Raman Gain Optimization in Multi-band Optical Transmission

In optical transmissions, a fundamental role is covered by optical amplifiers, which allow to propagate the transmitted signal along the fiber link even for huge routes restoring the optical power level. Recently, the focus of the research - and also of the market - moves to the comprehension of the Raman effect and to its applications on the optical amplification. Starting from a physical layer description of an optical fiber link, an optimization tool has been developed to make efficient and suitable the design of Raman amplifiers. The optimization framework is able to refine design parameters of Raman pumps - as input optical power and wavelength - to get the maximum performance in terms of gain profile. The investigation is centered on multi-band optical transmission scenarios. After a general overview on the world of optical communication, considering mainly optical amplifiers characteristics and Raman effect basics, the present work treats and describes methodologies and algorithms on which the optimization tool is based, discussing cases under examination with the relative analysis. Then, results obtained during the research activity show that the developed framework can design Raman amplifiers with impressive performances. The presented optimization structure is just an initial automatic tool for the design of Raman amplifiers in multi-band scenarios. In the further development, it can be refined and improved, enlarging the range of features to optimize and reducing the time of execution.