Energy savings in WDM networks using reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers

A Spectrum Sliced - Wavelength Division Multiplexing - Passive Optical Network (SS-WDM-PON) with Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (RSOA) modulators and an amplified WDM-PON with DFB transmitters have been proposed to use on next generation aircraft, where low power consumption is important. Power consumption of the optical components and associated cooling has been calculated for both networks in different environments throughout the aircraft. It has been found that, in an LRU environment, the overall power consumption of the WDM-PON is 33% that of the SS-WDM-PON, whereas, conversely, in the full operating temperature range the SS-WDM-PON has power requirements of 28% that of the WDM-PON.