91625 Nozay.
France
Email: Hans.Bissessur@Alcatel-Lucent.com
Abstract: We present the amplifier technologies, based on high-order Raman amplification, that
are currently used in unrepeatered systems. We describe their principle of operation and discuss
the physical effects which limit their application.
oels codes: (060.2320) Fiber optics amplifiers and oscillators; (140.4480) Optical amplifiers; (190.5650) Raman effect.
Introduction
Unrepeatered submarine systems operate without active elements on the line and therefore provide a simple and
cost-effective solution for a few hundred km long systems. Since the pumps have to be provided from the terminals,
sophisticated amplification schemes have been devised. This paper describes these technologies, which rely mainly
on high power boosters (usually with Yb co-doping), Raman amplification and remote amplifiers.
Unrepeatered configurations
Distributed Raman amplification is especially interesting in unrepeatered systems, since it provides gain over the
fibre and improves the Noise Figure (NF) of the link, with a pump located in the terminal. Raman amplification can
be applied at the transmitter end (co-propagation with the signal) or at the receiver end (counter-propagation) [1-3].
The ultimate capacity and reach are obtained with a Remote Optically Pumped Amplifier (ROPA), which consists of
a piece of erbium doped fibre placed at about 100 km from the receiver end [4-6]. Its pump is located in the terminal
and conveyed to the ROPA over the line fibre (see Fig. 1).
E
"'
Raman or
ROPA
Transmitter
'"
.
5
0
B!-5
Receiver
u;
--------
Distance (km)
section
Figure 1: Schematic of an unrepeatered link with Co Raman pumping and Raman or ROPA counter amplification, and signal power profile.
OTh4C.3.pdf
scattering (called random distributed feedback laser [8]). Further improvement can be achieved by moving to even
higher order Raman pumping, at the expense of the pump power [9J.
When this scheme is applied to a line with a ROPA, the upper pump wavelength is shifted to 1485 nm. The
pump reaches the ROPA over the transmission line; the ROPA needs to be located at a reasonable distance
(typically 100 km) from the terminal in order to receive sufficient pump power. The signal is then amplified by the
ROPA and by Raman gain over the fibre.
40
20
Line fibre
em
20
0
0..
Rayleigh Scattering
40
60
1275 nm pump
-1------,---,---r--'
o
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Distance (km)
Figure 2: Schematic of 3rd order Raman source and evolution of optical powers (pumps and signal) along the line fibre.
30
25
-20
-40 +-1\-------1'1---l\--1
-60 H-t'---"'-----------It------------1
he""d"'
" u"'nc
;:c
-80 f-___---,-__-----"''
1260
1300
1340
1380
1420
1460
1500
Wavelength (nm)
'0;
(!l
c:
20
15
10
1
r ""
m
i na
al'-"lh"'e-"'le"'
1540
500
1580
1000
1500
2000
Pump Power (mW)
2500
3000
Figure 3. Left: Spectrum of the launched power (pink) and the output power at point B with 3" order counter-pumping. Right: Raman gain vs
the pump power over different types of fibre (pump is at 1455 nm for l;t order pumping and 1275 nm for 3" order pumping).
The Raman gain process being extremely fast, any fluctuations in the pump - in particular its relative intensity
noise (RIN) - can cause fluctuations in the Raman gain and therefore in the signal power. In the first order scheme,
d
the RIN noise is transferred from the pump to the signal in a straightforward manner. In the 3r order scheme, the
RIN is transferred from the pump at 1275 nm to the pump at 1360 nm, the pump at 1455 nm and finally the signal,
even if the 1360 nm line is obtained by amplifying the ASE with an FBG, as can be seen in Fig.3 in the case of co
pumping. The RIN measured on the signal is a perfect copy of the fundamental pump's RIN up to a frequency
around 10 MHz, where it is cut off by the walk-off between the pump and the signal, as predicted in [10]. In these
curves, the levels (y-scale) have been adjusted for comparison; the upper level of the transferred RIN actually
depends on the amount of Raman gain. Detailed formula and comparison between fibre types can be found in [IIJ.
0.1
10
100
Frequency (MHz)
Figure 4: RIN measured on the 1275 nm pump (as launched) and on the signal after PSCF fibre with 3" order pumping.
OTh4C.3.pdf
10
1.E-03
'1:1
II:!
'1:1
1.E-04
..:
LL.I 1.E-OS
III
.:
'"
I!'
rt,Z
III
0
1.E-06
1.E-OJ
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
pump
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
1460
1480
1500
1520
1540
1560
1580
1600
1620
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 5: Left: Practical lirnitation of the Raman gain. Right: spectrum at the output of the remote section showing the growth of the ASE at
1580 nm.
In a system with a ROPA, the DRS limit is usually higher because the pump wavelength is at 1485 nm whereas
the signal is around 1550 nm and therefore experiences lower Raman gain. The pump power is often limited by the
line fibre lasing around the ASE peak at 1580 nm: as the pump is increased, the Raman gain becomes higher than
the Rayleigh renection, thus producing a laser cavity. The whole system then becomes unstable (see Fig.5 right).
Finally, the useable gain can be limited by non-linear interactions: Four Wave Mixing can take place between
pumps [13-14] or between the pump and the signal [15] especially over NDSF fibre, where the chromatic dispersion
is small at the pump wavelengths. The pump and the signal can also interact through Cross Gain Modulation [16].
Conclusion
High-order Raman amplification has been applied successfully to increase the reach in unrepeatered system. The
optimum pump setting is found by considering the different limiting effects, i.e., a combination between DRS, lasing
threshold and non-linear interactions such as FWM, whose importance depends on the fibre characteristics.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge P. Bousselet, I. Brylski, S. Etienne, J. Lestrade and D. Mongardien from Alcatel
Lucent who contributed to all these results.
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