What is Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)?
Phil Bartlett
Sales Director @ Comtek Network Systems | Shareholder, Key Account Management
In this post, we’ll see what DWDM (dense division multiplexing), the technology at the core of nearly all dark fibre applications, is and how it increases bandwidth to virtually unlimited capacity.
According to Butter’s Law of Photonics, a fibre optic cable sees the amount of data conveyed along it double every nine months. This positions fibre optic networks as a cost-effective solution for customers who are typically bogged down by Ethernet’s bottlenecks as bandwidth demands increase year-on-year.
DWDM splits a fibre optic cable into virtual fibres called wavelengths or channels as shown in Figure 1. With protocol independence, multiple signals like Ethernet and Fibre Channel are aggregated into one data link, tremendously increasing bandwidth, granting carriers and enterprises flexibility in obtaining more customers that effectively future-proofs their network.
Information Technology Program Manager
8 年Today, to many companies are looking to rent multiple dark fiber (pairs) between 2 buildings, often killing their business case. Although WDM and DWDM have their disadvantages too, they can both offer a viable alternative in solving this financial problem, allowing you to proceed with your project. I’m sure complex algorithms will be added later on for pumping-up the throughput, similar to what we have seen with modems on copper. Question is if we now need these complex and transmission delay adding algorithms in the field. Happy to discuss this off-line! Fiberbroker takes care of the tailor made fiber connectivity projects and Fiberbroker collaborates with other players for installing and maintaining the (WDM / DWDM) communication equipment.
Support engineer @ Airbyte, the open source data movement platform
8 年how effective are algorithms in describing an mitigating noise from imperfections in transmission media? I assume this is an area where big gains can be made?
Lead Planner at CityFibre | Fibre & Backhaul Solutions Expert | Technical Project Manager
8 年DWDM has its Transmission Challenges which also need to be considered. Attenuation: caused by intrinsic factors, primarily scattering and absorption, and by extrinsic factors, including stress from the manufacturing process, the environment, and physical bending. Scattering affects short wavelengths more than long wavelengths and limits the use of wavelengths below 800 nm. Due to attenuation, there are limits to how long a fibre segment can propagate a signal with integrity before it has to be regenerated. Optical amplifiers also can be used to boost signal power after multiplexing or before demultiplexing, both of which can introduce loss into the system. Chromatic dispersion and PMD: Dispersion results in distortion of the signal which limits the bandwidth of the fibre. Other Nonlinear Effects: In addition to PMD, there are other nonlinear effects. Linear effects such as attenuation and dispersion can be compensated, but nonlinear effects accumulate. They are the fundamental limiting mechanisms to the amount of data that can be transmitted in optical fibre.