Certified Optical Network Associate (CONA) Training

What do you get from the registration fees?

• 5-days of intense and interactive training on the fundamentals of optical networking
• 550+ pages of course manual to be downloaded from the OTT resources page
• Access to OTT CONA online resources
• OTT theory evaluation at the end of the training
• OTT CONA certificate ( subject to passing the evaluation)

What you will learn in this optical network training:

CONA is the first of two vendor neutral intense 5-day optical network training courses from Optical Technology Training (OTT). CONA is designed to offer prospective optical network engineers the ins and outs of optical networking. It covers networks that use single channel or multiple channels using DWDM or CWDM. These include metro networks, FTTA, DCIs, long haul networks and other WANs. Delegates learn what is required for satisfactory system performance of such networks, how CD and PMD, affect network performance and how they are mitigated.

Delegates should pass an examination and a network design assignment to be CONA certified. Delegates will also be awarded IEEE Continuing Education Units (CEUs) certificates.Successful candidates have the option to take the more advanced NG-CONE course which focus on concepts in higher speed optical networking, such as 400Gbps.

COURSE SYLLABUS

Key outcomes:

• Design optical links that provide high capacity, typically up to10 or 25Gb/s per channel and up to 80 channels per fiber
• Specify the components that are required to build a transmission link and describe how they should be configured
• Design links for performance and testability
• Determine the optical power budget of different transmission systems
• Calculate the optical loss budget for a transmission link
• Assess the quality of existing fiber infrastructure and its suitability for different systems
• Decide when and where optical amplifiers are needed and identify suitable products
• Calculate whether chromatic dispersion compensation is required for a link, and if so specify an appropriate DCM
• Verify that a link design is viable in terms of power levels, chromatic dispersion limits and PMD levels

Section 1: Becoming a CONA

• What are optical networks?
• The different generations
• The role of standards
• The week ahead

Section 2: Understanding light and light in communications

• Light as a wave
• Wavelengths & frequencies used in fiber optics
• Single mode fiber as a waveguide
• Using light to transfer information
• Chromatic dispersion
• Polarization mode dispersion
• Using passive components to manage light
• Managing power levels
• Directing light
• Multiplexing light
• Managing different wavelengths of light
• Electronic TDM
• WDM
• SWDM
• CWDM
• DWDM
• How fibers work
• Multimode fiber
• Single mode fiber
• Launch conditions
• Attenuation
• Bend loss performance
• Dispersion

Section 3: Infrastructure

• Fibers for datacomms
• Fibers for telecoms
• Standards
• Sourcing cable links
• External and internal cable performance issues
• Typical constructions
• Cables for different environments
• The challenges of jointing cable
• Cable jointing scenarios
• Cable installation issues
• Splice closures
• Cable termination challenges
• Cable termination scenarios
• Termination location components
• Specifying an ODF
• Connector styles
• Connector performance
• Pre-terminated assemblies
• Connector inspection and cleaning
• Connector inspection standards
• Performance requirements for joining fibers
• Why test infrastructure?
• What tests are needed?
• Analysis and extracting relevant information
• Monitoring systems

Section 4: Systems

• Requirements for good system performance
• Potential causes of performance problems
• Designing for performance and testability
• Target distances
• Loss budgets
• Transmitter power levels
• Receiver power levels
• Interface definitions
• Benefits & drawbacks of optical amplifiers
• EDFAs
• Raman amplifiers
• Other optical Amplifier types
• Optical amplifier specification
• Optical amplified configurations
• Optical amplifier performance
• Optical amplifier implementation checklist
• Light sources & transmitters
• Receivers & detectors
• Transceiver modules
• Transceiver performance comparisons
• Key transceiver parameters

Section 5: Dispersion

• What is chromatic dispersion?
• What causes chromatic dispersion?
• Dispersion slope
• CD characteristics of common fiber types
• Dispersion limited systems
• Optical versus electronic dispersion compensation
• Strategic dispersion issues
• Dispersion compensating fiber
• DCM performance examples
• Bragg grating DCMs
• Dispersion managed links
• What is PMD?
• Polarized light
• Polarization in fibers
• PMD and system performance

Section 6: Optical networking

• Photonic network topologies
• Multiplexers
• Add drop technologies
• ROADMs
• Equipment configurations
• What do I need?
• What type of module, component or fiber?
• Where does it go?
• Rules and constraints
• Testing required at each project stage
• Test limits and acceptance criteria

Section 7: Network simulation software

• Why network simulation
• Introduction to OptiSystem from Optiwave
• How to sign up for a free 30 day account
• How to access simulation examples and technical support

Section 8: Evaluation

• Case study assignment
• Theory assessment