Optical Path Conditioning

Optical path conditioning is a generic term for the technologies that properly adjust the transmission parameters of dynamically switched optical paths, with or without feedback control from monitors, such that the optical paths always have desirable transmission performance. Typical examples are autonomous tunable compensators for dynamically changing group velocity dispersion and polarization mode dispersion, and all optical signal regenerators that suppress the noise of optical signals. Not only optical path conditioning, but also VICTORIES tackles the development of efficient optical transport technologies at the same time.

As an important optical path conditioning technology, VICTORIES has been developing the so-called parametric tunable dispersion compensation (P-TDC), originally proposed by AIST. The conventional TDCs have fundamental shortcomings when they are applied to Dynamic Optical Path Networks. Those are the limited and prefixed operating pass band and slow response time. P-TDC was proposed to overcome such shortcomings as it provides seamless and broadband operating bandwidth and less than microsecond response time. AIST has been developing P-TDC in collaboration with Furukawa Electric and Trimatiz. The role of AIST in this collaboration is the design and evaluation, while those of Furukawa Electric and Trimatiz are the development of high figure of merit specialty fibers and fast digital control circuits, respectively. So far, operations of more than 1 THz pass band and less than microsecond response have been achieved. The next steps will include the development of a 'black-box' platform of P-TDC and fast autonomous control for broadband signals using dispersion monitors developed by Fujikura.

VICTORIES will also start new activities of optical path conditioning that are regarding efficient optical path transports. Under the VICTORIES collaboration scheme, Fujitsu Laboratories will develop a novel optical multiplexing technology for advanced signal modulation formats, and Alnair Labs will develop an ultrafast optical waveform measurement equipment for advanced signal modulation formats. Furukawa Electric will develop novel fiber technologies for highly dense housing and cabling.