Safety issues in high-power optical fibre communication systems, including distributed Raman amplification systems Available to Purchase

This paper discusses optical safety issues in high-power optical fibre communication systems; attention is placed on distributed Raman amplification systems. Distributed Raman amplification technology is fascinating for large capacity, long haul optical fibre communication systems, since it promises to decrease or eliminate the need for expensive electrical regenerators. However, network service operators have a critical problem, safety, given the extremely high pump powers (several hundreds of mW to several W). This paper focuses on safety issues with regard to two aspects. One is eye safety issue and Automatic Power Reduction (APR) scheme. The other is the relatively new safety issue of “fire hazard”, which could be raised at loss points (connectors, splices, or bending points) along the fibre. If such loss points are given, services should be provided in the loss condition, so the maximum pump power should be carefully designed so as not to cause large temperature increases at the loss points. This paper also considers the “fibre-fuse” phenomenon.