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Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2024) | Viewed by 16098

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mirosław Klinkowski

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Central Chamber for Telecommunication Metrology (Z-12), National Institute of Telecommunications, 04-894 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: modeling and optimization of communication networks; algorithm design; optical networking; 5G transport networks
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Prof. Dr. Tomasz Osuch

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Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: optical fibers; optical fiber components; fiber optic metrology
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Prof. Dr. Davide Careglio

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Guest Editor

Department of Computer Architecture, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: network optimization; novel internet architecture; energy-efficiency strategies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For many years, we have been observing a continuous increase in the demand for progress in the development of telecommunications networks in order to ensure the ability to carry of more and more traffic at high speed, reliability, and energy efficiency. To meet these requirements, a lot of research is carried out in the field of optical networks and components, including fiber-optic, converged, optical wireless networks, as well as free space communication technologies.

In this Special Issue, we invite article submissions presenting recent trends and advances in the research concerning optical networking as well as photonic technologies utilized in telecommunications. Both theoretical and experimental studies related to the physical and network layers are welcome, as well as comprehensive reviews and survey papers, which cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Spectrally and spatially flexible optical networks;
Optical networks for 5G and beyond;
Free space optics and visible light communications;
Converged optical wireless networking;
Optical data center interconnections;
Passive optical networks;
Software-defined optical networks;
Novel node and network architectures;
Advances in optical network modelling and optimization;
Machine learning and data analytics techniques for optical networks;
Quantum technologies in optical networks;
Photonic integrated circuits;
Passive and active components and devices;
Novel optical fibers for future fiber optic communications;
Coherent fiber optic communications;
Advanced modulation and multiplexing techniques.

Prof. Dr. Mirosław Klinkowski
Prof. Dr. Tomasz Osuch
Prof. Dr. Davide Careglio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

optical networking
spectrally/spatially flexible optical networks
optical fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul in 5G networks
free-space optical communications
visible light communications
data center networking
softwarization, virtualization, and automation of optical networks
optical access networks
quantum communications
opitcal node and network architectures
modelling and optimization of optical networks
machine learning and data analytics for optical networks
photonic integrated circuits
passive/active fiber optic components
passive/active devices
optical fibers
modulation and multiplexing

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 598 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Analysis of the Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm in a VLC System for Localization in Hospital Environments

by Diego Alonso Candia, Pablo Palacios Játiva, Cesar Azurdia Meza, Iván Sánchez and Muhammad Ijaz

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2514; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062514 - 16 Mar 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1050

Abstract

Localization in hospitals can be valuable in improving different services in medical environments. In this sense, an accurate location system in this environment requires adequately enabling communication technology. However, widely adopted technologies such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) are considered poorly suited to enable hospital localization due to their inherent drawbacks, including high implementation costs, poor signal strength, imprecise estimates, and potential interference with medical devices. The increasing expenses associated with the implementation and maintenance of these technologies, along with their limited accuracy in dynamic hospital environments, underscore the pressing need for alternative solutions. In this context, it becomes imperative to explore and present novel approaches that not only avoid these challenges but also offer more cost effective, accurate, and interference-resistant connectivity to achieve precise localization within the complex and sensitive hospital environment. In the quest to achieve adequate localization accuracy, this article strategically focuses on leveraging Visible Light Communication (VLC) as a fundamental technology to address the specific demands of hospital environments to achieve the precise localization and tracking of life-saving equipment. The proposed system leverages existing lighting infrastructure and utilizes three transmitting LEDs with different wavelengths. The Received Signal Strength (RSS) is used at the receiver, and a trilateration algorithm is employed to determine the distances between the receiver and each LED to achieve precise localization. The accuracy of the localization is further enhanced by integrating a trilateration algorithm with the sophisticated Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The proposed method improves the localization accuracy, for example, at a height of 1 m, from a 11.7 cm error without PSO to 0.5 cm with the PSO algorithm. This enhanced accuracy is very important to meet the need for precise equipment location in dynamic and challenging hospital environments to meet the demand for life-saving equipment. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed localization algorithm is compared with conventional positioning methods, which denotes improvements in terms of the localization error and position estimation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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14 pages, 3797 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Demodulation Methods of Tilted Fibre Bragg Gratings Based on the Local Shift of the Cladding Mode Group

by Sławomir Cięszczyk, Krzysztof Skorupski and Patryk Panas

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2458; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062458 - 14 Mar 2024

Viewed by 759

Abstract

Tilted fibre Bragg gratings are optical fibre structures used as sensors of various physical quantities. However, their most popular application is to measure the refractive index of liquids. In such applications, it is important to obtain high measurement accuracy and the ability to distinguish two slightly different values of the refractive index. For this purpose, not only an appropriate periodic structure is needed, but also a demodulation method. We propose averaging the shift of a group of cladding modes. We use the TFBG grating, of which not all cladding modes exceed the cut-off limit. Such modes are not subject to leakage but only to shifts under the influence of SRI changes. To determine the average shift of a group of modes, we analyse cross-correlation algorithms of intensity-transformed optical spectra. Next, the cross-correlation main lobe is analysed by the centroid method, the Fourier phase and the Hilbert transform. Furthermore, phase changes of the main Fourier frequency are used to estimate a shift of part of the optical spectrum. Additionally, we propose the correction of the determined shift using a shift of another group of modes of the same TFBG grating. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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16 pages, 3133 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Convolutional Neural Networks for Blocking Prediction in Elastic Optical Networks

by Farzaneh Nourmohammadi, Chetan Parmar, Elmar Wings and Jaume Comellas

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(5), 2003; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14052003 - 28 Feb 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 975

Abstract

This paper presents a study on connection-blocking prediction in Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). In EONs, connections are established and torn down dynamically to fulfill the instantaneous requirements of the users. The dynamic allocation of the connections may cause spectrum fragmentation and lead to network performance degradation as connection blocking increases. Predicting potential blocking situations can be helpful during EON operations. For example, this prediction could be used in real networks to trigger proper spectrum defragmentation mechanisms at suitable moments, thereby enhancing network performance. Extensive simulations over the well-known NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network) backbone network topology were run by generating realistic traffic patterns. The obtained results are later used to train the developed machine learning models, which allow the prediction of connection-blocking events. Resource use was continuously monitored and recorded during the process. Two different Convolutional Neural Network models, a 1D CNN (One-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network) and 2D CNN (Two-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network), are proposed as the predicting methods, and their behavior is compared to other conventional models based on an SVM (Support Vector Machine) and KNN (K Nearest Neighbors). The results obtained show that the proposed 2D CNN predicts blocking with the best accuracy (92.17%), followed by the SVM, the proposed 1D CNN, and KNN. Results suggest that 2D CNN can be helpful in blocking prediction and might contribute to increasing the efficiency of future EON networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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12 pages, 3225 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Impact of Wavelength Dependency on Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fibers

by Antonio Díaz-Soriano, Antonio Ortiz-Mora, David Martínez-Muñoz and Pedro Rodríguez

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14041429 - 9 Feb 2024

Viewed by 786

Abstract

It is common practice when simulating propagation through an optical fiber to assume that its characteristic parameters are constant and determined solely by the central wavelength of the input pulse. In this paper, we propose a study of the impact that the actual wavelength dependence of these parameters has on the propagation results. To this end, simulations were carried out considering both the constant model and the wavelength-dependent model, applying them to the case of the especially sensitive effect of supercontinuous generation in a photonic crystal fiber. The results showed differences of up to 20% of the spectrum and, hence, the importance of taking into account the wavelength dependence of the dispersion fiber parameters to obtain more-realistic results in the simulations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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16 pages, 3412 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cost-Aware Optimization of Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers Placement in Packet-Optical xHaul Access Networks

by Mirosław Klinkowski and Marek Jaworski

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 4862; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13084862 - 12 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1292

Abstract

This work concentrates on the problem of optimizing the cost of a passive wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical network used as a transport network for carrying the xHaul packet traffic between a set of remote radio sites and a central hub in a 5G radio access network (RAN). In this scope, we investigate the flexible use of optical add-drop multiplexers (OADMs) for the aggregation of traffic from a number of remote sites, where the type/capacity of optical devices—OADMs and optical multiplexers (MUXs)—is selected in accordance with the traffic demand. The approach is referred to as Flex-O. To this end, we formulate the xHaul network planning problem consisting in the joint provisioning of transmission paths (TPs) between the remote sites and the hub with optimized selection and placement of OADMs on the paths and proper selection of MUXs at the ends of the TPs. The problem formulation takes into accounts the optical power budget that limits the maximum transmission distance in a function of the amount and type of optical devices installed on the TPs. The network planning problem is modeled and solved as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) optimization problem. Several network scenarios are analyzed to evaluate the cost savings from the flexible (optimized) use of OADMs. The scenarios differ in terms of the availability of OADMs and the capacity of the WDM devices applied on the TPs. The numerical experiments performed in three mesh networks of different size show that the cost savings of up to between 35 and 45% can be achieved if the selection of OADMs is optimized comparing to the networks in which either single-type OADMs are used or the OADMs are not applied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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16 pages, 5071 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Capacity Enhancement Analysis of an OAM-OFDM-SMM Multiplexed Free Space Communication System in Atmospheric Turbulence

by Shivaji Sinha, Chakresh Kumar, Ammar Armghan, Mehtab Singh, Meshari Alsharari and Khaled Aliqab

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3897; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063897 - 19 Mar 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1935

Abstract

To overcome atmospheric turbulence (AT) distortion during signal propagation through the optical link, orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode states employing multiple inputs and multiple outputs (MIMO) techniques have recently gained prominence in free space optical communication (FSO). As the various OAM modes propagate through the free space optical link, signal attenuation and crosstalk may occur, reducing system capacity and increasing the likelihood of bit errors. In this work, our objective is to propose a spectrally efficient, high-speed and channel capacity efficient crosstalk FSO communication system by combining the features of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), spatial mode multiplexing (SMM), and a mode diversity scheme into an existing OAM-FSO communication system. The incorporation of the OFDM-MIMO concept and spatial mode diversity into the existing OAM-MIMO-FSO system is extremely beneficial in enhancing the transmission capacity, mitigating multipath fading and atmospheric turbulence distortions. The Gamma–Gamma (GG) model is used to assess the performance of the proposed system under various atmospheric turbulence conditions in terms of the performance metrics such as BER vs. number of OAM states for different refractive index structure and Rytov constants, link distance, and an optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR). A FEC limit of 3.8 × 10⁻³ and a maximum link distance of 2 km are set to evaluate these performance parameters. Finally, the transmission capacity of the proposed system is compared to that of the existing MIMO and OAM-SMM-MIMO systems for different OSNR values under atmospheric turbulence conditions for the OAM state of l = +1, yielding an overall improvement of 3.3 bits/s/Hz compared to conventional MIMO systems and 1.6 bits/s/Hz for the OAM-SMM-MIMO system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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14 pages, 5746 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Analysis of Hybrid PDM-SAC-OCDMA-Enabled FSO Transmission Using ZCC Codes

by Ammar Armghan, Meshari Alsharari, Khaled Aliqab, Mehtab Singh and Somia A. Abd El-Mottaleb

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 2860; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13052860 - 23 Feb 2023

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 1718

Abstract

The need for a high-speed transmission network has become essential due to the exponential increase in traffic. In this paper, a free-space-optics (FSO) link modelled by integrating two multiplexing techniques, i.e., spectral amplitude coding-optical code division multiple access (SAC-OCDMA) using zero cross correlation [...] Read more.

X_{P o l a r}

) state, three users with three different ZCC codes are transmitted. In addition, another three users with the same ZCC codes are transmitted on the Y-polarization (

Y_{P o l a r}

) state. Each user carries 20 Gbps of information. Weather conditions, such as clear, fog, and snowfall, are considered when assessing the efficacy of our suggested model. The results exhibit 120 Gbps transmission at 10 km under clear weather. For foggy weather, the propagation range varies from 1.6 km to 0.76 km according to the density of the fog. Moreover, the system can transport information up to 1.2 km during wet snowfall, though this range decreases to 0.26 km under dry snowfall showing that the highest attenuation is caused by dry snowfall weather conditions. The achieved ranges are obtained with a bit error rate

\leq 10^{- 9}

and Q-factor greater than 6. Consequently, this proposed FSO model is suggested for use in 5G and 6G high speed transmission networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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21 pages, 2045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Routing, Modulation Format, Spatial Lane, and Spectrum Block Assignment in Static Spatial Channel Networks

by Xin Yang, Yang Zhou and Qiang Sun

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2105; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042105 - 6 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1477

Abstract

Spatial channel networks (SCNs) and related key technologies have been proposed to increase the capacity and flexibility of optical networks. We define the network resource allocation problem in a static SCN as the routing, modulation format (MF), spatial lane, and spectrum block assignment (RMSSA) problem and try to solve it. In this paper, we derive the relationship between the traffic bit rate, the transmission distance of optical channels, and MFs in SCNs, and obtain the adoption method of MFs. In addition, we introduce conversion nodes (CNs) into SCNs to perform a modulation format conversion (MFC) for more efficient use of network resources. Moreover, the RMSSA problem in static SCNs is modeled, and heuristic spatial lane and spectrum block minimization based on simulated annealing (LBMSA) algorithm is proposed to solve the RMSSA problem. Simulation results show that when the throughput of SCNs is small, the LBMSA algorithm can carry traffic requests with the least amount of network resources and maximize the network resource utilization. When the network throughput is high, the LBMSA algorithm is more inclined to carry all requests rather than efficient transmission. We also show that network resource utilization can be improved with the LBMSA algorithm by setting CNs to perform the MFC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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Review

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45 pages, 10364 KiB

Open AccessReview

Hollow-Core Optical Fibers for Telecommunications and Data Transmission

by Krzysztof Borzycki and Tomasz Osuch

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(19), 10699; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131910699 - 26 Sep 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4871

Abstract

Hollow-core optical fibers (HCFs) have unique properties like low latency, negligible optical nonlinearity, wide low-loss spectrum, up to 2100 nm, the ability to carry high power, and potentially lower loss then solid-core single-mode fibers (SMFs). These features make them very promising for communication networks and similar applications. However, this class of fibers is still in development. Current applications are almost exclusively limited to low-latency data links for High-Speed Trading (HST); other uses are in the trial stage now. In this paper, we comprehensively review the progress in the development of HCFs including fiber design, fabrication and parameters (with comparisons to conventional single-mode fibers) and support technologies like splicing and testing. A variety of HCF applications in future telecom networks and systems is analyzed, pointing out their strengths and limitations. Additionally, we review the influence of filler gas and entry of contaminants on HCF attenuation, and propose a new fusion splicing technique, avoiding the destruction of the fiber’s photonic cladding at high temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments, Emerging Trends and Technologies for Optical Networks)

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