Looking at the development of EDFA from the growth of 5G

5G is one of the hottest topics today. Compared with 4G, 5G has the advantages of faster speed, larger bandwidth, and lower latency. According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, more than 700,000 5G base stations have been built or opened, and high-speed construction is still in progress. Compared with the number of 4G base stations, the number of 5G base stations will increase by about half. China is expected to build at least 6 million base stations in the future.

As we all know, the connection between the base station and the base station is carried out through optical fiber. The distance is not bad. If it is a large trunk network, the transmission distance is relatively long, some up to several hundred kilometers. At this time, the optical power emitted by the transmitter optical module after long-distance transmission, the light becomes very weak, exceeding the reception The receiving sensitivity of the end optical module. At this time, a fiber amplifier is needed to compensate the power of the light, thereby extending the transmission distance. Erbium-doped fiber amplifier EDFA and Raman fiber amplifier FRA are more widely used. EDFA technology has been relatively mature and the cost price is relatively suitable. Therefore, EDFA schemes are used to extend the transmission distance when the transmission distance is below the middle. For ultra-long distances, FRA is required to cooperate.

As mentioned above, the EDFA technical solution is relatively mature. The current and future development is mainly to reduce the space occupation and power consumption while ensuring excellent optical indicators. So modular EDFA came into being. Many modular EDFAs are already commercially available on the market. For example, the most widely used board-type EDFA has the advantages of convenient installation and easy management. It can be used directly by inserting it into the communication case. The production process is relatively simple. It is to encapsulate the modular EDFA on the board. The smallest known package size is the SFP EDFA developed and produced by WSEE. The packaging style is exactly the same as the SFP optical module. The electrical interface is also fully compatible with the advantages of ultra-compact structure and ultra-low power consumption. Although SFP EDFA has not yet been commercialized, it is believed that the future application prospects are very broad.