An architectural approach for very-high-capacity wide-area optical networks is presented, and a proposed program of research to address key system and device issues is described. The network is based on dense multiwavelength technology and is scalable in terms of the number of networked users, the geographical range of coverage, and the aggregate network capacity. Of paramount importance to the achievement of scalability are the notions of wavelength reuse and wavelength translation. A distributed optical interconnect that is wavelength-selective and electronically controllable, permitting the same limited set of wavelengths to be reused among other access stations, is employed. By exercising the wavelength-selective switches, the wavelength-routed connectivity between stations can be reconfigured as needed. A multihop overlay network involving wavelength translation and self-routing fast packet switches permits full connectivity, if desired among the access stations at the individual virtual circuit level. Using just eight wavelengths, such a network could in principle interconnect a population of 100 million users over a nationwide geography with an expected delay equal to that of 12 hops.
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