Economical Applications of All-Optical Networks

摘要

The emergence of optical amplifiers, wavelength division multiplexing capabilities, and more recently, optical cross connection for application in fiber optic networks has popularized the concept of an all-optical network to provide a flexible physical layer for transport networks capable of delivering the very large capacities required. It remains a challenge to not only overcome the considerable technological challenges toward this end, but also to understand applications of these technologies and the networks they enable and the intrinsic economic benefits they will bring to network operators and their end users. This paper considers the economic incentives for developing all-optical network capabilities.