All-optical wavelength band conversion enables new scalable and efficient optical network architectures

All-optical waveband conversion has been successfully demonstrated at reduced temperature, making the development and deployment of efficient and scalable band architectures feasible. While band architecture necessitates increased fiber links, most carriers already have available links in existing fiber, minimizing cost. We examined cost benefit and utilization gain, which are compelling, corresponding to Capex and Opex, respectively. Carriers need 5-10 times reductions in Capex, and at least 2 times reductions in Opex, to achieve long-term profitability. While the incumbent SONET rings benefit least from band architecture, we still predict a 2.5 times reduction in Opex, and a 5-10 times Capex savings, both in-line with the current carrier needs.