A survey on OFDM-based elastic core optical networking

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation technology that has been widely adopted in many new and emerging broadband wireless and wireline communication systems. Due to its capability to transmit a high-speed data stream using multiple spectral-overlapped lower-speed subcarriers, OFDM technology offers superior advantages of high spectrum efficiency, robustness against inter-carrier and inter-symbol interference, adaptability to server channel conditions, etc. In recent years, there have been intensive studies on optical OFDM (O-OFDM) transmission technologies, and it is considered a promising technology for future ultra-high-speed optical transmission. Based on O-OFDM technology, a novel elastic optical network architecture with immense flexibility and scalability in spectrum allocation and data rate accommodation could be built to support diverse services and the rapid growth of Internet traffic in the future. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey on OFDM-based elastic optical network technologies, including basic principles of OFDM, O-OFDM technologies, the architectures of OFDM-based elastic core optical networks, and related key enabling technologies. The main advantages and issues of OFDM-based elastic core optical networks that are under research are also discussed

Optical Switching for Scalable Data Centre Networks

This thesis explores the use of wavelength tuneable transmitters and control systems within the context of scalable, optically switched data centre networks. Modern data centres require innovative networking solutions to meet their growing power, bandwidth, and scalability requirements. Wavelength routed optical burst switching (WROBS) can meet these demands by applying agile wavelength tuneable transmitters at the edge of a passive network fabric. Through experimental investigation of an example WROBS network, the transmitter is shown to determine system performance, and must support ultra-fast switching as well as power efficient transmission. This thesis describes an intelligent optical transmitter capable of wideband sub-nanosecond wavelength switching and low-loss modulation. A regression optimiser is introduced that applies frequency-domain feedback to automatically enable fast tuneable laser reconfiguration. Through simulation and experiment, the optimised laser is shown to support 122×50 GHz channels, switching in less than 10 ns. The laser is deployed as a component within a new wavelength tuneable source (WTS) composed of two time-interleaved tuneable lasers and two semiconductor optical amplifiers. Switching over 6.05 THz is demonstrated, with stable switch times of 547 ps, a record result. The WTS scales well in terms of chip-space and bandwidth, constituting the first demonstration of scalable, sub-nanosecond optical switching. The power efficiency of the intelligent optical transmitter is further improved by introduction of a novel low-loss split-carrier modulator. The design is evaluated using 112 Gb/s/λ intensity modulated, direct-detection signals and a single-ended photodiode receiver. The split-carrier transmitter is shown to achieve hard decision forward error correction ready performance after 2 km of transmission using a laser output power of just 0 dBm; a 5.2 dB improvement over the conventional transmitter. The results achieved in the course of this research allow for ultra-fast, wideband, intelligent optical transmitters that can be applied in the design of all-optical data centres for power efficient, scalable networking

Dynamic Optical Networks for Data Centres and Media Production

This thesis explores all-optical networks for data centres, with a particular focus on network designs for live media production. A design for an all-optical data centre network is presented, with experimental verification of the feasibility of the network data plane. The design uses fast tunable (< 200 ns) lasers and coherent receivers across a passive optical star coupler core, forming a network capable of reaching over 1000 nodes. Experimental transmission of 25 Gb/s data across the network core, with combined wavelength switching and time division multiplexing (WS-TDM), is demonstrated. Enhancements to laser tuning time via current pre-emphasis are discussed, including experimental demonstration of fast wavelength switching (< 35 ns) of a single laser between all combinations of 96 wavelengths spaced at 50 GHz over a range wider than the optical C-band. Methods of increasing the overall network throughput by using a higher complexity modulation format are also described, along with designs for line codes to enable pulse amplitude modulation across the WS-TDM network core. The construction of an optical star coupler network core is investigated, by evaluating methods of constructing large star couplers from smaller optical coupler components. By using optical circuit switches to rearrange star coupler connectivity, the network can be partitioned, creating independent reserves of bandwidth and resulting in increased overall network throughput. Several topologies for constructing a star from optical couplers are compared, and algorithms for optimum construction methods are presented. All of the designs target strict criteria for the flexible and dynamic creation of multicast groups, which will enable future live media production workflows in data centres. The data throughput performance of the network designs is simulated under synthetic and practical media production traffic scenarios, showing improved throughput when reconfigurable star couplers are used compared to a single large star. An energy consumption evaluation shows reduced network power consumption compared to incumbent and other proposed data centre network technologies

Future benefits and applications of intelligent on-board processing to VSAT services

The trends and roles of VSAT services in the year 2010 time frame are examined based on an overall network and service model for that period. An estimate of the VSAT traffic is then made and the service and general network requirements are identified. In order to accommodate these traffic needs, four satellite VSAT architectures based on the use of fixed or scanning multibeam antennas in conjunction with IF switching or onboard regeneration and baseband processing are suggested. The performance of each of these architectures is assessed and the key enabling technologies are identified

Optically Switched Quantum Key Distribution Network

Encrypted data transmission is becoming increasingly more important as information security is vital to modern communication networks. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a promising method based on the quantum properties of light to generate and distribute unconditionally secure keys for use in classical data encryption. Significant progress has been achieved in the performance of QKD point-to-point transmission over a fibre link between two users. The transmission distance has exceeded several hundred kilometres of optical fibre in recent years, and the secure bit rate achievable has reached megabits per second, making QKD applicable for metro networks. To realize quantum encrypted data transmission over metro networks, quantum keys need to be regularly distributed and shared between multiple end users. Optical switching has been shown to be a promising technique for cost-effective QKD networking, enabling the dynamic reconfiguration of transmission paths with low insertion loss. In this thesis, the performance of optically switched multi-user QKD systems are studied using a mathematical model in terms of transmission distance and secure key rates. The crosstalk and loss limitations are first investigated theoretically and then experimentally. The experiment and simulation both show that negligible system penalties are observed with crosstalk of -20 dB or below. A practical quantum-safe metro network solution is then reported, integrating optically-switched QKD systems with high speed reconfigurability to protect classical network traffic. Quantum signals are routed by rapid optical switches between any two endpoints or network nodes via reconfigurable connections. Proof-of-concept experiments with commercial QKD systems are conducted. Secure keys are continuously shared between virtualised Alice-Bob pairs over effective transmission distances of 30 km, 31.7 km, 33.1 km and 44.6 km. The quantum bit error rates (QBER) for the four paths are proportional to the channel losses with values between 2.6% and 4.1%. Optimising the reconciliation and clock distribution architecture is predicted to result in an estimated maximum system reconfiguration time of 20 s, far shorter than previously demonstrated. In addition, Continuous Variable (CV) QKD has attracted much research interest in recent years, due to its compatibility with standard telecommunication techniques and relatively low cost in practical implementation. A wide band balanced homodyne detection system built from modified off-the-shelf components is experimentally demonstrated. Practical limits and benefits for high speed CVQKD key transmission are demonstrated based on an analysis of noise performance. The feasibility of an optically switched CV-QKD is also experimentally demonstrated using two virtualised Alice-Bob pairs for the first time. This work represents significant advances towards the deployment of CVQKD in a practical quantum-safe metro network. A method of using the classical equalization technique for Inter-symbol-interference mitigation in CVQKD detection is also presented and investigated. This will encourage further research to explore the applications of classical communication tools in quantum communications