Impairments of EDFA dynamic gain-fluctuations in packet-switched WDM optical transmissions

Sustained relaxation oscillations in a gain-clamped erbium-doped fiber amplifier can be generated depending on the traffic loading in packet-switched wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) optical networks. The effects are dependent on the channel wavelengths, on the packet power and width, as well as on the time delay between traveling packets. Depletions up to 1.6 dB can be generated when two or more WDM optical packets travel through the amplifier within a few oscillation periods of the amplifier.