Performance evaluation of WDM optical networks with erbium doped fiber amplifier

ERBIUM DOPED FIBER AMPLIFIER (EDFA) HAS REVOLUTIONALIZED THE OPTICAL SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION TECHNOLOGY AND BECOMES A CRITICAL COMPONENT WHEN USED TO AMPLIFY WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXED (WDM) SIGNALS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS. IN THE DENSE WDM (DWDM) TECHNOLOGY THE DIFFERENT CHANNELS ARE MULTIPLEXED IN WAVELENGTH DOMAIN WITH INTERCHANNEL SPACING OF 0.8 NM. WHEN THESE DIFFERENT CHANNELS PROPAGATE THROUGH THE EDFA FOR SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION, THEY SUFFER FROM INTER CHANNEL CROSSTALK RESULTING IN DEGRADATION OF SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR) DUE TO UNEVEN GAIN SPECTRA OF EDFA. IN THIS PAPER WE DISCUSS THE EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATION RESULTS OF EDFA PUMPED AT 980 NM.