RELIABILITY ASPECTS OF OPTICAL-FIBER SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS

Optical fibre has replaced copper on point-to-point long distance line s on a one-for-one basis, with system and network designs scaled direc tly from our copper experience. However, fibre has introduced radical changes in almost every system parameter including repeater spacings, power feed requirements, electro-magnetic compatibility, human interdi ction, multiplex equipment, corrosion induced failures, and so on. Est ablished reliability models seldom reflect these radical improvements or afford sufficient importance to the novel and beneficial features o f this new technology. These aspects are examined and results and argu ments are presented that have been derived from new models developed t o reflect specifically the key aspects of systems and network technolo gies that will have most impact on our future network thinking and pla nning.