On IP-over-WDM integration

Expanding Internet-based services are driving the need for evermore bandwidth in the network backbone. These needs will grow further as new real-time multimedia applications become more feasible and pervasive. Currently, there is no other technology on the horizon that can effectively meet such a demand for bandwidth in the transport infrastructure other than WDM technology. This technology enables incremental and quick provisioning up to and beyond two orders of magnitude of today´s fiber bandwidth levels. This precludes the need to deploy additional cabling and having to contend with right-of-way issues, a key advantage. Hence, it is only natural that over time optical/WDM technology will migrate closer to the end users, from core to regional, metropolitan, and ultimately access networks. At present, WDM deployment is mostly point-to-point and uses SONET/SDH as the standard layer for interfacing to the higher layers of the protocol stack. However, large-scale efforts are underway to develop standards and products that will eliminate one or more of these intermediate layers (e.g., SONET/SDH, ATM) and run IP directly over the WDM layer. IP over WDM has been envisioned as the winning combination due to the ability of the IP to be the common revenue-generating convergence sublayer and WDM as a bandwidth-rich transport sublayer. Various important concerns still need to be addressed regarding IP-WDM integration. These include lightpath routing coupled with tighter interworkings with IP routing and resource management protocols, survivability provisioning, framing/monitoring solutions, and others