Multicarrier Transmission Optimization in Elastic Optical Networks

This study investigates the trade-off between Quality of Transmission (QoT) performance and spectrum efficiency through low-margin operation of multicarriers. Margin reduction is enabled by implementing tight filtering and slight subcarriers overlap. Experiments conducted on a Software Defined Networking (SDN)-controlled Elastic Optical Network (EON) testbed demonstrate spectrum-efficient multicarriers composed of three subcarriers, achieving savings of up to 22% in spectrum occupation for 80 km optical connections.