Dispersion-shifted fiber polarization scrambler based on faraday effect

Demonstration of an all-fiber polarization scrambler based on the Faraday effect is carried out. The device has been constructed using dispersion-shifted fiber that has a major tolerance to bends than standard single-mode fiber. Results about the fiber Verdet constant when 1550-nm light is launched are presented. The performance of the constructed device is also shown. Main features are insertion losses as low as 0.4 dB and scrambling frequency up to 20 kHz. Although here we emphasize its application to low-frequency heterodyne detection, the scrambler is applicable to other systems that are polarization dependent. In particular, it would be useful to overcome problems originated by polarization dependent gain in erbium-doped fiber amplified systems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Optimized traffic profile for FlexGrid optical networks

This work is focused on studying the connections’ bandwidth distribution effects on the FlexGrid network performance. An accurate study of spectrum occupancy in heavy loaded FlexGrid optical networks is carried out. This analysis is useful to figure out which traffic profiles are more suitable for this kind of networks. Two different cases are considered with respect to the offered connections. In the elastic case, connections sizes can take any value from 1 to a maximum number of spectrum slots. In the multi-rate case, only three connections sizes are allowed. It is demonstrated that by generating the connections with some specific statistical properties, the network performance is improved. These properties are derived from the theoretical study of spectrum occupation in ideal conditions. The main contribution of this work is therefore the proposal of an Optimum traffic profile which allows to efficiently use the spectrum in FlexGrid optical networks. The gain obtained by generating the proposed traffic profile is evaluated by means of simulations at the link as well as at the whole network level.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Proactive defragmentation in elastic optical networks under dynamic load conditions

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11107-018-0767-7The main weakness of elastic optical networks (EON), under dynamic traffic conditions, stems from spectrum fragmentation. A lot of research efforts have been dedicated during recent years to spectrum defragmentation. In this work, a thorough study about proactive defragmentation is carried out. Effects of the different defragmentation parameters on the EON performance are analyzed, and appropriate values of the defragmentation period, which guarantee suitable network performance while keeping the network control complexity at reasonable values, are obtained by means of extensive simulations. Benefit obtained by applying different defragmentation strategies, in terms of increase in the supported load at a given bandwidth blocking probability, is also reported. Different traffic conditions and network topologies are simulated to assess the validity of the obtained results.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cross-connection management specialisation for WDM-OTN's

WDM optical transport networks (WDM-OTN) will use new all-optical nodes that will perform functions in the optical domain, using wavelength as a new network resource. This paper presents a new approach for the optical cross-connect (OXC) routing operation that takes into account a diminished connection capability.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Quantifying bypass traffic in partially meshed transparent optical networks

This work investigates the transparent bypassing capacity requirements of elastic backbone optical networks to determine the all-optical cross-connection capacity needed at network nodes. Topological parameters have been used to develop a random network generator, and the generated topologies are evaluated. Reference values are obtained and applied to well-known topologies, and extensive simulations are conducted to obtain network nodes' bypassing traffic under realistic traffic profiles. The study reveals that although bypassing traffic varies by topology, it never exceeds 9% of total network traffic per node degree. These findings can help properly dimension network nodes by determining the necessary quantity of transceivers and cross-connection capacity based on the network topology and expected traffic.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work has been partially funded by Spanish AEI IBON (PID2020-114135RB-I00).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Man-in-the-middle attacks through re-shaping I-Q optical constellations

A module to re-shape optical constellations making the optical signal resembles as it has traversed some distance is presented. Armed with this module, Main-in-the-Middle attacks can be performed, which could be undetectable by security systems.The research leading to these results has received funding from the HORIZON ALLEGRO (G.A. 101092766) and the MICINN IBON (PID2020-114135RB-I00) projects and from the ICREA Institution.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Burst contention avoidance schemes in hybrid GMPLS-enabled OBS/OCS optical networks

Hybrid optical network architectures, combining benefits of optical circuit and burst switching technologies, become a natural evolution to improve overall network performance while reducing related costs. This paper concentrates on preventive contention avoidance schemes to decrease burst loss probability at the OBS layer of such hybrid network scenarios. Into operation, the proposed solution locally reacts to highly loaded downstream node situations by preventively deflecting bursts through a less loaded neighbor. Two different approaches for disseminating adjacent nodes state information are presented and extensively evaluated. In the first approach, current node state information is propagated downstream in the burst control packet, keeping pace with OBS traffic dynamics. The second approach targets at lower control overhead. In this case, averaged node state statistics are included in the Hello messages of the GMPLS Link Management Protocol (LMP) protocol, which are exchanged between neighboring nodes over the OCS control layer every 150 ms. The obtained results validate the applicability of both approaches. Moreover, they indicate that, depending on the mean burst size, either one or the other approach is favorable.Postprint (published version

Cost-effective ML-powered polarization-encoded quantum key distribution

Secure communications have become a requirement for virtually all kind of applications. Currently, two distant parties can generate shared random secret keys by using public key cryptography. However, quantum computing represents one of the greatest threats for the finite complexity of the mathematics behind public key cryptography. In contrast, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) relies on properties of quantum mechanics, which enables eavesdropping detection and guarantees the security of the key. Among QKD systems, polarization encoded QKD has been successfully tested in laboratory experiments and recently demonstrated in closed environments. The main drawback of QKD is its high cost, which comes, among others, from: i) the requirements for the quantum transmitters and receivers; and ii) the need of carefully selecting the fibers supporting the quantum channel to minimize the environmental effects that could dramatically change the polarization state of photons. In this paper, we propose a Machine Learning (ML) -based polarization tracking and compensation that is able to keep shared secret key exchange to high rates even under large fiber stressing events. Exhaustive results using both synthetic and experimental data show remarkable performance, which can simplify the design of both quantum transmitter and receiver, as well as enable the use of aerial optical cables, thus reducing total QKD system cost.This work was supported in part by the AEI IBON Project under Grant PID2020-114135RB-I00, and in part by the ICREA Institution.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Learning from the optical spectrum: failure detection and identification [Invited]

© 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other worksThe availability of coarse-resolution cost-effective Optical Spectrum Analyzers (OSA) allows its widespread deployment in operators’ networks. In this paper, we explore several machine learning approaches for soft-failure detection, identification and localization that take advantage of OSAs. In particular, we present three different solutions for the two most common filter-related soft-failures; filter shift and tight filtering which noticeably deform the expected shape of the optical spectrum. However, filter cascading is a key challenge as it affects the shape of the optical spectrum similarly to tight filtering; the approaches are specifically designed to avoid the misclassification of properly operating signals when normal filter cascading effects are present. The proposed solutions are: $i) multi-classifier$ approach, which uses features extracted directly from the optical spectrum, $ii) single-classifier$ approach, which uses pre-processed features to compensate for filter cascading, and $iii) residual-based$ approach, which uses a residual signal computed from subtracting the acquired single by OSAs from an expected signal synthetically generated. Extensive numerical results are ultimately presented to compare the performance of the proposed approaches in terms of accuracy and robustness.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

An analytical model for GMPLS control plane resilience quantification

This paper concentrates on the resilience of the Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) enabled control plane. To this end, the problem of control plane resilience in GMPLS-controlled networks is firstly stated and previous work on the topic reviewed. Next, analytical formulae to quantify the resilience of generic meshed control plane topologies are derived. The resulting model is validated by simulation results on several reference network scenarios.Postprint (published version