Autonomic control of photonic networks based on absolute wavelength management

Abstract

A autonomic network control scheme is presented for wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) based photonic networks. An absolute wavelength control scheme using a disk-shaped wavelength tunable optical bandpass filter is presented. The wavelength reproducibility of 0.02 nm for the entire tuning range at various temperatures is promising for the autonomic wavelength management. To verify the control scheme, an optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) subsystem is constructed using optical switches utilizing oil latching interferential tension effect (OLIVE) and wavelength-tunable devices. Its detailed operating performances are experimentally evaluated. The switching speed of <20 ms and extinction ratios of <45 dB of the switching element are allowable in practical systems. Error-free transmission performance at 10 Gbps with negligible coherent cross talk at an intersection of the switch is obtained. The optical carriers generated by a wavelength-tunable ring laser using a disk filter, are allowable for data transmissions. These results show that the autonomic network control scheme is feasible.