Power consumption analysis of PLC-based optical switches and variable attenuators for variable gain optical fiber amplifier

We investigated the power consumption of optical SWs and VOAs integrated on a silica-based PLC that is employed as a variable gain optical fiber amplifier with a wide gain range and a small NF variation.

I. Introduction

Optical switches (SWs) and variable optical attenuators (VOAs) integrated on a silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) have been employed as a variable gain optical fiber amplifier (OFA) that achieves both a wide variable gain range and a small noise figure (NF) variation [1]. This variable gain OFA yields additional dissipation power compared with a conventional variable gain OFA that consists of two-stage amplification and a VOA [2]. In this paper, we investigate the power consumption of the fiber amplifier and discuss future prospects.