Autonomous Raman Amplifiers in Software-Defined Optical Transport Networks

Within a context of software-defined optical transport networks (SD-OTN), this work addresses specifically the management of Raman amplification, aiming to introduce and experimentally validate a system able to autonomously control this feature in-situ. In particular, given the required amplification constraints, an ad-hoc software module has been developed in order to optimize Raman pump power levels. Then, relying on this software, the architecture of an embedded controller to install on board the Raman card has been defined to handle Raman pumps. The use of a conceived probing procedure allows to self-adapt each Raman amplifier to the installed fiber, allowing it to autonomously operate at the working point required by the control plane. Relying on the system telemetry, the proposed architecture controls the Raman pumps in order to achieve the required amplification constraints in terms of average gain and tilt. The entire proposal is validated through a set of experimental measurements that proofs both the achievement of the required gain target and the importance of the probing phase procedure in making the Raman amplifier autonomous and self-adaptable.