1686 WM

WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING SYSTEM

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.01 July 2001

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 2
 Contents

Page

1 Overview..................................................................... 5

2 Applications................................................................ 8

3 System configurations.............................................. 11
3.1 Bi-directional configuration on a pair of fibers11

4 Optical Protections .................................................. 23

4.1 Linear Protections .............................................. 23
4.2 Ring Protections ................................................. 25

5 Equipment features .................................................. 28

5.1 Saturation wavelength ..................................... 28
5.2 Optical performance monitoring .................... 29
5.3 Optical Safety .................................................... 31
5.4 Dispersion compensation ................................. 32

6 Optical interfaces .................................................... 34

6.1 Tributary interfaces ............................................ 34
6.2 Aggregate interfaces ....................................... 35

7 Management............................................................ 36
7.1 The Supervisory Channel .................................. 36

8 Technical Data ......................................................... 39

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 3

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 4
 1 Overview
The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is a new
transmission technology that overcomes the capacity
limitation of the conventional Time Division Multiplexing
(TDM) technology. It consists of combining on the same fiber
different wavelengths each transmitting a different channel.
On the transmission side an optical multiplexer is used to
combine the different wavelengths as sketched in Figure 1,
where three channels at 2.5 Gb/s and three channels at 10
Gb/s are multiplexed. Lasers emitting at specific and
dedicated wavelengths transmit each individual channel.

Figure 1.

The optical multiplexer does not need any synchronization to

combine the different channels to be transported. The optical
signals are individually transported on the optical fiber
without interacting each other at least at the first order.
An optical demultiplexer is used at the receive side to divide
each single channel in different output fibers as showed in
Figure 2. As for the multiplexer, this device does not require
any synchronization.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 5

 Figure 2.

The multiplexing function does not require a wavelength

selective device; it can be achieved by means of a simple
optical combiner. On the contrary the demultiplexing
function does need a wavelength selective device.
Another key device used in WDM system is the optical
amplifier. This device, if from one side enables very long
transmission without any use of conventional regenerators,
on the other side limits the available wavelength range for
the transmitted channels to approximately 1530-1560 nm
into the conventional band. It can amplify any number of
channels at its input without introducing any inter-
modulation on signals at high bit rate.
The combined use of the optical multiplexing technology and
the optical amplifiers are modifying the transmission system
as represented in Figure 3, where, for the sake of simplicity,
only STM-64 signals are represented.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 6

 STM-16 STM-16
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal
STM-16
terminal STM-16 64 x STM-1
terminal
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal
STM-16
terminal STM-16 64 x STM-1
terminal
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal
STM-16
terminal STM-16 64 x STM-1
terminal
64 x STM-1
STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal
STM-16
terminal STM-16 64 x STM-1
terminal
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1 STM-16 3R 3R 3R STM-16 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-16
terminal STM-16
terminal
64 x STM-1 Terminal 3R 3R 3R Terminal 64 x STM-1
64 x STM-1 terminal 3R 3R 3R terminal 64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64

WDM Opto/electronic
regenerators

Terminal Terminal
64 x STM-1 D 64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64
M E
32 channels U M 32 channels
X U
Terminal X Terminal
64 x STM-1 64 x STM-1
STM-64 STM-64
Optical amplifiers

Figure 3.

In the reported example, the WDM approach allows a total

capacity of 320 Gb/s over a single fiber. Only one fiber is used
to transport such a huge capacity with a big impact also on
the line equipment used (only one optical amplifier instead of
32 regenerators).
As the optical multiplexing and demultiplexing does not
require any synchronization, the host signal in principle
could have every format (622 Mbit/s, 2,5 Gbit/s or 10 Gbit/s;
ATM, SDH, etc.). Of course in order to insure long distance
transmission without regeneration points an optimized
transmission system must be defined, for instance defining
properly the transmit and receive optical interfaces.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 7

 2 Applications
The 1686 WM is a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
(DWDM) system that supports up to 32 wavelength
transmission in the Conventional band (C-band).
Transmission over G.652, G.653, G.654 and G.655 fibers is
supported.
It covers the following applications:
• point to point links without in-line amplifiers;
• point to point links with in-line amplifiers;
• (multi)point to multi-point links with in-line amplifiers
and optical add/drop;
• ring architectures.
Each of the previous application is supported with two
different kinds of input interfaces. A generic tributary with a
wavelength not compliant to ITU-T G.692 grid can be
interfaced by means of a WaveLength Adapter (WLA). The
WLA gives to the 1686 WM a fully open interface allowing
any vendor interconnection. A cost optimized interface is also
available for Alcatel equipment. By means of so-called colored
interfaces, Alcatel equipment are compliant to ITU-T G.692
grid and can be interfaced directly to the 1686 WM enabling
a cost optimized solution with a very limited floor occupation.
The first application is related to short link and it is usually
associated to metropolitan networks. Typical distances in this
case are less than 40 km (Figure 4).

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX
MUX - DEMUX
MUX - DEMUX

WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP

MUX - DEMUX
MUX - DEMUX

WLA_TX WLA_TX

WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 4.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 8

 The second application is related to very long distances in the
backbone network. Taking advantage of the low noise, wide
band and flat gain optical fiber amplifier technology and
special long reach features, the 1686 WM can bridge up to
about 310 dB attenuation between to DWDM terminals
without any intermediate regeneration point (Figure 5).

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX
MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP
MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_TX WLA_TX

In-Line In-Line
WLA_RX Optical Optical WLA_RX
Repeater Repeater
SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 5.

With the 1686 WM it is possible to add/drop wavelengths at

any intermediate amplification site. Up to a maximum of 16
bi-directional channels can be inserted and/or extracted
allowing a (multi)-point to multi-point application that is
schematically represented in Figure 6 for a linear topology.
For transmission over very long distances it is possible to
install Regenerators for the pass-through wavelengths in the
terminal sites. The Regenerators can be placed directly
between the Multiplexing/Demultiplexing units and
represent an optimized solution in terms of cost and floor
occupation (Figure 7).
By using two (or more) terminals in back-to-back
configuration and Regenerators, optical ring configurations
are possible with the 1686 WM. Ring dimension is only
related to the equipment/link configuration. Also in ring
configuration it is possible to exploit the add/drop capability
of the 1686 WM at any amplification site as it is represented
in Figure 8.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 9

 WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment
WEST EAST

WLA_TX WLA_TX

MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_RX WLA_RX

SLAVE SHELF SLAVE SHELF

EXP

EXP
OADM

MUX - DEMUX

MUX - DEMUX
WLA_TX WLA_TX

In-Line
OADM Optical
WLA_RX Repeater WLA_RX
Repeater

SLAVE SHELF MAIN SHELF MAIN SHELF SLAVE SHELF

Figure 6.

WLA
1686 WM term.

ADM
1686

1686
WLA WLA
1686 WM term.

1686
ADM
1686WM

1686WM
WLA

1686WM
WLA OADM REG.
WLA OADM REG. WLA

WMterm.
WMterm.

WLA

WMterm.
Repeater
Repeater
WLA REG.
REG. term.
term.

WLA WLA

term.
WLA
WLA ADM
ADM
WLA WLA
WLA
ADM
ADM

Figure 7.

AD
AD
MM
1686 WM term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
1686 WM term.
1686 WM term.

ADM
WLA
WLA
OOA paetaetr

WLA
rerp

WLA
A
DD
ee
MM er

ADM
ADM

1686 WM term. 1686 WM term.

1686 WM term. 1686 WM term.
ADM

REG.

REG.

ADM

ADM

REG.
REG.

ADM
REG.

REG.

REG.

REG.
ADM

ADM

ADM

ADM

1686
1686WM
WMterm.
term. 1686
1686WM
WMterm.
term.
1686

ADM
1686 WM term.

OAepaetaetr

ADM
1686WM

1686 WM term.

rep
OD
re
AMDM r

WLA
WLA
WMterm.

WLA
WLA
term.

ADM M
ADM ADDM
A

Figure 8.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 10

 3 System
configurations
The 1686 WM has been designed to support long-haul bi-
directional transmission on two fibers. Besides optimized
configuration for metropolitan transmission are supported by
the 1686 WM architecture. The transmission performances of
the system depend on its configuration and the network
architecture.

3.1 Bi-directional
configuration on a
pair of fibers
3.1.1 WDM Terminal Equipment
The 1686 WM is able to multiplex up to 32 tributary input
signals in the C-band by exploiting the 100 GHz ITU-T G.692
grid. In Figure 9 and in Figure 10 the block diagrams of the
WDM terminal station for applications with in-line amplifiers
and without in-line amplifiers (Metro) are respectively
represented.
The 16 inputs with longer wavelengths (RED band) are
multiplexed in the RED Mux/Demux unit. The 16 inputs with
shorter wavelengths (BLUE band) are multiplexed in the
BLUE Mux/Demux unit.
Their outputs are coupled by means of the Expansion unit,
giving a 32 channels aggregate WDM signal.
The Expansion unit is also devoted to multiplex and manage
the saturation wavelength (see Section 5.1). For applications
with in-line amplifiers the multiplexed signal goes in the
Booster amplifier, which amplifies it and adds the Optical
Supervisory Channel (OSC). For Metro applications the
Booster amplifier is not installed and the OSC is inserted in
the transmission line by means of the SPV-coupler unit (SPV-
CPL in figure).
In reverse way, the signal coming from the line, after the
extraction of the OSC, is amplified. The Expansion unit splits
the RED and BLUE bands. The two Mux/Demux units
demultiplex the Expansion outputs into single wavelength
outputs.
The 1686 WM supports both the open system architecture, to
be interconnected to any other vendor equipment by means of
WLA and, if interfaced to Alcatel ADM equipment, a cost
optimized integrated solution. The integrated configuration is
able to host up to 32 wavelengths in only one 300x600 19”
ETSI shelf. Also mixed configurations are available for the
best reuse of already existing equipment.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 11

 SDH master shelf
TX/RX Slave shelf
SDH WLA
TX/RX
sat. BOOSTER
RED
λ +
MUX
SPV
DEMUX
EXP.
SDH UNIT PREAMP.
WLA
TX/RX +
SPV
POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A

BLUE
Slave shelf MUX
DEMUX
SDH
TX/RX WLA

SDH POWER
WLA EQ.CONTR AUX/SPV POWER
TX/RX

POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A
F Q A B
Line Terminal Equipment

Figure 9.

SDH master shelf

TX/RX Slave shelf
SDH WLA
TX/RX
sat.
RED
λ SPV -CPL
MUX
DEMUX
EXP.
SDH UNIT PREAMP.
WLA
TX/RX +
SPV
POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A

BLUE
Slave shelf MUX
DEMUX
SDH
TX/RX WLA

SDH POWER
WLA EQ.CONTR AUX/SPV POWER
TX/RX

POWER B
SERIALIZER POWER A
F Q A B
Line Terminal Equipment

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 12

 Figure 10.

AS shown in Figure 10 the SPV-Coupler is used in the Metro

configuration in order to transmit the Optical Supervisory
channel (OSC) in the optical line. In this case the OSC
wavelength is 1480 nm.
Figure 11, Figure 12, Figure 13 and Figure 14 show the
layout of the shelves of the terminal station. In case of an
integrated system with colored interfaces, only the main shelf
is needed (Figure 11 for applications with in-line amplifiers
and Figure 12 for Metro). The main shelf for applications
with in-line amplifiers contains:
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels (DCC)
• the Expansion board
• one or two Mux/Demux boards depending on the number
of wavelengths
• the preamplifier
• the booster amplifier.

ACCESS PANEL
BLUE MUX/DEMUX
RED MUX/DEMUX

PRE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
EXPANSION

DC/D C CONVERTER

DC/D C CONVERTER
BOOSTER

DCC_AUX

Figure 11.

ACCESS PANEL
BLUE MUX/DEMUX
RED MUX/DEMUX

PREAMPLIFIER
SPV COUPLER

CONTROLLER
EXPANSION

DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 13

 Figure 12.

ACCESS PANEL

SERIALIZER

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER
WLA

WLA

WLA

WLA

WLA

WLA
WLA

WLA
Figure 13.

WLA 10 G WLA 10 G WLA 10 G WLA 10 G ACCESS PANEL

DC/DC
DC/DC

DC/DC
S
E
R
+

Figure 14.

The main shelf for Metro applications is obtained from the

previous one by removing the Booster and installing the SPV-
Coupler.
If WLA’s are needed to properly adapt an input signal to the
1686 WM, they are hosted in the slave shelves (Figure 13,
Figure 14). Up to eight slave shelves are needed for a fully
equipped 32 wavelength configuration with transmit and
receive WLA’s both at 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s.
One 2.5 Gb/s slave shelf contains (Figure 13):
• the DC/DC converters in a 1+1 configuration
• up to eight WLA’s (four Rx and four Tx)

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 14

 • the serializer unit that supervises the unit and send to
the equipment controller the acquired data.
One 10 Gb/s slave shelf contains (Figure 14):
• the DC/DC converters in a 2 +1 configuration
• up to four bi-directional WLA’s
• the serializer + unit that supervises the WLA’s and send
to the equipment controller the acquired data.
The rack layout is schematically represented in Figure 15 for
the integrated (a) or open (b) system configuration. In the
open configuration the system in Figure 15 is equipped with
a possible example of long reach 2.5 WLA and 10 Gb/s WLA,
fans might be installed as represented. For 10 Gb/s
transmission the master rack can be equipped also with DCU
shelves.

MASTER RACK MASTER RACK EXPANSION RACKS

Top rack unit Top rack unit Top rack unit Top rack unit

1686 WM 1686 WM
1686 WM 1686 WM SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
MASTER MASTER (TX+RX) (TX+RX)

Attenuator manager Attenuator manager

Attenuator manager
Fans Fans
Attenuator manager
Attenuator manager 1686 WM 1686 WM 1686 WM
SLAVE STM-16 SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
Attenuator manager (TX+RX) (TX+RX) (TX+RX)

Attenuator manager Attenuator manager Attenuator manager

Fans Fans
Fans Fans

1686 WM 1686 WM 1686 WM

SLAVE STM-16 SLAVE STM-64 SLAVE STM-64
(TX+RX) (TX+RX) (TX+RX)

Attenuator manager Attenuator manager Attenuator manager

DCU shelf
shelf DCU shelf Fans Fans
DCU shelf DCU shelf
shelf

(a) (b)

Figure 15.

3.1.2 In-Line Optical Repeater

The aggregate WDM signal is amplified along the link by
means of the in-line optical repeaters. The in-line optical
repeater consists of two optical in-line amplifiers in order to
boost the optical power of the aggregate WDM signal
avoiding demultiplexing and costly electronic regeneration of
the different channels. Before entering the optical amplifier,
the OSC is extracted from the aggregate signal to allow the
Network Element (NE) management. The OSC is added after
the optical amplification of the aggregate signal. This gives
the benefit to remotely manage the NE also in case of optical
amplifier failure.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 15

 A special double stage optical amplifier with wide band, low
noise figure and improved gain flatness is one of the key
technological enabler of the 1686 WM. The double stage
technology with interstage access allows:
• the in-service upgrade from 2.5 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s by means
of previously installed Dispersion Compensation Unit
(DCU);
• the Add/Drop capability by means of the OADM unit
without any span design penalty.
The line repeater is housed in one main shelf. It contains
(Figure 16):
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels (DCC)
• the In-Line Amplifier for the E-W line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the W-E line.

ACCESS PANEL
IN LINE AMPLIFIER

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER

Figure 16.
3.1.3 OADM Repeater
A very important feature of the Alcatel 1686 WM system is
the optical Add/Drop capability along the line. With the 1686
WM it is possible to extract and/or to insert up to 16
wavelengths (8 per direction) in an OADM repeater site
without fully demultiplexing/multiplexing the aggregate
WDM signal. This gives a total A/D capacity of 16
bidirectional channels per OADM repeater site.
The 1686 WM OADM repeater configuration is software
configurable. Through the management system, an operator
can decide whether a determined wavelength from a selected

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 16

 set can pass through the station or can be added and
dropped.
The planning of the networks, in this way, becomes very
flexible. Linear and ring structures can be easily
implemented with significant economic convenience with
respect to the costly back-to-back solution.
The very long haul applications are available also for
(multi)point to multi-point application using the OADM
repeater. Adding/dropping wavelengths in the OADM
repeater station has no impact on the link design in term of
maximum reach or span by using the high performance
double stage amplifier with interstage access.

Pre Post
Double Stage Amplifier
amp amp
W-E line

4 wavelength access

Band splitter

Band splitter
4λ Red A/D

4λ Blue A/D OADM board

W-E line

4 wavelength access
4 wavelength access

OADM board

Band splitter
Band splitter

4λ Blue A/D E-W line

4λ Red A/D

4 wavelength access

Double Stage Amplifier

Pre Post
E-W line
amp amp

Figure 17.

In Figure 17 it is represented the schematic of the OADM

board used for the 32 channel system in the 100 GHz grid. As
highlighted in the figure up to four wavelengths can be
added/dropped in the red band and the remaining four in the
blue band.
Dropping a channel transported by a dedicated wavelength
does not reduce the maximum transported capacity along the
line. Another channel can be added at the same wavelength
in the OADM repeater, this special feature is achieved by
means of a particular design of the OADM repeater.
Moreover there are no limitations in term of how many times
the same wavelength is dropped or added in the line.
The complete block diagram of the OADM repeater is
represented in Figure 18.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 17

 Main shelf
Optical in line
amplifier

OADM
Optical in line
amplifier
AUX/SPV

A OADM
POWER
POWER F
B EQ.
CONT Q

OADM Slave
SERIALIZER
Repeater shelf
A
POWER
POWER WLA WLA WLA WLA
B

Towards SDH terminal equipment

Figure 18.

The OADM repeater consists of one main shelf and up to 4

slave shelves (in case of the open system architecture). The
main shelf contains (Figure 19):
• the DC/DC converter in a 1+1 configuration
• the equipment controller
• the DCC_AUX unit which manages the auxiliary
channels and the Data Communication Channels (DCC)
• The OADM unit for the W-E line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the E-W line
• the In-Line Amplifier for the W-E line
• The OADM unit for the E-W line.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 18

 ACCESS PANEL

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

IN LINE AMPLIFIER

CONTROLLER
DCC_AUX

DC/DC CONVERTER

DC/DC CONVERTER
OADM

OADM
Figure 19.

In case of need of WLA’s they are housed in the slave shelves

as in the WDM terminal equipment configuration. The
number of required shelves depends on the needed A/D
capability. For the full A/D capability for 16 bi-directional
channels up to 4 slave shelves are required (see Figure 20 for
an example with both Wla’s both at 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s).

MASTER RACK EXPANSION RACK

Top rack unit Top rack unit

1686WM
MASTER

1686WM 1686 WM
SLAVE STM 16 SLAVE STM 64
(TX+ RX) (TX+ RX)
Attenuator manager Attenuator manager
Fans Fans

1686WM 1686WM
SLAVE STM 16 SLAVE STM 64
(TX+ RX) (TX+ RX)
Attenuator manager Attenuator
Atten manager
DCU shelf Fans
DCU shelf

Figure 20.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 19

 3.1.4 STM-64 WDM Regenerator
For very long links it’s necessary to regenerate the signal
periodically along the line. It’s very important to implement
this feature in a cost effective way: with the 1686 WM this is
possible by using the regenerator unit.
The regenerator unit at 10 Gb/s is a bi-directional module
equipped with two colored Tx and two colored Rx designed in
order to be placed between the Demux and Mux units in a
regenerator site. In this way it’s possible to regenerate the
optical signals without installing a double set of WLA’s in
back-to-back configuration, thus saving floor occupation and
costs (Figure 21).

Regenerator Units
M M
U U
X X
- Rx Tx -
D D
E Tx Rx E
M M
U U
X X
E
E
X
X
P
P
M M
U U
X X
- Rx Tx -
D D
E Tx Rx E
M M
U U
X X

Main Shelf Main Shelf

Figure 21.

3.1.5 4x2.5 Gb/s Concentrator

The number of 2.5 Gb/s signals that the 1686WM can

transmit can be increased up to 128 by using the 4x2.5 Gb/s
concentrator. In this way the very high transmission capacity
@ 10 Gb/s of the 1686WM can be exploited even if the client
signals are @ 2.5 Gb/s.
The Concentrator is a bidirectional unit, equipped with 4
Tx/Rx B&W interfaces @ 2.5 Gb/s and one Tx/Rx WDM
interface @ 10Gb/s. It aggregates four 2.5Gb/s signals into a
3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 20
 single 10 Gb/s WDM channel that can be connected to the
standard 1686WM MUX/DEMUX units.
A drawing showing the block diagram of the concentrator and
the interconnection with the MUX/DEMUX units is reported
in the following figure.

2.5 Gb/s B&W Interfaces 10 Gb/s WDM Interfaces

Tx
M
Rx U
Tx X
Tx
-
Rx
D
Tx E
Rx M
Rx U
Tx
X
Rx
E
X
P
Tx M
Rx U
Tx X
Tx
-
Rx D
Tx E
M
Rx
Rx U
Tx X
Rx
Main Shelf

Figure 22.
3.1.6 Datacom bit-rates support by means of the 4xany
board

A complete aggregation capability, long haul transmission

and 3R functionality on datacom bit-rates (the asynchronous
WLA available for the 1686WM is a 2R transponder) can be
implemented by combining the 4xany board of the 1696WM
with the 1686WM STM-16 WLA’s.
The 4xany board can have up to 4 datacom client interfaces
(GbEth Escon, Fiberchannel etc) and provides an aggregate
B&W output @ 2.5 Gb/s that can be connected to the
available 1686WM transponders. In this way all the long
haul transmission and regeneration feature of the 1686WM
can be applied to datacom signals without being forced to use
wavelengths for low bit-rate channels.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 21

 In this configuration the 4xany board is managed as a
separate NE with respect to the 1686WM.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 22

 4 Optical
Protections
A generic unprotected host signal may require a protected
transport via the optical layer. The optical protections can be
implemented, with the 1686WM, by means of the OCP
equipment, able to provide to a generic host tributary both
linear optical channel protection and ring optical channel
protection.
4.1 Linear Protections
4.1.1 Optical Channel protection
The Optical Channel (OCh) linear optical protection is
schematically represented in Figure 23. It applies between
two 1686 WM terminal stations or between a 1686 WM
terminal station and an OADM Repeater. This feature is
implemented by means of the OCP equipment as a separate
NE.
The tributary signal is bridged over two different lines
(working line and protected line). In this way the signal is
delivered towards two different paths. At the receiver side an
optical switch selects between the two diversely routed
signals. The protection is triggered by the Loss of Signal
(LOS).

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 23

 Figure 23.

One single board is devoted to the protection of two

independent channels. In this way up to 16 channels can be
protected in the optical layer by means of only a single OCP
shelf with 8 OCh protection boards (Figure 24). The OCP
configuration necessary to fully protect a 32 chs system is
reported in Figure 25.

ACCESS PANEL
SER+ OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh OCh PW-1 PW-2

Figure 24.

Figure 25.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 24

 4.2 Ring Protections
The optical protection available with the OCP equipment is
applicable also to ring configurations. The channel protection
applied to a ring topology is the optical layer equivalent of
the SubNetwork Connection Protection (SNCP) of the SDH
layer. For this clear equivalence we will refer to the ring
channel protection also as Optical SNCP (O-SNCP).

4.2.1 Optical Channel protection or O-SNCP

The protection applied to the ring topology is implemented by
means of the OCP equipment, as for the linear topology, by
splitting the host tributary signal with a passive 1x2 splitter
and routing the two output signals in the two opposite
directions of the ring.
At the receiver side the signal delivered by the WLA’s is
selected by means of a 1x2 optical switch and delivered to the
host system.
The switching criterion is the LOS and the optical switching
time is as quick as tents of milliseconds.
In Figure 26 and Figure 27 the O-SNCP, implemented
between two hosts tributary located in two 1686 WM
terminal station or between a 1686 WM terminal station and
an OADM Repeater, is represented.
In the last figure the working and protected path for the
tributary signal are underlined respectively with a black and
a red dashed line.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 25

 Host
Host

Mux Dem Mux Dem

Mux Dem Mux Dem
WLA WLA

Splitter
Switch
WLA WLA

EXP
EXP

Host
Host
OADM
Host

OADM
Host

OADM repeater
OADM repeater
repeater
repeater

Mux Dem Mux Dem

Mux Dem Mux Dem

EXP

EXP
Splitter
WLA Switch WLA

WLA WLA
Host
Host

Figure 26.
Mux Dem Mux Dem
Mux Dem Mux Dem

WLA WLA
Splitter
Switch

WLA WLA
EXP
EXP

Host

Host
Host

OADM
OADM
OADM repeater
OADM repeater
repeater
repeater

OADM
Repeater
WLA
WLA
WLA
WLA

Splitter
Host
Switch

Figure 27.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 26

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 27
 5 Equipment
features

5.1 Saturation
wavelength
As the total optical power depends on the number of
transmitted wavelength, the characteristics of optical
amplifiers may change according to the total number of
wavelengths.
As for example, the output power of the aggregate WDM
signal shows a variation of 3 dB any time the number of
wavelength is doubled. A Wavelength Division Multiplexing
based system may work without degradation taking into
account the huge possible variation of the optical power.
The second aspect is the working condition of optical
amplifiers. As the input power of the one located just after
the optical multiplexer unit changes of 3 dB any time the
number of channels is doubled, its gain, its gain flatness and
the output power per channel will also change. This variation
will depend on the configuration of the optical amplifier.
If it is working in gain control configuration, its needed power
will also increase as the number of channel increases. It will
more than double if the number of channels is multiplied by
two.
If it is working in output power controlled mode, then the
gain will decrease as the number of channel increases.
Accordingly the per-channels power will be also decrease and
this could have some influence of the transmission quality of
the individual channels.
To avoid these drawbacks, Alcatel has introduced in the 1686
WM the saturation wavelength. The aim of this feature is to
provide optical power tank that will compensate the number
of channel.
The number of wavelength transmitted by the 1686 WM will
always be one count more than the number of input signal.
If the number of channels to be transmitted is double then
the output power of the saturation wavelength will be
reduced by 3 dB in order to keep constant the input power of
the first optical amplifier.
This input power is kept constant regardless the number of
transmitted channels is and its working point will not
change. As the optical amplifiers included in the 1686 WM
are working in output power controlled mode, also the output
power of the amplifier will remain constant.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 28

 This offers to service providers fast and secure channel
upgradability with limited actions to be made by operator.
This also provides non-disturbances on existing traffics due
to the adding of a new channel.
The wavelength of the saturation channel is around 1545 nm.

5.2 Optical performance

monitoring
In the 1686 WM an accurate Performance Monitoring (PM) of
the quality of each transported channel of the WDM
aggregate is possible.
This feature is implemented by means of B1 non-intrusive
monitoring of the client signal at the WDM input interface
(Figure 28) and checking the FEC corrected/uncorrected
errors at the WDM output (Figure 29). By means of the FEC
frame overhead analysis it is possible to monitor the
transmission related impairments or, more generally, the
DWMD related impairments. The implementation of OOB-
FEC on the 1686 WM is performed without modifying the
transported signal frame.
Using the error correction capability it is possible to enhance
the B1 signal quality monitoring available so far. The
analysis of the errors corrected by the FEC encoding/decoding
algorithm gives early warnings and enables the advance
maintenance actions before any significant impact on the
Quality of Service delivered to the end customer. Moreover in
large dimension networks it will be possible to locate easily
each faulty section.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 29

 Figure 28.

Figure 29.

5.2.1 B1 Monitoring
The collection of the B1 Performance Monitoring data is
performed on the base of the following definitions.
• Erroneous Seconds (ES): a second containing one or more
B1 erroneous bit
• Severely Erroneous Seconds (SES): a second containing
at least 30% of B1 erroneous bits or at least one defect
• Background Blocks Errors (BBE): B1 erroneous bit
occurring outside a SES
There are different counters associated with ES, SES and
BBE, for each counter alarms with adjustable threshold
values are available. The count of ES, SES and BBE can be
performed during 15 minutes or 24 hours.

5.2.2 PM Monitoring based on FEC counters

The FEC-based PM data collection gives the two following
sets of information:
• Number of errors that the FEC is not able to correct and
are delivered to the client.
• Number of corrected errors at the WDM receiver.
The number of corrected errors at the WDM receiver gives an
indication of the real transmission quality of the WDM
optical channel and allows the early scheduling of
maintenance actions.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 30

 The FEC-based PM feature is implemented by means of
counters containing the number of un-corrected and corrected
errors during 15 minutes or 24 hours time-windows.
As for B1 monitoring there are available alarms with
adjustable thresholds related to the values of the counters.
5.3 Optical Safety
The 1686 WM is equipped with an Automatic Power
ShutDown (APSD) mechanism designed to lower the
transmitted optical power to safe values whenever the optical
line is interrupted (examples: optical cable breaking,
amplifier failure etc.).
The following figure describes this feature in case of cable
breaking. It can be seen that the mechanism is slightly
different depending on the possible presence of OADM
repeaters in the line.

5.3.1 APSD without OADM Repeater

The first amplifier located after the breakdown point detects
a Loss of Signal (LOS) at its input and, according to APSD
mechanism, shuts down; all the following amplifiers will shut
down one after the other upon LOS detection. At the terminal
site the Expansion unit receives the LOS from the faulty line
and shuts down the first amplifier transmitting in the
opposite direction and so on.

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

TRIB. TRIB.
TRIB. TRIB.
EXP

EXP

WDM Terminal Equipment WDM Terminal Equipment

WEST EAST

TRIB. TRIB.
TRIB. TRIB.
OADM
OADM
EXP

EXP

Figure 30.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 31

 5.3.2 APSD with OADM Repeater
The first stage of the amplifier located after the breakdown
point detects a Loss of Signal (LOS) at its input and,
according to APSD mechanism, shuts down.
The OADM, located in the same site in Figure 30, detects the
LOS on the West to East line and shuts down the second
stage of the amplifier transmitting in the opposite direction.
In this way, in the example shown, the APSD mechanism
affects only the section between the Terminal Equipment
WEST and the OADM Repeater, where the failure has taken
place, without disturbing the transmission between the
Terminal Equipment EAST and the OADM Repeater.
Once the failure is repaired the system restarts
automatically.
The shut down and restart procedures are implemented
according to G. 681.

5.4 Dispersion
compensation
The dispersion is a physical phenomenon that affects the
optical signals traveling in optical fibers. Because of
dispersion the different frequencies of an optical signal
experience different velocities of propagation.
The net result is a broadening of the optical transmitted
pulses at the receiver.
The transmission at 10 Gb/s is more sensitive to dispersion,
with respect to the transmission at 2.5 Gb/s, because of the
higher bit/rate.
The 1686 WM WLA units guarantee a correct transmission
on links with dispersion up to 12800 ps/nm at 2.5 Gb/s and on
links with dispersion up to 1000 ps/nm at 10 Gb/s.
When these values are exceeded it is necessary to install
Dispersion Compensating Units (DCU) along the link.
A DCU unit is composed by a certain length of special fiber,
designed in order to have the dispersion value opposite to
that of the transmission fiber.
By properly installing the DCU units in the 1686 WM
Terminal and Line sites, it’s possible to keep the total
dispersion experienced by the optical signals within the
limits required by the receivers.
DCU units with different amount of special fiber are
available, thus allowing the dispersion compensation of
transmission links with various lengths.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 32

 The Optical Amplifiers of the 1686 WM have double stage
architecture and the DCU units are inserted between the two
stages. In this way it is possible to compensate the link
dispersion without affecting the optical performances of the
system.
In general, the target is to completely compensate the
dispersion of the link by uniformly distributing the DCU
units in the link sites.
Nevertheless it is difficult to give a general rule, since the
amount of required compensation depends on the link
characteristics such as: fiber type, optical power launched in
the line, signal bit/rate, presence of OADM repeaters, number
of channels etc. All the previous parameters must be taken
into account when designing a WDM link.
In the following figure a diagram showing the amplifier
structure and the logical DCU position is reported.

Input
Output
Pre Post
amp amp

980- nm pump 1480 - nm

- pump

DCU
Monitoring Monitoring Monitoring

Figure 31.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 33

 6 Optical interfaces

6.1 Tributary interfaces

The 1686 WM can work with the following type of tributary
interfaces:
• Plesiochronous interfaces with bit-rate in the range
100 Mbit/s- 1.25 Gb/s
• STM-1
• STM-4
• STM-16
• STM-64
In the open system configuration all the single channel
inputs are interfaced with the WLA’s. They translate the
spectral characteristics of the sources from the ITU-T G.957
standard ones to the ITU-T G.692 wavelength grid.
For STM-16 and STM-64 interfaces, the Alcatel ADM
systems (1664 SM, 1661 SMC) can be equipped with “colored”
aggregates with emission wavelength already in compliance
with the ITU-T G.692 grid. In this case an integrated system
configuration is possible without WLA’s.
The WLA type depends on the input signal type.
The following different WLA’s are included in the 1686 WM:
• STM-64 WLA with OOB-FEC (Out Of Band-Forward
Error Correction), compliant to S-64.2 interfaces as
defined in ITU-T G.691 recommendation.
• STM-64 WLA Regenerative with OOB-FEC. This unit
can be placed in back-to-back sites in order to perform a
3R regeneration for the pass-through wavelengths.
• STM-16 WLA with OOB-FEC compliant to S-16.1 or L-
16.2 interfaces as defined in ITU-T G.957
recommendation.
• STM-16 WLA compliant to S-16.1 interfaces as defined in
ITU-T G.957 recommendation.
• STM-16 WLA Regenerative. This item can be used, for
example, in back-to-back stations, for wavelengths in the
pass-through configuration.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 34

 • Asynchronous WLA compliant to S-1.1, S-4.1, L-1.2 and
L-4.2 interfaces as defined in ITU-T G.957
recommendation. This unit performs the 2R regeneration
of any input signals with bit rate ranging from 100 Mb/s
to 1.25 Gb/s (e.g. GbE , FC,…).

• 4x2.5 Gb/s concentrator with OOB-FEC, able to

aggregate 4 signals @ 2.5 Gb/s into a 10 Gb/s signal. The
2.5 Gb/s B&W interfaces are I-16.1.
6.2 Aggregate
interfaces
The 1686 WM Optical Amplifier is a double stage unit
available in three different versions depending on the output
power: Pout = +14 dBm, + 17 dBm and 20 dBm.
The double stage technology allows the 10 Gb/s transmission
and the wavelength A/D capability without degrading the
transmission performances. By means of the interstage
access the gain flatness of the amplifier is under control.
By inserting between the two amplification stages the OADM
unit, the wavelength A/D capability of the 1686 WM is
achieved without any penalty on the span. By inserting the
DCU between the two amplification stages the 10 Gb/s
upgrade form a previous installed 2.5 Gb/s signal is possible
without affecting the other installed traffic.

Input Output

Pre Post
amp amp

980 - nm pump 1480 - nm pump

Inter -
stage
Monitoring Monitoring loss Monitoring

Figure 32.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 35

 7 Management

7.1 The Supervisory

Channel
As the 1686 WM system has remote amplifiers, it is therefore
necessary to access this equipment to manage them. This is
the purpose of the supervisory channel. This channel holds
all the information for the in line amplifiers management,
auxiliary channels for data transmission at 64 Kbit/s and
EOW. The 1686 WM supports the OSC both with wavelength
at 1480 nm and 1510 nm.
The 1510 nm wavelength allows optical budget compatible
with very long application covered by long reach WLA with
OOB-FEC.
The supervision channel allows failure location. In case of a
cable breakdown, the line amplifier located just after the
breakdown indicates a loss of input signal and sends this
information to management system through the supervisory
channel. In the meantime, APSD is activated to avoid high
optical power on the fiber, leaving the supervisory channel in
working condition. In case of an in-line amplifier defect, as
the supervisory channel is independent of the amplifier
status, it continues to work.
The defect information is sent to the management system. In
case of a defect on the management unit or on the
supervisory channel system in a terminal or in a line
amplifier, the WDM transmission continues to work and the
following equipment raise an alarm indicating a loss of the
supervisory channel.
The 1686 WM system is managed either by a local craft
terminal through the F interface or, as part of Alcatel family,
by a central management station through the Q3 interface.
With the local management, it is possible to access the status,
the configuration and the alarms coming from every unit of
the system.
All management information is collected from the units by
the Equipment Controller unit. Equipment controllers
included in the different racks exchange information with the
supervisory channel allowing one craft terminal to manage
the entire link. This is described in the following chart.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 36

 Combining inside Offering maintenance
the same fiber capabilities of
all the wavelengths In-line
in-line amplifiers
Amplifier (: new network elements)
Line Terminal Equipment Line Terminal Equipment
Optical
supervisory λ1
DATA IN Tx λ1 Rx DATA OUT
M channel
Σ λ + λsupervisory λ2
DATA IN Tx λ2 U Rx Tx Rx DATA OUT
L λ3
DATA IN Tx λ3 T D Rx DATA OUT
DATA IN Tx λ4 I E λ4 Rx DATA OUT
P M λ5
DATA IN Tx λ5 L U Rx DATA OUT
DATA IN Tx λ6 E X λ6 Rx DATA OUT
X λ7
DATA IN Tx λ7 E Rx DATA OUT
R Tx λ λ8
DATA IN Tx λ8 sup Amplifying Rx λsup Rx DATA OUT
System simultaneously System
control all the channels control
processor processor

Providing correct Network Network Selecting

powers and management management one channel
wavelengths per output fiber

The craft terminal is a standard PC, running with Windows

NT or Windows 2000, with at least 128 Mb RAM.
The equipment controller of the 1686 WM also has a Q3
interface allowing central management of the equipment
with the same system that manages Alcatel family of
products. The 1686 WM is then considered as a group of
network elements, their number depends on the system
configuration, one terminal is one network element as the in
line amplifier.
The management solution is the same regardless of the type
of equipment used, SDH or WDM.
Any kind of management provides continuous access to some
parameters of the system.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 37

 Examples of parameters under supervision are the following:
• Multiplexer and demultiplexer operation
• input and output signal of the booster and preamplifier
board
• booster and preamplifier pump modules parameters
• input and output signal of the in line amplifier
• in line amplifier pump module parameters
• hardware failure
• optical protection cover removed
Some of these parameters can be measured by the system
itself as:
• Input and output power of the in line amplifier
• Input and output power of the booster
• input and output power of the preamplifier
These measurement are made upon a management system
request and are stored in a file in order to follow the
evolution of these parameters and to decide some preventive
maintenance actions.
Each optical amplifier unit is provided with a non-intrusive
optical port, which allows the monitoring of the optical signal
with the help of a spectrum analyzer.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 38

 8 Technical Data
Mechanical specifications
S9 rack (in mm): 2200 high x 600 wide x 300 or 600 deep
(net height for the equipment: 1850 mm)

Optinex rack (in mm): 2200 high x 600 wide x 300 deep
(net height for the equipment: 2000 mm)

Master shelf (in mm): 450 high x 482 wide

Optional Slave shelf (in mm):

450 high x 482 wide (19”) for WLA 2.5 Gb/s,
422 high x 533 wide (21”) for WLA 10 Gb/s

In line subrack (in mm): 450 high x 482 wide

Power Specifications
Battery: 48/60 V DC Acc. DE/EE 2001
Maximum power dissipation: ≈ 400 W per subrack (shelf
WLA 10G fully equipped)

Environmental specifications
Storage condition ETS 300 019 class 1.2
Transport condition ETS 300 019 class 2.2
Operating condition ETS 300 019 class 3.2
ESD/EMC condition ETS 300 386-1 (Telecom Centre)

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 39

 Optical Grid
The following optical grid is applied by in accordance with
ITU-T G.692 recommendation:

Frequency 100 GHz 200 GHz Channel Wavelengt

in THz spacing spacing number h in
vacuum
in nm

195.8 * 58 1531.12
195.7 * * 57 1531.90

195.6 * 56 1532.68

195.5 * * 55 1533.47
195.4 * 54 1534.25
195.3 * * 53 1535.04

195.2 * 52 1535.82
195.1 * * 51 1536.61
195.0 * 50 1537.40
194.9 * * 49 1538.19
194.8 * 48 1538.98
194.7 * * 47 1539.77

194.6 * 46 1540.56
194.5 * * 45 1541.35

194.4 * 44 1542.14

194.3 * * 43 1542.94
194.2 1543.73
194.1 1544.53

194.0 1545.32
193.9 1546.12
193.8 1546.92

193.7 * * 37 1547.72
193.6 * 36 1548.51
193.5 * * 35 1549.32

193.4 * 34 1550.12
193.3 * * 33 1550.92
193.2 * 32 1551.72

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 40

 Frequency 100 GHz 200 GHz Channel Wavelengt
in THz spacing spacing number h in
vacuum
in nm

193.1 * * 31 1552.52

193.0 * 30 1553.33
192.9 * * 29 1554.13
192.8 * 28 1554.94

192.7 * * 27 1555.75
192.6 * 26 1556.55
192.5 * * 25 1557.36

192.4 * 24 1558.17
192.3 * * 23 1558.98

192.2 * 22 1559.79
192.1 * (1) 21 1560.61
(1) dedicated Mux/Demux board required
Table 1.

Optical safety ITU-T G.681

Mechanical characteristics of the optical interfaces

Optical connectors SC/SPC & SC2/SPC
Monitoring Optical connectors FC/SPC

Protection
Optical network protection OCh protection: linear & ring

Operation
Station alarms Urgent, Non Urgent, Attended
NM access Q interface G.773 10 base 2, 10 base T
Craft interface RS232 9600 Baud/s
PC compatible 9 pin D type
Housekeeping 8 inputs + 8 outputs
System alarms One LED on each card plus central LED
Data channels 2 V11 or G.703 64kbit/s
Operation processes Remote inventory at card level
Software download without traffic interruption

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 41

 Management application
Alarm and status
Configuration
Remote inventory
Software downloading
Measurement application

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 42

 ALCATEL

Via Trento 30
200059 Vimercate (MI)
Italy

Tel. +39.39.686.1 - Fax +39.39.686.14.83 - Telex 330630

Alcatel reserves the right to modify the specifications in this document without prior warning, as a result of
technical upgrades or new regulations.

3AL 87003 AAAA Ed.03 43