Gaylord W. Richards

Optical Switching in Transport Networks: Applications, Requirements, Architectures, Technologies, and Solutions

Publisher Summary Early Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical line systems provided simple point-to-point links between electronic end terminals without allowing access to the intermediate wavelength channels. It is noted that todays systems carry over 100 channels per fiber and new technologies allow intermediate routing of wavelengths at add or drop multiplexers and optical cross-connects. Thus, these new capabilities allow optical layer networking, which is essentially architecture with great flexibility and intelligence. The use of optical switching in modern networking architectures has been explored in the chapter. It reviews the principles of networking and various aspects of optical switch technologies in detail. The performance and requirements for an Optical Cross Connect (OXC) for opaque and transparent technologies are also compared. Furthermore, the chapter reviews the applications of OXC in areas such as provisioning, protection, and restoration. Several demonstration OXCs are also studied, including small optical switch fabrics, wavelength–selective OXCs, and large strictly nonblocking cross connects employing the Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) technology.