Wavelength Division Multiplexing: An Overview & Recent Developments

As speed & bandwidth has always been a cause of concern in communication network, WDM emerges as a vital solution to these problems. The problem arises when the demand for bandwidth in a fiber optic network exceeds the current capacity, WDM helps in expanding the capacity of a fiber optic network without requiring additional fiber. The decision problem is to find the most cost-effective combination of WDM equipment and fiber that increases the capacity of the network to a point where all the expected demand can be handled. This paper presents an overview about WDM technology and recent developments in this field and how the overall capacity of the communication network can be incremented using this technology.