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Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

In the mid-1990s, fiber optic networks were dramatically changed with the commercial introduction of a new optical transport technique called Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, or DWDM. DWDM technology enabled a number of non-interfering optical signals to be transmitted simultaneously over a single fiber, with each optical signal carried at a different wavelength, or channel. This technique dramatically increased the bandwidth that could be carried over an individual glass fiber and at the same time significantly reduced the cost to transmit information. The first version of DWDM technology in the mid-1990s could transmit up to 625,000 voice conversations through a single strand of fiber. The current versions of the technology can deliver about 25 million conversations.

Since its introduction, DWDM has been widely deployed in communications networks, fundamentally changing how networks are designed and built.

 

Technologies Used to Accomplish DWDM

DWDM systems require two conceptually similar devices: multiplexers and demultiplexers. At the transmitting end of the fiber, a multiplexer is required to take individually-encoded, multiple wavelengths and combine and couple them into a single optical fiber. At the receiving end of the fiber, the inverse process is performed using a demultiplexer.

Historically, two principal technologies have been used in DWDM multiplexers/demultiplexers. These are known as thin-film filters and arrayed waveguides. Each of these technologies has its own advantages but is burdened by its distinct and unique disadvantages. Zolo has based its Zmux™ series of DWDM multiplexers/demultiplexers on its proprietary, patent-pending diffraction grating technologies that dramatically increase the capacity, scalability, and manufacturability of DWDM sub-systems, while simultaneously providing the performance and reliability of thin-film filters and the small footprint and economics of arrayed waveguides. Essentially, Zolo's Zmux™ products combine the advantages of thin-film filters and arrayed waveguides, while eliminating their disadvantages.