TOWARDS ALL-OPTICAL NETWORKING

The promise of optics is a flatter, less hierarchical network giving operational advantages of simplified structure and reduced administrative load. Optics can offer optical transparent transport networks that mask the heterogeneity of the transported entities to users as well as to operator(s). A network outline for the year 2010 reveals transparent network partitions, where wavelength multiplexed multi-Gbit/s streams are routed through optical nodes to establish semipermanent paths. A novel, distributed, packet-based switching infrastructure is then needed to bridge the granularity disparity between customer access and core network. Wavelength and space-division multiplexing provide a first level of transparent optical paths as universal transport. Optical virtual paths are bundled into transparent optical paths.