An optical infrastructure for future telecommunications networks

For the transport of the increasing traffic volume caused by existing and new narrowband services and evolving broadband services, the enhancement of the existing public telecommunication transport network is necessary. For this purpose an optical network layer with cross-connect and add/drop functionalities will be added to the existing transport network. A comparative analysis of space, time, and optical frequency division multiplexing has shown that for the time being optical frequency multiplexing is best suited for the realization of that new network layer. This multiplexing scheme offers the greatest advantages such as very high bandwidth utilization in the fiber and simple and efficient cross-connecting of high bitrate streams. In the near future, technology will be mature enough for the realization of a demonstrator network based on optical frequency division multiplexing. The functionalities of the optical network are evaluated and the results clearly show that optical frequency conversion and regeneration should be provided by the optical network. The article also deals with the realization aspects (cross-connecting, supervision, and operation and maintenance) of an optical node     

光分插复用网元节点的设计和实验研究

提出了一种用于光传送网（OTN）的光分插复用（OADM）网元（NE）节点的体系结构，采用模块化方法，划分并设计出各功能模块。研制出可以同时支持8个波长动态分插复用的可重构OADM NE节点，提供2个双向全光网接口和网络管理接口。     

OA&M framework for multiwavelength photonic transport networks

Photonic networks based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and optical path technologies are expected to realize flexible, transparent, and cost-effective transport networks with a large transmission capacity. This paper explores the design framework of photonic transport networks taking into consideration the operation administration and maintenance (OA&M) functions required for the successful introduction of WDM systems based on the optical path concept. From the view point of network maintenance, clear distinction is made between the optical path layer and the optical section layer to facilitate accurate and smooth failure localization. The digital multiplexing span between physical multiplexing interfaces at the end-to-end digital nodes should have the same maintenance span as the corresponding optical path. We argue that cooperative maintenance by OA&M functions at both the digital and optical layers can be a practical way of network supervision. A supervisory (SV) signal transfer method and a configuration that is suitable for the terrestrial trunk network are also indicated. As an example, a practical SV system design methodology and an actual procedure developed for a single channel optical transmission system based on optical in-line amplifiers are introduced. Furthermore, application of the developed SV system and network restoration schemes is discussed for future WDM-based photonic networks. The OA&M aspects introduced will be valuable for creating future photonic network systems     

Toward wide-scale all-optical transparent networking: the ACTSoptical pan-European network (OPEN) project

The European ACTS project optical pan-European network (OPEN) aims at assessing the feasibility of an optical pan-European overlay network, interconnecting major European cities by means of a mesh of high-capacity optical fiber links, cross-connected through transparent photonic nodes. Both the transmission links and the routing network elements rely on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) all-optical technologies, such as wavelength translation. This paper presents results obtained in the following domains covered within the project: network topology considerations (optimization and dimensioning); network physical layer simulation; fabrications of packaged functional modules based on advanced optoelectronic devices; laboratory demonstrations of N×10 Gb/s transmission and routing; feasibility of an optical time division multiplexing/WDM (OTDM/WDM) interface; and the field implementation of a 4×4 multiwavelength crossconnect prototype, featuring all-optical space and wavelength routing. This implementation was realized in two cross-border field trials, one conducted between Norway and Denmark and the other between France and Belgium. The final results of the Norway to Denmark field trials are presented, featuring the successful cascade of three wavelength-translating optical crossconnects (OXCs), along with the transmission over 1000 km of a mix of standard/submarine cable links for four channels at 2.5 Gb/s     

Optical network research and development in European Communityprograms: from RACE to ACTS

The European Union programs of cooperative research and development in telecommunications aim to ensure the realization of the future information society. The RACE Program (1988 to 1995) made an important contribution to the development of advanced optical communications. The current ACTS Program has an increased focus on field trials and networking. ACTS projects in the field of optical networks are studying multiwavelength network concepts, customer access, high-speed multiplexing and transport, and components and subsystems     

Analysis and design for optical video transport distribution systemwith video on demand service

A cost-effective methods of multiplexing, transmitting, and selecting optical video signals is proposed and demonstrated by using appropriate combinations of bidirectional optical trunk-amplifier, medium-density wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and optical space switching techniques for rapid cost-effective construction. The major factors affecting optical video transport/distribution system design are described. In particular, a tapping-type optical loop-shaped trunk section network is proposed from the viewpoint of system reliability, probability of call-loss, and B-ISDN with analog overlay. The experimental results and design philosophy for an optical selector composed of WDM filters and space switches connected by silica-based waveguide on a chip are also discussed     

Operation and maintenance for an all-optical transport network

For the enhancement of the existing electrical transport network a new one based on optical frequency division multiplexing (or wavelength division multiplexing) will be added to the existing one. This article focuses on the system/network supervision and operation and maintenance, which are of great importance for the success of the optical transport network. For a better understanding of these topics, it is necessary to derive a layered network model for the optical transport network and to make a workable definition of the term “network transparency.” The proposed operation and maintenance concept deals with the identification of its related functions, the supervision of the optical regenerators, the maintenance signals required for failure localization, and the difficulty of defining a suitable mechanism for performance monitoring in transparent networks. Appropriate realization aspects are discussed too. Possible solutions for failure detectors are described. For transferring the individual maintenance signals between the associated network elements, a communication channel with a suitable structure is proposed     

All-optical network subsystems using integrated SOA-based optical gates and flip-flops for label-swapped networks

In this letter, we demonstrate that all-optical network subsystems, offering intelligence in the optical layer, can be constructed by functional integration of integrated all-optical logic gates and flip-flops. In this context, we show 10-Gb/s all-optical 2-bit label address recognition by interconnecting two optical gates that perform xor operation on incoming optical labels. We also demonstrate 40-Gb/s all-optical wavelength-switching through an optically controlled wavelength converter, consisting of an integrated flip-flop prototype device driven by an integrated optical gate. The system-level advantages of these all-optical subsystems combined with their realization with compact integrated devices, suggest that they are strong candidates for future packet/label switched optical networks.     

A high-speed optical star network using TDMA and all-opticaldemultiplexing techniques

The authors demonstrate the use of time-division multiplexing (TDM) to realize a high capacity optical star network. The fundamental element of the demonstration network is a 10 ps, wavelength tunable, low jitter, pulse source. Electrical data is encoded onto three optical pulse trains, and the resultant low duty cycle optical data channels are multiplexed together using 25 ps fiber delay lines. This gives an overall network capacity of 40 Gb/s. A nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) is used to carry out the demultiplexing at the station receiver. The channel to be switched out can be selected by adjusting the phase of the electrical signal used to generate the control pulses for the NOLM. By using external injection into a gain-switched distributed feedback (DFB) laser we are able to obtain very low jitter control pulses of 4-ps duration (RMS jitter <1 ps) after compression of the highly chirped gain switched pulses in a normal dispersive fiber. This enables us to achieve excellent eye openings for the three demultiplexed channels. The difficulty in obtaining complete switching of the signal pulses is presented. This is shown to be due to the deformation of the control pulse in the NOLM (caused by the soliton effect compression). The use of optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM) with all-optical switching devices is shown to be an excellent method to allow us to exploit as efficiently as possible the available fiber bandwidth, and to achieve very high bit-rate optical networks     

All-optical packet-switched metropolitan-area network proposal

A proposal for developing a precompetitive, commercially viable all-optical network architecture using dense optical wavelength division is described. The objective was to demonstrate a packet-switched high-capacity all-optical LAN/MAN network based on wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and capable of supporting several hundred to a thousand nodes, each requiring gigabit-per-second throughputs. The discussion covers the rationale and objectives of the program; tunable components, optical amplifiers, network protocol, and application development; network interconnection studies; and testbed construction     

Traffic grooming in an optical WDM mesh network

In wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks, the bandwidth request of a traffic stream can be much lower than the capacity of a lightpath. Efficiently grooming low-speed connections onto high-capacity lightpaths will improve the network throughput and reduce the network cost. In WDM/SONET ring networks, it has been shown in the optical network literature that by carefully grooming the low-speed connection and using wavelength-division multiplexer (OADM) to perform the optical bypass at intermediate nodes, electronic ADMs can be saved and network cost will be reduced. In this study, we investigate the traffic-grooming problem in a WDM-based optical mesh topology network. Our objective is to improve the network throughput. We study the node architecture for a WDM mesh network with traffic-grooming capability. A mathematical formulation of the traffic-grooming problem is presented in this study and several fast heuristics are also proposed and evaluated     

CORD: contention resolution by delay lines

The implementation of optical packet-switched networks requires that the problems of resource contention, signalling and local and global synchronization be resolved. A possible optical solution to resource contention is based on the use of switching matrices suitably connected with optical delay lines. Signalling could be dealt with using subcarrier multiplexing of packet headers. Synchronization could take advantage of clock tone multiplexing techniques, digital processing for ultra-fast clock recovery, and new distributed techniques for global packet-slot alignment. To explore the practical feasibility and effectiveness of these key techniques, a consortium was formed among the University of Massachusetts, Stanford University, and GTE Laboratories. The consortium, funded by ARPA, has three main goals: investigating networking issues involved in optical contention resolution (University of Massachusetts), constructing an experimental contention-resolution optical (CRO) device (GTE Laboratories), and building a packet-switched optical network prototype employing a CRO and novel signaling/synchronization techniques (Stanford University). This paper describes the details of the project and provides an overview of the main results obtained so far     

光通信网开始实际运用

首选对光通信网的涵义作一概述,然后较明确地说明以波分复用为基础的光通信网的具体内容,最后,介绍欧洲近年开始筹建泛欧波分复用光通信网实际运用的情况。     

A simple frequency domain multiplexing system for optical point sensors

A new technique for the multiplexing of intensity modulated optical fiber point sensors using a frequency domain approach is described. A fully dedicated network, consisting of three sensors, has been built. The system performance was evaluated and results are presented.     

A DWDM/SCM self-healing architecture for broad-band subscriber networks

A high-capacity dense wavelength-division multiplexing/subcarrier multiplexing (DWDM/SCM) network based on a self-healing star-bus-ring architecture (SBRA) is proposed and demonstrated. This architecture has a star subnet on the upper level to be a high-capacity infrastructure for the network, several bus subnets on the middle level to offer broad-band channels for multiwavelength signals, and many ring subnets on the lower level to serve a number of nodes. We design remote nodes and bidirectional wavelength add-drop multiplexers (WADMs) by using simple optical switches to reconfigure the network under link failure. We further employ M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) and frequency shift-keyed (FSK) signals for downstream and upstream channels, respectively. The SBRA ensures an optical-beat-interference-free (OBI-free) and high-reliability optical network. Finally, we set up an experimental network to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture.     

OTDM-based optical communications networks at 160 Gbit/s and beyond

The virtually unlimited bandwidth of optical fibers has caused a great increase in data transmission speed over the past decade and, hence, stimulated high-demand multimedia services. Nowadays, opto-electronic conversion is still required at each network node to process the incoming signal. However, when the single channel bit rate increases beyond electronic speed limit, optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) becomes a forced choice, and all-optical processing must be performed to extract the information from the incoming packet. In this paper the state of art, the advantages and drawbacks of the OTDM technology will be discussed in order to highlight its potentialities in different application scenarios for optical communications networks, and its perspectives in different temporal horizons. In detail, a recent experiment of a 160 Gbit/s OTDM system is presented. Furthermore, a photonic node architecture suitable for optical packet switching networks is proposed, and possible solutions for the implementation of all the required subsystems are presented and compared in order to optimize the node performance. In particular innovative schemes for optical add/drop multiplexer, optical logic gates, optical switches, and optical flip-flop are introduced with a particular emphasis on emerging nonlinear materials and enabling technologies.     

WDM-based packet networks

We discuss design considerations for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based packet networks. In the near term, such networks are likely to consist of WDM links connected using some form of electronic multiplexing. The focus of this article is on the joint design of the electronic and optical layer with the objective of simplifying the network and reducing the protocol stack. To that end, we discuss the benefits of optical flow switching, network reconfiguration, traffic grooming, and optical layer protection. We also discuss the state of all-optical packet networking with particular focus on local area network technology     

Channel sharing in multi-hop WDM lightwave networks: do we needmore channels?

A local lightwave network can be constructed by employing two-way fibers to connect nodes in a passive-star physical topology, and the available optical bandwidth may be accessed by the nodal transmitters and receivers at electronic rates using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). The number of WDM channels, w, in such a network is technology-limited and is less than the number of network nodes, N, especially if the network should support a scalable number of nodes. We describe a general and practical channel sharing method, which requires each node to be equipped with only one transmitter-receiver pair, and in which each WDM channel is shared in a time-division multiplexed fashion; optical fiber LANs are discussed in particular. We also develop a general model for analyzing such a shared-channel, multi-hop, WDM network. Our analysis yields a counterintuitive result: it is sometimes better to employ fewer channels than a larger number of channels. We explore bounds on the ranges of w which admit queueing stability-using too few or too many channels can lead to instability. We also obtain an estimate for the optimal number of channels that minimizes network-wide queueing delay     

Fiber to the Home Using a PON Infrastructure

Traffic patterns in access networks have evolved from voice- and text-oriented services to video- and image-based services. This change will require new access networks that support high-speed (> 100 Mb/s), symmetric, and guaranteed bandwidths for future video services with high-definition TV quality. To satisfy the required bandwidth over a 20-km transmission distance, single-mode optical fiber is currently the only practical choice. To minimize the cost of implementing an FTTP solution, a passive optical network (PON) that uses a point-to-multipoint architecture is generally considered to be the best approach. There are several multiple-access techniques to share a single PON architecture, and the authors addressed several of these approaches such as time-division multiple access, wavelength-division multiple access, subcarrier multiple access, and code-division multiple access. Among these multiple techniques, they focus on time-division multiplexing (TDM)-PON and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)-PON, which will be the most promising candidates for practical future systems. A TDM-PON shares a single-transmission channel with multiple subscribers in time domain. Then, there exists tight coupling between subscribers. A WDM-PON provides point-to-point optical connectivity using a dedicated pair of wavelengths per user. While a TDM-PON appears to be a satisfactory solution for current bandwidth demands, the combination of future data-rate projections and traffic patterns coupled with recent advances in WDM technology may result in WDM-PON becoming the preferred solution for a future proof fiber-based access network     

WDM ring network using a centralized multiwavelength light sourceand add-drop multiplexing filters

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) ring network employing a centralized multiwavelength light source to supply all nodes with optical carriers of precise wavelength spacing. This approach overcomes the problem of monitoring and controlling the wavelengths of optical sources dispersed throughout the network. A four-node test bed using optical lattice-type add-drop multiplexing filters and a multiwavelength light source based on resonant cavity-enhanced four wave mixing in a Fabry-Perot laser diode was constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. The effects of coherent crosstalk in such networks are analyzed, and methods such as phase scrambling or the use of a pulsed optical source are shown to significantly reduce the effects of coherent crosstalk. The use of four-port add-drop multiplexer (ADM) filters instead of 1:n optical wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexers to implement the wavelength add-drop function at each node is shown to lead to a broader transmission bandwidth for each channel and also easier compatibility with the coherent crosstalk suppression mechanisms described