EVOLUTIONARY SCALING OF NETWORKS TOWARD LOWER COST WITH AN OPTICAL BACKPLANE AND DYNAMIC OPTICAL TRANSPORT

摘要

We have detailed the capabilities required to construct a fully automated, dynamic optical layer, and the means to cost effectively integrate these conventionally expensive features into a solution that has lower cost than current metro regional networks. Despite the addition of rich optical features, lower CAPEX can be realized through judicious integration of new technologies that minimize the cost premium through integration and modular design. In addition, we have highlighted critical recent advances in optical backplane technology and port-selectable ROADMs that significantly improve the performance, robustness and manufacturability of a dynamic optical network. The ROADM in particular was shown to be extendable via integration of WSSs to new optical architectures with a universal DWDM optical interface. These architectures have the potential to be the building block for next generation transparent ring interconnection and mesh networks, while being implemented today with a minimal cost premium. Finally, it is the total package of tunable lasers, intelligent optical amplifiers, optical backplanes and port-selectable ROADM that enables an automated, dynamic DWDM optical layer to reduce TCO via CAPEX and OPEX compared to existing solutions, This integration provides a cost-effective, evolutionary path to solve the problem of scaling today's metro regional network, while evolving to a more efficient network for future services.