| Abstract: | Customer‐owned and managed optical networks bring new cost‐saving benefits. Two types of such networks are becoming widely used: metro dark fiber networks and long‐haul leased wavelength networks. Customers may invoke a special QoS mechanism where end‐to‐end (E2E) lightpaths are dynamically established across multiple independently managed customer domains. The cost of bandwidth is substantially reduced since it largely becomes a capital cost rather than an ongoing service charge. Customers can optimize the overall resource consumption by utilizing resources from different suppliers. Remote peering and transit reduce the Internet connectivity cost. Bandwidth and quality of service are guaranteed because customers directly peer with each other using transport networks. An architecture for a customer‐managed E2E lightpath provisioning system is presented. Integration with Grid applications is discussed and a prototype demonstration is described. Copyright © 2005 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
