Systems and methods for optical dark section conditioning
Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to optical dark section conditioning. An embodiment generates at least one of a broadband noise or signal at the head end of a section for a first module of the section; and operates all other modules of the section in gain control mode.
1. A method for optical dark section conditioning, comprising:
responsive to determining that a section is dark, wherein a dark section comprises connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present, generating at least one of a broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the section, by a first module of the section; and
operating all other modules of the section in gain control mode.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising closing all per channel actuators at a head end optical add drop multiplexer (OADM) node.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising closing down pixels in a wavelength selective switch.
4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising changing a per channel or a group multiplexer variable optical attenuator to an approximate maximum attenuation.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising masking an alarm raised by a first amplifier at the head of the section.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target gain for the other modules is based on a span loss of a preceding span, as determined by an optical supervisory channel.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gain for the other modules is substantially based on prior results.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising setting gain targets for all modules in gain control mode.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a section head optical controller waits a predetermined amount of time in order to allow a first amplifier to achieve its output power target prior to setting the other modules in the section in gain control mode.
10. An apparatus for optical dark section conditioning, comprising:
logic configured to, responsive to a determination that a section is dark, wherein a dark section comprises connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present, generate at least one of a broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the section by a first module of the section; and
logic configured to operate all other modules of the section in gain control mode.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising logic configured to close all per channel actuators at a head end optical add drop multiplexer node.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising logic configured to close down pixels in a wavelength selective switch.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising logic configured to change a per channel or a group multiplexer variable optical attenuator to an approximate maximum attenuation.
14. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising logic configured to mask an alarm raised by the first amplifier.
15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the target gain for the other modules is based on a span loss of a preceding span reported by an optical supervisory channel.
16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the gain for the other modules is substantially based on prior results.
17. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising logic configured to set gain targets for all modules in gain control mode.
18. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the section head optical controller waits a predetermined amount of time in order to allow a first amplifier to achieve its output power target prior to setting all other modules in the section in gain control mode.
19. An apparatus for optical dark section conditioning, comprising:
a processor configured to
responsive to a determination that a section is dark, wherein a dark section comprises connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present, generate at least one of a broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the section by a first module of the section; and
cause all other modules of the section to operate in gain control mode.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to perform optical dark section conditioning on more than one dark section.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the more than one dark section comprises at least one of the following:
a route and select based network architecture and a broadcast and select-based architecture.
22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the processor is configured to perform optical dark section conditioning on a section that comprises at least one Raman amplifier.
23. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein at least one of the modules has a back-reflector photodiode on an output port to detect back-reflection coming into the port.
24. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to reduce output power in order not to damage the modules.
25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor for optical dark section conditioning, comprising:
at least one instruction to generate, responsive to a determination that a section is dark, wherein a dark section comprises connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present, at least one of a broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the section by a first module of the section; and
at least one instruction to operate all other modules of the section in gain control mode.
26. The apparatus non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , further comprising at least one instruction to perform optical dark section conditioning on more than one dark section.
27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the more than one dark section comprises at least one of the following:
a route and select based network architecture and a broadcast and select-based architecture.
28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , performs further comprising at least one instruction to perform optical dark section conditioning on a section that comprises at least one Raman amplifier.
29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein at least one of the modules has a back-reflector photodiode on an output port to detect back-reflection coming into the port.
30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , further comprising at least one instruction to reduce output power in order not to damage the modules.
31. A method for optical dark section conditioning, comprising:
disabling an automatic shutoff mode for a first amplifier in a dark section comprising connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present;
setting the first amplifier in power control mode;
setting an estimated power target to bring a second amplifier in the section out of shutoff mode, wherein the second amplifier is the next amplifier in the set after the first amplifier; and
setting all remaining amplifiers in the section in gain control mode.
32. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting a fault in the section while the section is dark based on the optical dark section conditioning.
33. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising logic configured to detect a fault in the section while the section is dark based on the optical dark section conditioning.