Impact of high-power jamming attacks on SDM networks

Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) is a promising solution to provide ultra-high capacity optical network infrastructure for rapidly increasing traffic demands. Such network infrastructure can be a target of deliberate attacks that aim at disrupting a large number of vital services. This paper assesses the effects of high-power jamming attacks in SDM optical networks utilizing Multi-Core Fibers (MCFs), where the disruptive effect of the inserted jamming signals may spread among multiple cores due to increased Inter-Core CrossTalk (ICo-XT). We first assess the jamming-induced reduction of the signal reach for different bit rates and modulation formats. The obtained reach limitations are then used to derive the maximal traffic disruption at the network level. Results indicate that connections provisioned satisfying the normal operating conditions are highly vulnerable to these attacks, potentially leading to huge data losses at the network level.