Optical Performance Monitoring

Progress in optical networking has stimulated interest in optical performance monitoring (OPM), particularly with regard to signal quality measures such as optical signal to noise ratio, Q factor, and dispersion. These advanced monitoring methods have the potential to extend fault management and quality of service monitoring into the optical domain. This paper reviews OPM applications and techniques, while examining the role of OPM as an enabling technology for advances in high speed and optically switched networks. Index Terms—optical performance monitoring, networks, optical fiber communication, fault detection.