Patent Application
20060133808
The present invention relates generally to optical transmission systems, and more particularly to an undersea optical transmission system that employs Raman amplifiers.
An undersea optical transmission system consists of land-based terminals interconnected by a cable that is installed on the ocean floor. The cable contains optical fibers that carry Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) optical signals between the terminals. The land-based terminals contain power supplies for the undersea cable, transmission equipment to insert and remove DWDM signals from the fibers and associated monitoring and control equipment. Over long distances the strength and quality of a transmitted optical signal diminishes. Accordingly, repeaters are located along the cable, which contain optical amplifiers to provide amplification to the optical signals to overcome fiber loss. The optical amplifiers that are employed are generally erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. In some cases the optical amplifiers are Raman amplifiers that are used by themselves or in conjunction with erbium-doped fiber amplifiers. When erbium-doped fiber amplifiers are employed, the repeater spacing is typically in the range of about 50-80 km, so that the first repeater must be installed about 50-80 km from the shore.
A typical undersea route followed by an optical cable first traverses the relatively shallow continental shelf seafloor as it exits the transmitting terminal before entering deeper water. The cable once again traverses shallower water as it approaches the land-based receiving terminal. The repeaters located near the shore are generally buried in the seabed. Most cable failures arising in such transmission systems generally occur in the shallow portions of the seafloor as a result of fishing activity and impacts with anchors from ships. Such failures often require the replacement of damaged repeaters, which can be an unduly expensive and time-consuming proposition, particularly since they must be dug up from the seabed.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an undersea optical transmission system having as few repeaters as possible located in the shallow waters near the land-based terminals.
In an optical communication system that includes a transmitting terminal, a receiving terminal, and an optical transmission path optically coupling the transmitting and receiving terminals and having at least one rare-earth doped optical amplifier therein, the present invention provides a second optical amplifier. The second optical amplifier includes a first portion of the optical transmission path having a first end coupled to the transmitting terminal and a second end coupled to a first of the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers. In addition, the second optical amplifier includes a pump source providing pump energy to the first portion of the optical transmission path at one or more wavelengths that is less than a signal wavelength to provide Raman gain in the first portion at the signal wavelength.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a third optical amplifier is provided. The third optical amplifier includes a second portion of the optical transmission path having a first end coupled to the receiving terminal and a second end coupled to one of the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers. A second pump source provides pump energy to the second portion of the optical transmission path at one or more wavelengths less than a signal wavelength to provide Raman gain in the second portion at the signal wavelength.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the pump source provides Raman gain having a gain profile over a signal waveband with a positive gain tilt.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the Raman gain is less than that required to supply a signal saturating the first rare-earth doped optical amplifier.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a plurality of rare-earth doped optical amplifiers are provided that are spaced apart from one another along the transmission path by a given distance. The given distance is less than a length of the first portion of the transmission path in which Raman gain is provided.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for transmitting an information-bearing optical signal along an optical communication system. The communication system includes a transmitting terminal, a receiving terminal, and an optical transmission path optically coupling the transmitting and receiving terminals and having at least one rare-earth doped optical amplifier therein. The method begins by receiving the information-bearing optical signal from the transmitting terminal and supplying Raman gain to the optical signal in a first portion of the optical transmission path. Subsequently, the optical signal is forwarded to a first of the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers.
In an optical communication system that includes a transmitting terminal, a receiving terminal, and an optical transmission path optically coupling the transmitting and receiving terminals and having a plurality of optical amplifiers spaced apart from one another along the transmission path by a given distance, the present invention provides a Raman optical amplifier. The Raman optical amplifier includes a first portion of the optical transmission path having a first end coupled to the transmitting terminal and a second end coupled to a first of the plurality of optical amplifiers. A pump source provides pump energy to the first portion of the optical transmission path at one or more wavelengths less than a signal wavelength to provide Raman gain in the first portion at the signal wavelength. The given distance is less than a length of the first portion of the transmission path in which Raman gain is provided.
Transmitter terminal 100 is connected to an optical transmission medium 200, which is connected, in turn, to receiver terminal 300. Transmitter terminal 100 includes a series of encoders 110 and digital transmitters 120 connected to a wavelength division multiplexer 130. For each WDM channel, an encoder 110 is connected to a digital transmitter 120, which, in turn, is connected to the wavelength division multiplexer 130. In other words, wavelength division multiplexer 130 receives signals associated with multiple WDM channels, each of which has an associated digital transmitter 120 and encoder 110. Transmitter terminal 100 also includes a pump source 140 that supplies pump energy to the transmission medium 200 via a coupler 150. As discussed in more detail below, the pump energy serves to generate Raman gain in the transmission medium 200.
Digital transmitter 120 can be any type of system component that converts electrical signals to optical signals. For example, digital transmitter 120 can include an optical source such as a semiconductor laser or a light-emitting diode, which can be modulated directly by, for example, varying the injection current. WDM multiplexer 130 can be any type of device that combines signals from multiple WDM channels. For example, WDM multiplexer 130 can be a star coupler, a fiber Fabry-Perot filter, an in-line Bragg grating, a diffraction grating, cascaded filters and a wavelength grating router, among others.
Receiver terminal 300 includes a series of decoders 310, digital receivers 320 and a wavelength division demultiplexer 330. WDM demultiplexer 330 can be any type of device that separates signals from multiple WDM channels. For example, WDM demultiplexer 330 can be a star coupler, a fiber Fabry-Perot filter, an in-line Bragg grating, a diffraction grating, cascaded filters and a wavelength grating router, among others. Receiver terminal 300 also includes a pump source 340 that supplies pump energy to the transmission medium 200 via a coupler 350 to generate Raman gain.
Optical transmission medium 200 includes rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101-210n interconnected by transmission spans 2401-240n+1 of optical fiber, for example. If a bi-directional communication system is to be employed, rare-earth doped optical amplifiers are provided in each transmission path. Moreover, in a bi-directional system each of the terminals 100 and 300 include a transmitter and a receiver. In a bi-directional undersea communication system a pair of rare-earth doped optical amplifiers supporting opposite-traveling signals is often housed in a single unit known as a repeater. While only four rare-earth optical amplifiers are depicted in
In accordance with the present invention, transmission spans 2401 and 240n+1 nearest terminals 100 and 300, respectively, serve as the gain medium for Raman amplifiers. In effect, transmission span 2401 serves as a booster amplifier while the transmission span 240n+1 serves as a preamplifier to receiver terminal 300. The optical amplifiers 2101-210n, located between transmission spans 2401 and 240n+1 along transmission medium 200, are rare-earth doped optical amplifiers such as erbium doped optical amplifiers. One important advantage arising from this arrangement is that the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101 and 210n nearest terminals 100 and 300, respectively, can be located father from shore than would otherwise be possible if Raman gain were not supplied to transmission spans 2401 and 240n+1. For example, in a conventional undersea transmission system employing rare-earth doped optical amplifiers exclusively, the spacing between amplifiers or repeaters is typically in the range of 50-80 km and the amplifiers are designed for a gain consistent with span losses in the range of 10-14 dB. In contrast, rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101 and 210n can be located about 125-150 km from their respective terminals 100 and 300, which corresponds to span losses in the range of 25-30 dB. The distance between the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2102-210n remains at about 50-80 km. Since rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101 and 210n can be located farther offshore, fewer repeaters are required in the relatively shallow seafloor nearest the land-based terminals, which is the region in which the amplifiers are most likely to be damaged. Accordingly, system reliability can be significantly enhanced.
In some embodiments of the invention the distances between adjacent rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2102-210n−1 are not constant. In these embodiments the respective distances between the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101 and 210n and the terminals 100 and 300 may be greater than the average distance between adjacent rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2102-210n−1. Alternatively, the distance between the rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101 and 210n and the terminals 100 and 300 may be greater than a majority of the individual distances between rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2102-210n−1.
Another important advantage of the present invention arises when there is a cable cut, which, as previously mentioned, is most likely to occur in the transmission span near the shore. When the cable is repaired, it is typically necessary to add additional cable, which adds additional loss to the transmission span being repaired. Because Raman gain is being supplied to this transmission span by the booster amplifier, the extra loss can be readily compensated by increasing the Raman pump power to thereby increase the Raman gain.
Raman amplifiers use stimulated Raman scattering to amplify an incoming information-bearing optical signal. Stimulated Raman scattering occurs in silica fibers (and other materials) when an intense pump beam propagates through it. Stimulated Raman scattering is an inelastic scattering process in which an incident pump photon looses its energy to create another photon of reduced energy at a lower frequency. The remaining energy is absorbed by the fiber medium in the form of molecular vibrations (i.e., optical phonons). That is, pump energy of a given wavelength amplifies a signal at a longer wavelength. The relationship between the pump energy and the Raman gain for a silica fiber is shown in
By using multiple pump wavelengths the Raman amplifier can amplify a relatively broad band of signal wavelengths. That is, varying the spectral shape of the pump energy can readily control the magnitude and gain shape of a Raman amplifier. For example, multiple pump wavelengths can be used to reduce gain variations over the signal bandwidth, thereby providing an amplifier with a flat gain shape. Alternatively, multiple pump wavelengths with a different spectral shape can be used to impart a gain tilt or slope to the signal bandwidth. If the gain increases with increasing signal wavelength the gain tilt is said to have a positive slope. If the gain decreases with increasing signal wavelength the gain tilt is said to have a negative slope.
As seen in
The rare-earth doped optical amplifiers 2101-210n provide optical gain to overcome attenuation in the transmission path. Each rare-earth doped optical amplifier contains a length of doped fiber that provides a gain medium, an energy source that pumps the doped fiber to provide gain, and a means of coupling the pump energy into the doped fiber without interfering with the signal being amplified. The rare-earth element with which the fiber is doped is typically erbium. The gain tilt of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier is in large part determined by its gain level.
In optically amplified WDM communications systems, to achieve acceptable signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for all WDM channels it is necessary to have a constant value of gain for all channel wavelengths. This is known as gain flatness and is defined as a low or zero value of the rate of change of gain with respect to wavelength at a fixed input level. Unequal gain distribution adversely affects the quality of the multiplexed optical signal, particularly in long-haul systems where insufficient gain leads to large signal-to-noise ratio degradations and too much gain can cause nonlinearity induced penalties. Conventional erbium-doped optical amplifiers achieve gain flatness by careful design of the erbium doped fiber amplifiers and with the use of gain flattening filters.
One advantage arising from the use of a booster amplifier supplying gain to transmission span 2401 is that gain flatness can be readily achieved. This is accomplished by selecting a gain shape for the booster amplifier that has a positive gain tilt. As previously mentioned, this can be accomplished in a well-known manner by selecting an appropriate spectral shape for the pump energy supplied to transmission span 2401. On the other hand, the first erbium-doped optical amplifier 2101 located downstream from the booster amplifier will have a negative gain tilt that can be used to counter-balance the positive gain tilt of the booster Raman amplifier to thereby provide an overall flat gain. The gain tilt of erbium doped optical amplifier 2101 will be negative because the booster amplifier, operating in saturation, will not have sufficient gain to raise the signal level to the design point of the first erbium-doped optical amplifier. Since the input signal level to erbium-doped optical amplifier 2101 is below its design point, the amplifier 2102 will not be saturated. As discussed above in connection with
The gain shape of Raman preamplifier supplying gain to transmission span 210n+1 serving as a preamplifier is less important than the gain shape of the Raman booster amplifier because the preamplifier is located at the end of the system. Thus the pump wavelengths and gain shape for the preamplifier should be selected to optimize the optical signal-to-noise ratio over the whole range of channel frequencies.
The Raman gain supplied by the Raman preamplifier is sufficient to compensate for a large portion of the excess loss in transmission span 240n+1 so that the signal arrives at the receiver terminal with all but possibly about 10 dB of design power. One advantage arising from the use of the Raman preamplifier is that its effective noise figure is much less than for erbium-doped optical amplifiers due to the distributed nature of the Raman amplification process. A shore-based counter-propagating pump at the receiver terminal 300 pumps the Raman amplifier 210n. In this case, the Raman amplification process is less saturated than for the forward-pumped booster amplifier since the signal levels have dropped significantly by the time they reach the portion of the transmission fiber at the receiver end where the pump power is high. Therefore, high gains are achievable. In this case, the practical limit on Raman gain is constrained by double Rayleigh backscattering that causes high noise penalties for higher gains. Practically, the preamplifier can provide gains of 15-20 dB for 125-150 km spans, with very low effective noise figures.
Referring again to
Although various embodiments are specifically illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the present invention are covered by the above teachings and are within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention. For example, while optical amplifiers 2101-210n depicted in
This application is a continuation and claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/313,965, filed Dec. 6, 2002, entitled “Optical Transmission System Employing Erbium-Doped Optical Amplifiers And Raman Amplifiers,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/404,610 filed Aug. 20, 2002, entitled “Hybrid Raman/EDFA Undersea Transmission System.” Both of the prior applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60404610 | Aug 2002 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10313965 | Dec 2002 | US |
| Child | 11332983 | Jan 2006 | US |
