Wavelength routing for long haul networks

Networks employing wavelength routing, optical amplifiers, and flexible access techniques offer the potential of high reliability and high capacity for telecommunications core network systems. The requirements of these long-haul networks will place high demands on the optical bandwidth and noise performance of optical amplifiers. Network models based on both optical broadband and wavelength selective principles are compared, and a method of equalizing the useful optical bandwidth of amplified routes in wavelength selective networks is presented. Experimental work using commercially available wavelength-division in multiplexing technology, distributed-feedback lasers, and optical amplifiers is described