Dilemma for Multi-Band Network Migration: Single-Band or Multi-Band Transceivers

Abstract

Operators have two alternatives to acquire new transceivers when migrating from current C-band optical networks to C+L multi-band optical networks: i) multi-band C+L transceivers, or ii) separate single-band C and single-band L transceivers. The deployment of these new transceivers, along with the other costly components required, delays the completion of a fully upgraded network on which the L-band is active on all network links. Therefore, the concept of partial migration during the network planning phase has been proposed. This paper attempts to shed light on the question of which type of transceivers should the industry focus to help operators in the migration of their networks from the C-band to the C+L-bands. Simulation results demonstrate that the employment of multi-band transceivers does not lead to a significant reduction in the number of required additional transceivers that should be installed for different levels of partial migration. Additionally, we present a techno-economic study about this issue, demonstrating that, in fact, the use of single-band transceivers leads to lower costs.