Re-Vitalizing SONET

摘要

SONET'S troubles with carrying data traffic would just be years-old news, except the situation hasn't improved much. The difficulties still represent a major problem for carriers, especially in the metro, where data traffic of all protocols comes together for eventual transport to backbone networks. Solutions like layered networks and packet or Ethernet over SONET help with the ever-increasing data traffic, but they don't relieve the burdens on strained vital functions like network management and service provisioning — in fact, they often make matters worse. Now, two approaches are emerging that could not only streamline data hauling, but also revitalize those functions and extend the lifetimes of expensive legacy networks. One approach combines three almost-new SONET standards with GMPLS (generalized multiprotocol label switching); the other approach is via MPLS.