Optimization of Raman amplifiers: a comparison between black-, grey- and
  white-box modeling
Metodi P. Yankov Mehran Soltani Andrea Carena Darko Zibar Francesco Da Ros
Designing and optimizing optical amplifiers to maximize system performance is
becoming increasingly important as optical communication systems strive to
increase throughput. Offline optimization of optical amplifiers relies on
models ranging from white-box models deeply rooted in physics to black-box
data-driven physics-agnostic models. Here, we compare the capabilities of
white-, grey- and black-box models to achieve a target frequency-distance
amplification in a bidirectional Raman amplifier. We show that any of the
studied methods can achieve down to 1 dB of frequency-distance flatness over
the C-band in a 100-km span. Then, we discuss the models' applicability,
advantages, and drawbacks based on the target application scenario, in
particular in terms of optimization speed and access to training data.