Automated Laser Shutdown

Concerned from a liability standpoint with supplied product quality and safety, SEE TELECOM has implemented into all transport modules an Automated Laser Shutdown (ALS) mechanism. The ALS goal is to protect personnel eyes from invisible radiation being emitted at fiber ends , pigtails or connectors. Should a fiber cut occur, the transport module optical receiver will detect a power loss, and the transmitter will immediately switch the laser off. A power loss is detected when the received optical power drops below 33 dBm (0.0005mW) at the Rx side of the transponder card (photodiode input). This threshold is factory tuned by hardware, so it is NOT ACCESSIBLE to customers. On the other hand, once failures have been fixed, the ALS mechanism will switch the power on. In order to minimize risk of exposure to hazardous power levels1, the automatic signal recovery is based on a restart pulses technique, which complies with Hazard Level 1. The ALS mechanism implemented in our modules is fully compliant with the ITU Recommendation ITU-T G.664 titled Optical safety procedures and requirements for optical transport systems . The ALS mechanism can also be disabled from the NMS2 module. In order to get a better understanding of the ALS mechanism lets consider the case of a single fiber failure. Figure 1 shows a point-to-point link between two MANSYS transponder. We suppose the ALS mechanism is ENABLED, so that power losses exceeding 33dBm will entail a laser shutdown.

Tx
Rx

Rx
Tx

1
Figure 1

"Hazard Level" is a term from IEC 60825 Part 2 and refers to the potential hazard from laser emissions at any location in an end-to-end fibre optic communication system that may be accessible during service or in the event of a failure or fibre disconnection. The assessment of the hazard level uses the Class Accessible Emission Limit tables described in the IEC 60825 Part 1 standard.
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Network Management System

ALS release 1.0

We suppose now a fiber cut occurs on the working line at t = t0 (see Figure 2). Because of the failure, after a delay of t1, the transport module #2 shutdowns its laser (Point 2).

t1 t1

Tx1 Rx1 t2 t3 t2

Tx2 Rx2
Fiber Off Start trial 1
Figure 2 Consequently, the optical power detected by the receiver of the module 1 falls to zero (Point 3). Since no power has been detected, after a delay t1, the module #1 also shutdowns its own laser (Point 4). After a delay of t2, the module #2 starts a pulse of length t3. When the receiver of the module 1 detects the light, it switches its laser on. At the end of the timeout t3, the module #2 doesnt get any signal and shutdowns its laser once more. t1 seconds later, the module #1 also stops its laser. This procedure is iterated until the line is restored. During the next cycle, the module #2 receives the optical power from the module #1 and reactivates its laser emission. The module #2 also receives the signal from its peer module and let its laser on. In summary, a laser is only emitting on a fiber that has just been cut for a maximum period of 2 x t1, i.e. 1.6 s maximum. The restoration of a service after the repair period is automatically performed after a period of maximum ( t2 - t1 ) seconds, i.e. 299,5 seconds maximum. The value of the parameters of the timeouts is compliant with the ITU recomandation ITU G.664: How to contact us:

t1

End trial 1

t1

Fiber On

Start trial 2

0,5s t1 0,8s , 100 s t 2 300 s , 1, 75s t 3 2, 25s .

Mail to: mansys.contact@see.be or visit our web site: mansys.see.be

SEE TELECOM Avenue du commerce, 18 B-1420 Braine lAlleud Belgique

ALS release 1.0