TCX1000-ILA Inline Amplifier Overview

The TCX1000 Inline Amplifier or TCX1000-ILA is a standalone 1RU chassis that provides dual amplifiers, along with an embedded optical service channel (OSC) at 1511 nm, and AC or DC redundant hot-swappable power supplies and cooling units.

Note

Compatibility — The TCX1000-ILA is compatible with the proNX Optical Director, Release 2.2 and TCX1000-RDM20, Release 3.1.

Amplifier

The TCX1000-ILA is a dual EDFA amplification solution that provides optical gain for the optical signal traversing the amplifier in the A-B direction, and the signal traversing the amplifier in the opposite B-A direction. Thus, it can be viewed as two amplifiers in one box. As shown in Figure 1, functionally, the two amplifiers are totally separate (with the exception of the OSC) and are referred to as amplifier AB and amplifier BA. Line A is serviced by the input to amplifier AB and the output of amplifier BA. Line B is serviced by the input to amplifier BA and the output of amplifier AB.

The typical application of the TCX1000-ILA is between ROADM node sites to extend the reach of the optical network by using periodic amplification to maintain a high optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR).

The TCX1000-ILA connects to the two fiber spans through two sets of front panel ports (LC):

Connect one line to the Line A In and Line A Out ports
Connect the other line to the Line B In and Line B Out ports

Table 1 summarizes these connections and describes the direction served by each amplifier in the TCX1000-ILA.

Table 1: TCX1000-ILA Line Ports Versus Direction

Amplifier	Physical Ports	Direction Served
AB	`Line A IN`	A to B input
AB	`Line B OUT`	A to B output
BA	`Line B IN`	B to A input
BA	`Line A OUT`	B to A output

proNX Optical Director Optical Control and Management

Like all TCX Series products, the TCX1000-ILA is controlled and managed by the proNX Optical Director. The proNX Optical Director control and management software continuously receives data from the TCX1000-ILA and adjusts the optical controls on the unit to compensate for span loss. In addition, threshold crossing alerts and performance monitors from the TCX1000-ILA are sent and recorded in the proNX Optical Director, which alerts you to any associated alarms.

The proNX Optical Director fully manages and controls the TCX1000-ILA:

The proNX Optical Director dynamically selects the optimum gain range for the amplifier to match the real-time measured span losses.
The proNX Optical Director dynamically sets the gain tilt of the TCX1000-ILA to provide coarse gain equalization to maximize ONSR in the path.

You are therefore not required to configure the TCX1000-ILA; it is completely and automatically managed by the proNX Optical Director control and management software.

In-Service Upgrades

An in-service upgrade enables firmware and software to be updated without affecting traffic on the TCX1000-ILA.

Optical Service Channel

The TCX1000-ILA supports an embedded Ethernet optical service channel (OSC) that provides inter-site system communication for management purposes and is fully compatible with the TCX1000-RDM20 OSC.

Initial configuration of the TCX1000-ILA is performed through the front panel Ethernet connection as described in the TCX1000 Inline Amplifier Quick Start for instructions on how to configure the IP address on the TCX1000-ILA.. After you complete the steps in this document, you can remotely manage the TCX1000-ILA over the Ethernet OSC. This enables you to deploy the TCX1000-ILA in a site without direct access to your data communications network (DCN), but still maintain visibility and control of the TCX1000-ILA over the OSC. This remote OSC connection passes through the TCX1000-ILA to allow management and control of a chain of amplifiers in between TCX1000-RDM20 ROADM sites.

The embedded 100 Mbps Ethernet OSC is comprised of a 1511 nm signal. The TCX1000-ILA terminates and transmits this signal using small form-factor pluggable (SFP) optics. All control information is conveyed in Ethernet packets. Neighbor discovery on the line ports of the TCX1000-ILA is performed by LLDP on the Ethernet link.

TCX1000-ILA Features

The TCX1000-ILA supports the following features:

Support for up to four cascaded TCX1000-ILA amplifiers between TCX1000-RDM20 ROADM nodes.
The TCX1000-ILA functions as a C-Band amplifier. This means that the DWDM signal the TCX1000-ILA supports, occupies the spectrum known as the C-Band (1528 nm -1566 nm).
The TCX1000-ILA supports a line-side back reflection monitor that allows for monitoring the back reflection of the output signal.
The TCX1000-ILA supports two monitoring ports enabling you to monitor the output spectrum of both line A and line B output signals while the amplifier is in service. To monitor the output spectrum, connect an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) to either the MON A or MON B monitor port.

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