Accuracy of Fiber Propagation Evaluation Using Phenomenological Attenuation and Raman Scattering Models in Multiband Optical Networks

The constant growth of IP data traffic, driven by sustained annual increases surpassing 26%, is pushing current optical transport infrastructures towards their capacity limits. Since the deployment of new fiber cables is economically demanding, ultra-wideband transmission is emerging as a promising cost-effective solution, enabled by multi-band amplifiers and transceivers spanning the entire low-loss window of standard single-mode fibers. In this scenario, an accurate modeling of the frequency-dependent fiber parameters is essential to reliably model optical signal propagation. In particular, the combined impact of attenuation variations with frequency and inter-channel stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) fundamentally shapes the power evolution of wide wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) combs and directly affects nonlinear interference (NLI) generation, as well as the amount of ASE noise. In this work, we review a set of analytical approximations, based on phenomenological approaches, for frequency-dependent attenuation and Raman scattering gain, and analyze their impact on achieving an effective balance between computational efficiency and physical fidelity. Through extensive analyses performed with the open-source software GNPy (version 2.12, Telecom Infra Project) on an optical line system exploring multi-band scenarios spanning C+L+S, C+L+E, and U-to-E transmission, we demonstrate that the proposed approximations reproduce the reference SRS power evolution and NLI profiles with root mean square errors (RMSEs) consistently below 0.03 dB, and down to the 10−3–10−2 dB range for the most accurate configurations. Although the current implementation does not yet provide a direct reduction in computational time, the proposed framework lays the groundwork for future developments toward closed-form or semi-analytical solutions, enabling more efficient modeling and optimization of ultra-wideband optical transmission.