Whether a 100G WDM system can use the optical-layer subracks for a 40G non-coherent system

The main difference in commissioning a non-coherent system and a coherent system is the position of the transmit-end EVOA. In a coherent system, the transmit-end EVOA is always located after the OA board. In a non-coherent system, the transmit-end EVOA is located after the OA board only in the non-standard fiber access mode.

100G/40G ePDM-BPSK systems are coherent systems. They use DSP chips for coherent detection, delivering superior performance in mitigating dispersion. Therefore, no DCM is required in these systems for dispersion compensation. For 40G DQPSK systems and other non-coherent systems, DCMs are required for dispersion compensation. The DCU board can also be used on the line.

40G non-coherent boards use the TDC technology and the dispersion tolerance is 800 ps/nm. 40G coherent boards use the DSP technology and the dispersion tolerance reaches 60,000 ps/nm. A network deploying non-coherent boards must use DCMs for dispersion compensation. A network that uses only coherent boards does not need to use DCMs.

No. OTU boards uniformly compensate for accumulated fiber dispersion at the receive end using specific algorithms, eliminating the need of DCMs for dispersion compensation. This simplifies network design and saves some space in equipment rooms.

OA boards are used to compensate for insertion loss. Only one OA board is required in case that Gmax (maximum gain) �?Fiber loss + DCM loss; otherwise, two OA boards are required. The coherent system does not require DCMs, and a single OA board can compensate for larger link loss. When the link loss is within the permitted range, the coherent and non-coherent systems require the same number of OA boards. When the fiber loss is out of the permitted range, the coherent system, however, requires fewer OA boards. For example, in a system with a 60 km span, 18 dB fiber loss, and 5 dB DCM loss: The gain required by a coherent system is calculated as follows: Gain = Fiber loss + DCM loss = 18 dB + 0 dB (no DCM) = 18 dB < Gmax. Therefore, one OA board (OAU101) is required. The gain required by a non-coherent system is calculated as follows: Gain = Fiber loss + DCM loss = 18 dB + 5 dB = 23 dB < Gmax. Therefore, one OA board (OAU101) is required. In a system with a 100 km span, 28 dB fiber loss, and 9 dB DCM loss: The gain required by a coherent system is calculated as follows: Gain = Fiber loss + DCM loss = 28 dB + 0 dB (no DCM) = 28 dB < Gmax. Therefore, one OA board (OAU101) is required. The gain required by a non-coherent system is calculated as follows: Gain = Fiber loss + DCM loss = 28 dB + 9 dB = 37 dB > Gmax (36 dB for an EDFA board). Therefore, two OA boards (OAU101 and OBU101) are required.