DWDM: shaping the future communications network

This paper describes the increase in the number of optical carriers per single fiber, a technology known as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). This successful technology takes advantage of existing glass or synthetic fiber. WDM greatly simplifies the traditional signal regeneration since optical amplification is much simpler and more cost effective than single channel amplification. However, network bandwidth elasticity is best addressed with WDM. However photonic devices performing in the low-loss spectral band have enabled more than a single wavelength in the same fiber. Thus, DWDM technology exhibits an inherent flexibility.