Hybrid hierarchical optical networks

Author

Izmailov, Rauf ; Ganguly, Samrat ; Wang, Ting ; Suemura, Yoshihiko ; Maeno, Yoshiharu ; Araki, Soichiro

Volume

40

Issue

11

fYear

2002

fDate

11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

88

Lastpage

94

Abstract

Hybrid hierarchical optical cross-connects enhance the performance/cost ratio of optical networks by providing transparent (optical) switching of sets of wavelengths (wavebands) in addition to opaque (electrical) switching of individual wavelengths. As network bandwidth gets cheaper, and the performance bottleneck moves to switching nodes, these systems provide an attractive scalable solution for next-generation optical networks. We describe key technological components (including flexible nonuniform wavebands) of hybrid hierarchical optical cross-connects and discuss their performance/cost implications.

Keywords

optical fibre networks; optical switches; telecommunication network routing; wavelength division multiplexing; WDM; electrical switching; flexible nonuniform wavebands; hybrid hierarchical optical cross-connects; hybrid hierarchical optical networks; network bandwidth; opaque switching; optical switching; performance/cost ratio; separate routing model; switching nodes; transparent switching; wavelength-division multiplexing; Asynchronous transfer mode; Costs; National electric code; Next generation networking; Optical fiber networks; Optical packet switching; Optical wavelength conversion; Packet switching; Switching circuits; Telecommunication traffic;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0163-6804

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MCOM.2002.1046999

Filename

1046999