Architecture and Engineering Issues in Building an IP over WDM Networks

The technologies of IP over WDM have presently received increasing attention owing to the rapid growth in Internet traffic and the need for next-generation Internet technologies. The challenge now is how to integrate the services of IP over WDM optical networks to take full advantages of WDM technologies and IP technologies, and yield a high-throughput optical platform directly underpinning next generation data networks. This article discusses some of the architecture and technology issues for the design of IP over WDM optical networks.