSW) size. Since the multigranularity OPs are handled in one OP layer, the configuration and path administration of the OXCs become simple. The authors evaluate the network topology dependency of the network elements, i.e., the required number of OSW ports and fibers in networks consisting of 36 fixed nodes with different network topologies as well as that of a 16-OXC, 25-link NSFNET. The proposed networks require 60% fewer OSW ports, enabling efficient link resource utilization. A 60% reduction in total network cost is also confirmed.     

Theoretical analysis of system limitation for AM-DD/NRZ opticaltransmission systems using in-line phase-sensitive amplifiers

This paper shows the theoretically derived performance of single channel, amplitude modulation/direct detection optical transmission systems using in-line optical phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSA's). The calculations take into account the degradation of the signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR) and intersymbol interference (ISI) due to the distortion of transmitted signal pulses. The SNR is analyzed by considering not only amplifier noise and fiber loss but also noise enhancement by four-wave mixing in the transmission fiber. The ISI is estimated by eye-pattern degradation of the transmitted signal numerically calculated using the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The regenerative repeater spacing of in-line PSA systems limited by SNR and ISI can be expanded by approximately 3 to 10 times that of in-line EDFA systems, in the case of |D|⩽0.1 ps/mn/km dispersion fiber systems transmitting a 40-Gb/s signal     

In-line optical phase-sensitive amplifier with pump light sourcecontrolled by optical phase-lock loop

This paper describes an in-line optical phase-sensitive amplifier (PSA) with a pump laser whose optical phase is locked to that of a randomly modulated signal by using an optical phase-lock loop (OPLL). The OPLL is designed with the capability of optical phase locking at an arbitrary relative phase. Experimental evaluation is presented of the OPLL employing a newly developed external cavity semiconductor ring laser with a spectrum linewidth of less than 20 kHz. Employing this pump laser with the OPLL in conjunction with a 4.4-km long nonlinear fiber Sagnac interferometer (NFSI) yields optical phase-sensitive gain of up to 11 dB. A randomly modulated signal is successfully amplified and confirmed offering a clear eye-opening