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In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths (i.e., colors) of laser light.[1] This technique enables bidirectional communications over a single strand of fiber (also called wavelength-division duplexing) as well as multiplication of capacity.[1]
The term WDM is commonly applied to an optical carrier, which is typically described by its wavelength, whereas frequency-division multiplexing typically applies to a radio carrier, more often described by frequency.[2] This is purely conventional because wavelength and frequency communicate the same information. Specifically, frequency (in Hertz, which is cycles per second) multiplied by wavelength (the physical length of one cycle) equals velocity of the carrier wave. In a vacuum, this is the speed of light (usually denoted by the lowercase letter, c). In glass fiber, velocity is substantially slower - usually about 0.7 times c. The data rate in practical systems is a fraction of the carrier frequency.
- ^ a b Cai, Hong; Parks, Joseph. W (2015). "Optofluidic wavelength division multiplexing for single-virus detection". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 (42): 12933–12937. Bibcode:2015PNAS..11212933O. doi:10.1073/pnas.1511921112. JSTOR 26465542. PMC 4620877. PMID 26438840.
- ^ Yuan, Ye; Wang, Chao (2019). "Multipath Transmission of Marine Electromagnetic Data Based on Distributed Sensors". Journal of Coastal Research. 97: 99–102. doi:10.2112/SI97-013.1. JSTOR 26853785. S2CID 208620293.