Advantages of low-cost, miniature, intelligent Eddies for next-generation dynamic metro/access networks

Author: J.J. Pan, Kejian Guan, Xiangdong Qiu, Wei Wang, Mingjie Zhang, Joy Jiang, Eric Zhang and Feng Qing Zhou

Publication: Printed in Optical Fiber Technology 9 (2003), pp 80-94

Abstract: In this paper, the main characteristics of a low-cost, ultra-compact and intelligent erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) are introduced and compared with those of the conventional wideband Eddies Several reliability concerns that might be raised regarding to the cooler-less compact EDFA are then answered. We also review the major characteristics of erbium doped waveguide amplifiers (EDWAs) and compare the performance and cost-effectiveness with the low-cost, ultra-compact and intelligent EDFA. Meanwhile comparisons with other sorts of optical amplifiers, such as semiconductor optical amplifier/linear optical amplifier (SOA/LOA) and erbium micro fiber amplifier (EMFA), are also included. Finally we summarize the merits of using narrowband Eddies against wideband Eddies in metro/access networks.