How Fujitsu 1FINITY™ Ultra Optical System can reduce your costs and save time
When Fujitsu decided to create the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System, we looked at the problems network operators were currently experiencing and identified innovative solutions. We aimed to simplify ROADM installation, make fiber characterization easier, improve performance predictability by introducing Pseudowave capabilities, develop C+L band technology, and add forward Raman to existing backward Raman pumping to improve performance. It required teams of Fujitsu experts and engineers a large effort to create the innovative automation features in the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System, but our goal is to make sure we were creating a system that not only solved current problems and concerns, but also looked into the future. In this blog, I break down the different automation features of the Fujitsu 1FINITY Ultra Optical System to show how they can save network operators time and money.
Simplified ROADM installation
System installation of a ROADM can be extremely complex and difficult to perform on site, especially if it’s a large degree one. They can easily exceed 100 fibers at installation and each one has to be correctly connected according to specifications. It has to be clean, and if something goes wrong, identifying the error can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly. The Fujitsu 1FINITY Ultra Optical System greatly simplifies this process. At the factory, we pre-install fiber patch cords in the back of the system, but they’re still accessible, maintainable, and replaceable in the field. These pre-configured fiber cables connect each of the slots to each other via a fiber distribution panel. This greatly reduces the effort required to install ROADM in your system. The reduction in the number of fibers, which are the cables between components of the ROADM system, can be reduced by up to 92% depending on the configuration. It allows us to do a much faster system deployment and provides more predictable quality because a lot of the fibers are pre-installed and pre-cleaned at the factory. You get a faster, more reliable, and more repeatable installation process, which reduces your cost and your time for installation.
Automated fiber characterization
To design routes on a network, carriers require a software representation of their network built into a design tool that can engineer new routes and perform “what-if” analysis. This network representation has to stay up to date in order to provide reliable information and accurate calculations. As the network changes, it takes quite a bit of effort to ensure that the information in the software tool is accurate in terms of fiber types, fiber loss, PMD coefficient, and more. It can easily become outdated and it’s costly to keep it maintained with current data. The 1FINITY Ultra Optical System is a major improvement to that process because as with most ROADM systems, our ROADM has an onboard OTDR, which operates in the 1625 to 1650 nanometer range. But it also has a second OTDR, which operates below the C-band. The combination of these two OTDRs can be used to measure a wider set of information, such as the fiber type, using the dispersion slope and then report that information in real-time to the tool. Our design tool is continuously updated by real network information, and the engineers are guaranteed that their designs are based on an accurate network representation. The network will keep measuring itself and update the design tool. It facilitates the process of designing new routes that are accurate, predictable, and also reduces operational costs for the carrier.
Pseudowave channelized noise loading
Many systems, especially the ones specialized for high capacity, use noise loading in order to get deterministic performance and avoid transient issues when adding or removing channels. You can view Pseudowave as noise loading with an additional purpose. Pseudowave injects a channelized noise, which appears like a transponder signal. This Pseudowave is actually adjustable. You can adjust the spectral width and the center channel, as well as injecting it across the entire band. It can also be passed through an intermediate ROADM node, and this Pseudowave signal can be terminated by the ROADM so we can measure its optical performance.
This changes the game in predictable performance assessment. Time permitting, when a new ROADM network is installed, the carrier can completely pre-measure the performance of the entire network by testing every source destination pair across every channel and across every channel width by injecting Pseudowave signals along every path of the network.
The Pseudowave signal is measured at the receiver ROADM, and this performance information is uploaded to the network design tool. What this means is the network design is guaranteed by using the measured performance based on the real network. The Fujitsu 1FINITY Ultra Optical System with its Pseudowave capabilities allows carriers to understand the performance of their network before they activate the first wavelength. This allows them to optimize capacity and reach while having strong guarantees that they will meet the service level agreements of their customers while helping them reduce operational expenses and provide high reliability services to their customers.
C+L band technology
Currently, most of the infrastructure in North America is based on the C-band, but the C-band is reaching its limit. The number of channels that we can add to the C-band is limited. We’ve been increasing baud rate to increase capacity, but every time we increase baud rate, we reduce the number of channels that are available. Since operating strictly in the C-band is reaching its limit, we need to look at other bands.
The logical choice is the L-band, which is right next to the C-band. The Fujitsu1FINITY Ultra Optical System introduces a departure from the status quo with a continuous C+L band ROADM technology. Currently, if you are deploying a C+L architecture, most of the deployment is based on something called a bolt-on C+L, where the L-band equipment is added after the fact next to the C-band equipment and you fundamentally have two ROADM systems side by side, one for each band. What the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System provides is a single ROADM blade, which provides a wavelength selectable switch that operates in both bands at the same time. Fujitsu provides a single ROADM system capable of routing wavelengths across the entire C-band and L-band as a single device, which reduces equipment by up to 80%. It also reduces power consumption and doubles capacity. You deploy only one ROADM system on Day One that will last twice as long and transport twice the capacity in the same physical footprint as a traditional C-band system. You won’t have to revisit the system at a later time to add the L-band component, which reduces errors and operating costs while providing a ROADM photonic layer of no regret.
Forward Raman amplification
As we increase transmission rates and baud rates within a signal, it’s very critical to control the amount of noise using backward Raman pumping. With backward Raman pumping, a Raman amplifier is sending energy towards the signal in a counter propagating direction to pull the signal to the receiver and improve its noise performance.
The Fujitsu 1FINITY Ultra Optical System goes one step further by providing both forward and backward Raman pumping, which helps improve the noise performance of the ROADM system. This translates into longer reach, more capacity, or both by up to a 70% improvement. Deploying the best possible ROADM layer is an additional investment, but this investment provides a return for every single transponder you deploy by increasing capacity and reach. The forward Raman technology is unique to Fujitsu in the first release of the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System.
Fujitsu continues to innovate ROADM technology
As you can tell, we put a lot of thought into the 1FINTIY Ultra Optical System when we loaded it with automated features that provide a quantum leap improvement in performance and automation. However, Fujitsu will continue to listen to network operators so we can solve your problems and make your network better. Learn more about the automation features that drive innovation in the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System by watching this video series.
