Demonstration of a spatial-division multiplexing self-healing ring network.

Area of Science:

• Optical networking
• Telecommunications engineering
• Photonics

Background:

• High-capacity optical networks require resilient protection mechanisms.
• Spatial-division multiplexing (SDM) offers a path to increased fiber capacity.
• Ring network architectures are common but need efficient protection strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a spatial-division multiplexing self-healing ring protection scheme.
• To evaluate the performance and feasibility of the proposed scheme in a practical setup.
• To enable high-throughput traffic protection with minimal loss.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a 3-node, 2-fiber ring using 4-core weakly-coupled multicore fibers.
• Utilizing core-pumped multicore amplifiers for signal amplification.
• Employing spatial channel switching with 8x8 traffic switches and MEMS switches for protection.
• Integrating fiber bending taps for simultaneous power monitoring across all cores.

Main Results:

• Achieved an average loss of approximately 2 dB per network element on the protection path.
• Successfully demonstrated protection of line-side traffic exceeding 120 Tb/s.
• Validated the scheme's effectiveness using polarization-multiplexed 16-ary quadrature-amplitude modulation signals across the C-band.

Conclusions:

• The proposed spatial-division multiplexing self-healing ring protection scheme is effective for high-capacity optical networks.
• Minimal performance impact and efficient protection are achievable with this approach.
• This technology supports the growing demand for bandwidth in telecommunications.