Historical overview of

optical networks
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical fiber provides several advantages

Unprecedented bandwidth potential far in excess of any
other known transmission medium
A single strand of fiber offers a total bandwidth of
25 !H" #$% total radio bandwidth on &arth #25 !H"
Apart from enormous bandwidth' optical fiber provides
additional advantages (e)g)' low attenuation*

Optical networks aim at exploiting uni+ue

properties of fiber in an efficient , cost-
effective manner
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical networks
(a* .oint-to-point link
/ 0nitially' optical fiber used for point-to-point transmission
systems between pair of transmitting and receiving nodes
/ 1ransmitting node2 converts electrical data into optical
signal (&O conversion* , sends it on optical fiber
/ 3eceiving node2 converts optical signal back into electrical
domain (O& conversion* for electronic processing , storage
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical networks
(b* 4tar network
/ 5ultiple point-to-point links are combined by a star coupler
to build optical single-hop star networks
/ 4tar coupler is an optical broadcast device that forwards an
optical signal arriving at any input port to all output ports
/ 4imilar to point-to-point links' transmitters perform &O
conversion and receivers perform O& conversion
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical networks
(c* 3ing network
/ 0nterconnecting each pair of ad6acent nodes with point-to-
point fiber links leads to optical ring networks
/ &ach ring node performs O& and &O conversion for incoming
, outgoing signals' respectively
/ 7ombined O& , &O conversion is called O&O conversion
/ 3eal-world example2 fiber distributed data interface (8990*
Historical overview of optical networks

4O:&1;49H
4ynchronous optical network (4O:&1* , its closely
related synchronous digital hierarchy (49H* standard is
one of the most important standards for optical point-to-
point links
<rief 4O:&1 history
/ 4tandardi"ation began during =>?5
/ 8irst standard completed in @une =>??
/ 4tandardi"ation goals were to specify optical point-to-point
transmission signal interfaces that allow
interconnection of fiber optics transmission systems of
different carriers , manufacturers
easy access to tributary signals
direct optical interfaces on terminals
to provide new network features
Historical overview of optical networks

4O:&1;49H
4O:&1 defines
/ standard optical signals
/ synchronous frame structure for time division multiplexed
(195* digital traffic
/ network operation procedures
4O:&1 based on digital 195 signal hierarchy with
periodically recurring time frame of =25 As
4O:&1 frame structure carries payload traffic of
various rates , several overhead bytes to perform
network operations (e)g)' error monitoring' network
maintenance' and channel provisioning*
Historical overview of optical networks

4O:&1;49H
!lobally deployed by large number of ma6or network
operators
1ypically' 4O:&1 point-to-point links used to build
optical ring networks with O&O conversion at each node
4O:&1 rings deploy two types of O&O nodes
/ Add-drop multiplexer (A95*
Usually connects to several 4O:&1 end devices
Aggregates or splits 4O:&1 traffic at various speeds
/ 9igital cross-connect system (974*
Adds and drops individual 4O:&1 channels at any
location
Able to interconnect a larger number of links than A95
Often used to interconnect 4O:&1 rings
Historical overview of optical networks

5ultiplexing
3ationale
/ Huge bandwidth of optical fiber unlikely to be used by
single client or application $% bandwidth sharing among
multiple traffic sources by means of multiplexing
1hree ma6or multiplexing approaches in optical networks
/ 1ime division multiplexing (195*
/ 4pace division multiplexing (495*
/ Bavelength division multiplexing (B95*
Historical overview of optical networks

5ultiplexing
1ime division multiplexing (195*
/ 4O:&1;49H is an important example of optical 195
networks
/ 195 is well understood techni+ue used in many electronic
network architectures throughout 5-year history of
digital communications
/ 0n high-speed optical networks' however' 195 is limited by
the fastest electronic transmitting' receiving' and
processing technology available in O&O nodes' leading to so-
called electro-optical bottleneck
/ 9ue to electro-optical bottleneck' optical 195 networks
face severe problems to fully exploit enormous bandwidth
of optical fibers
Historical overview of optical networks

5ultiplexing
4pace division multiplexing (495*
/ 495 is straightforward solution to electro-optical
bottleneck
/ 0n 495' single fiber is replaced with multiple fibers used in
parallel' each operating at any arbitrary line rate (e)g)'
electronic peak rate of O&O transceiver*
/ 495 well suited for short-distance transmissions
/ 495 becomes less practical and more costly for increasing
distances since multiple fibers need to be installed and
operated
Historical overview of optical networks

5ultiplexing
Bavelength division multiplexing (B95*
/ B95 can be thought of as optical 895 where traffic from
each client is sent on different wavelength
/ 5ultiplexer combines wavelengths onto common outgoing
fiber link
/ 9emultiplexer separates wavelengths and forwards each
wavelength to separate receiver
Historical overview of optical networks

5ultiplexing
B95 appears to be the most promising approach to tap
into vast amount of fiber bandwidth while avoiding
shortcomings of 195 and 495
/ &ach B95 wavelength may operate at arbitrary line rate
well below aggregate 195 line rate
/ B95 takes full advantage of bandwidth potential without
re+uiring multiple 495 fibers $% cost savings
Optical B95 networks widely deployed , studied by
network operators' manufacturers' and research groups
worldwide
&xisting , emerging high-performance optical networks
are likely to deploy all three multiplexing techni+ues'
capitali"ing on the respective strengths of 195' 495'
and B95
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical 195 networks

.rogress on very short optical pulse technology enables
optical 195 (O195* networks at = !b;s and above
High-speed O195 networks have to pay particular
attention to transmission properties of optical fiber
0n particular' dispersion significantly limits achievable
bandwidth-distance product of O195 networks due to
intersymbol interference (040*
/ Bith 040' optical power of ad6acent bits interfere' leading
to changed optical power levels , transmission errors
/ 040 is exacerbated for increasing data rates and fiber
lengths $% decreased bandwidth-distance product
O195 networks well suited for short-range applications
Cong-distance O195 networks can be reali"ed by using
soliton propagation' where dispersion effects are
cancelled out by nonlinear effects of optical fiber
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical 195 networks

Optical 195 networks have two ma6or disadvantages
/ 4ynchroni"ation is re+uired' which becomes more challenging
for increasing data rates of %= !b;s
/ Cack of transparency since O195 network clients have to
match their traffic and protocols to underlying 195 frame
structure
Using optical switching components with electronic control
paves way to transparent O195 networks
However' transparent O195 networks are still in their
infancy
Optical B95 networks are widely viewed as more mature
solution to reali"e transparent optical networks
/ B95 networks do not re+uire synchroni"ation
/ &ach wavelength may be operated separately' providing
transparency against data rate' modulation , protocol
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical B95 networks

Optical B95 networks are networks that deploy B95
fiber links with or without O&O conversion at
intermediate nodes
Optical B95 networks can be categori"ed into
/ (a* Opa+ue B95 networks $% O&O conversion
/ (b* 1ransparent B95 networks $% optical bypassing
/ (a*D(b* 1ranslucent B95 networks
Historical overview of optical networks

All-optical networks (AO:s*

AO:s provide purely optical end-to-end paths between
source and destination nodes by means of optically
bypassing intermediate nodes $% optical transparency
AO:s are widely applicable and can be found at all
network hierarchy levels
1ypically' AO:s are optical circuit-switched (O74*
networks
/ Optical circuits usually switched at wavelength granularity
$% wavelength-routing networks
AO:s deploy all-optical (OOO* node structures which
allow optical signals to stay partly in the optical domain
Unlike O&O nodes' OOO nodes do not perform O&O
conversion of all wavelength channels $% in-transit traffic
makes us of optical bypassing
Historical overview of optical networks

AO:s vs) 4O:&1;49H networks

4everal similarities and analogies between AO:s and
4O:&1;49H networks
/ <oth networks are circuit-switched systems
/ 195 slot multiplexing' processing' and switching in
4O:&1;49H networks #$% B95 wavelength channel
multiplexing' processing' and switching in AO:s
/ Add-drop multiplexer (A95* , digital cross-connect system
(974* in 4O:&1;49H networks #$% All-optical replica of
A95 , 974 in AO:s
Optical add-drop multiplexer (OA95*;wavelength add-
drop multiplexer (BA95*
Optical cross-connect (OE7*;wavelength-selective
cross-connect (B4E7*
Historical overview of optical networks

OA95
0ncoming B95 comb signal optically amplified (e)g)' &98A* ,
demultiplexed (9&5UE* into separate wavelengths
Bavelengths
bypass
remain in optical domain
1raffic on wavelengths
drop
locally dropped
Cocal traffic inserted on freed wavelengths
add
Bavelengths multiplexed (5UE* , amplified on outgoing fiber
Historical overview of optical networks

OE7
: x : x 5 component with : input fibers' : output fibers'
and 5 wavelength channels on each fiber
&ach input fiber deploys 9&5UE , optical amplifier (optional*
&ach wavelength layer uses separate space division switch
&ach output fiber deploys 9&5UE to collect light from all
wavelength layers (plus optional optical amplifier*
Historical overview of optical networks

Optical transport network (O1:*

An AO: deploying OA95s and OE7s is referred to as
optical transport network (O1:*
<enefits of O1:
/ 4ubstantial cost savings due to optical bypass capability of
OA95s , OE7s
/ 0mproved network flexibility and survivability by using
reconfigurable OA95s (3OA95s* and reconfigurable OE7s
(3OE7s*
Historical overview of optical networks

AO:s2 9esign !oals , 7onstraints

1wo ma6or design goals of AO:s
/ 4calability
/ 5odularity
1ransparency enables cost-effective support of large
number of applications' e)g)'
/ Foice' video' and data
/ Uncompressed H91F
/ 5edical imaging
/ 0nterconnection of supercomputers
.hysical transmission impairments pose limitations on
number of network nodes' used wavelengths' and
distances $% Carge AO:s must be partitioned into several
subnetworks called islands of transparency
Historical overview of optical networks

AO:s2 9esign !oals , 7onstraints

AO:s offer two types of optical paths
/ Cightpath2 optical point-to-point path
/ Cight-tree2 optical point-to-multipoint path
Cightpath and light-tree may
/ be optically amplified
/ keep assigned wavelength unchanged $% wavelength
continuity constraint
/ have assigned wavelength altered along path $% wavelength
conversion
OE7s e+uipped with wavelength converters are called
wavelength-interchanging cross-connects (B0E7s*
B0E7s improve flexibility of AO:s and help decrease
blocking probability in AO:s since wavelength continuity
constraint can be omitted
Historical overview of optical networks

Bavelength conversion
1ype 9efinition
8ixed conversion 4tatic mapping between input wave-
length
i
and output wavelength
6
Cimited-range conversion 0nput wavelength
i
can be mapped to a
subset of available output wavelengths
8ull-range conversion 0nput wavelength
i
can be mapped to
all available output wavelengths
4parse conversion Bavelength conversion is supported
only by a subset of network nodes
Historical overview of optical networks

Bavelength conversion
Bavelength converters may be reali"ed
/ by O& converting optical signal arriving on wavelength
i
and
retransmitting it on wavelength
6
(implying O&O conversion*
/ by exploiting fiber nonlinearities (avoiding O&O conversion*
<enefits of wavelength converters
/ Help resolve wavelength conflicts on output links $% reduced
blocking probability
/ 0ncrease spatial wavelength reuse $% improved bandwidth
efficiency
At the downside' wavelength converters are rather
expensive $% solutions to cut costs
/ 4parse wavelength conversion
/ 7onverter sharing inside B0E7
7onverter share-per-node approach
7onverter share-per-link approach
Historical overview of optical networks

3econfigurability
<eneficial property of dynamically rerouting and load
balancing of traffic in response to traffic load changes
and;or network failures in order improve network
flexibility , performance
3econfigurable AO:s may be reali"ed by using
/ 1unable wavelength converters (1B7s*
/ 1unable transmitters , receivers
/ 5ultiwavelength transmitters , receivers
/ 3econfigurable OE7s (3OE7s*
/ 3econfigurable OA95s (3OA95s*
Historical overview of optical networks

3OA95
7onventional OA95 becomes reconfigurable by using optical 2 x 2
cross-bar switches on in-transit paths between 9&5UE and 5UE
7ross-bar switches are electronically controlled independently
from each other to locally drop;add (cross state* or forward (bar
state* traffic on separate wavelengths
Historical overview of optical networks

7ontrol , 5anagement
3econfigurable AO:s allow to reali"e powerful
telecommunications network infrastructures' but also
give rise to some problems
/ 8ind optimal configuration for given traffic scenario
/ .rovide best reconfiguration policies in presence of traffic
load changes' network failures' and network upgrades
/ !uarantee proper and efficient operation
1o solve these problems' control , management of
reconfigurable AO:s is key to make them commercially
viable
Historical overview of optical networks

7ontrol
Adding control functions to AO:s allows to
/ set up
/ modify and
/ tear down
optical circuits such as lightpaths and light-trees by
(re*configuring tunable transceivers' tunable wavelength
converters' 3OE7s' and 3OA95s along the path
AO:s typically use a separate wavelength channel called
optical supervisory channel (O47* to distribute control ,
management information among all network nodes
Historical overview of optical networks

O47
Unlike optically bypassing data wavelength channels' O47
is O&O converted at each network node (e)g)' electronic
controller of 3OA95*
O47 enables both distributed and centrali"ed control of
tunable;reconfigurable network elements
/ 9istributed control
Any node is able to send control information to network
elements and thus remotely control their state
/ 7entrali"ed control
A single entity is authori"ed to control the state of
network elements
7entral control entity traditionally part of network
management system (:54*
Historical overview of optical networks

:54
:54 ac+uires and maintains global view of current
network status by
/ issuing re+uests to network elements and
/ processing responses and update notifications sent by
network elements
&ach network element determines and continuously
updates link connectivity , link characteristics to its
ad6acent nodes' stores this information in its ad6acency
table' and sends its content to :54
:54 uses this information of all nodes in order to
/ construct , update view of current topology' node
configuration' and link status of entire network
/ set up' modify' and tear down optical end-to-end
connections
1elecommunications 5anagement :etwork (15:*
framework plays ma6or role in reconfigurable AO:s
Historical overview of optical networks

15:
@ointly standardi"ed by 01U-1 and 04O
0ncorporates wide range of standards that cover
management issues of the so-called 87A.4 model
/ 8ault management
/ 7onfiguration management
/ Accounting management
/ .erformance management
/ 4ecurity management
Historical overview of optical networks

87A.4 model
8ault management
/ 5onitoring , detecting fault conditions
/ 7orrelating internal , external failure symptoms
/ 3eporting alarms to :54
/ 7onfiguring restoration mechanisms
7onfiguration management
/ .rovides connection set-up and tear-down capabilities
/ .aradigms for connection set-up and release
5anagement provisioning (initiated by network
administrator via :54 interface*
&nd-user signaling (initiated by end user via signaling
interface without intervention by :54*
Historical overview of optical networks

87A.4 model
Accounting management
/ Also known as billing management
/ .rovides mechanisms to record resource usage , charge
accounts for it
.erformance management
/ 5onitoring , maintaining +uality of established optical
circuits
4ecurity management
/ 7omprises set of functions that protect network from
unauthori"ed access (e)g)' cryptography*