CWDM

Network operators can choose to deploy Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) for very low cost and small- to medium-sized scalability, or Dense WDM (DWDM) for reasonable, pay-as-you-grow investment and tremendous capacity. Both technologies are functionally similar. The primary difference is that CWDM uses a wider spacing between wavelengths (20 nm) than does DWDM (1.6 nm and less). Consequently, CWDM supports fewer channels (typically 8) on a single fiber than does DWDM (up to 80).

 

Hybrid CWDM/DWDM systems are available in the marketplace and provide an optimum balance, combining CWDM’s low cost of entry with DWDM’s in-service scalability, as illustrated below.