Techno-economic value analysis of the role of banded amplification in evolving WDM metro network architectures

The benefits of banded amplification in metro networks are quantified from a techno-economic perspective. In current network scenarios that use WDM as point-to-point fiber relief among pairs of super-hub nodes typical banded amplification solutions like EDWAs can provide about 0.6 dBQ performance margin compared to the case of broadband amplification and offer cost benefits for low number of lit channels and slow traffic growth. As WDM enters in core and edge and enables ring (or mesh) connectivity among more than two stations fewer broadband amplifiers can be replaced since a number of channels need to just pass-through nodes and thus broadband EDFAs make more sense. As a result, the value of banded amplification drops, although from a performance point of view a significant performance margin is still possible (2-3 dBQ).