Optical Networking
Data Connect Enterprise
offers Optical Networking Products
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Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunications networks based on optical technologies and components that provide routing, grooming, and restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services.
As networks face increasing bandwidth demand and diminishing fiber availability, network providers are moving towards a crucial milestone in network evolution: the optical network. Optical networks, based on the emergence of the optical layer in transport networks, provide higher capacity and reduced costs for new applications such as the Internet, video and multimedia interaction, and advanced digital services.
The first element to be integrated into the optical network is the optical multiplexer. The multiplexer combines multiple wavelengths onto a single fiber, which allows all the signals to be routed along the same fiber. The initial application for multiplexers has been to increase capacity on existing fiber routes without adding more fiber, but they will serve as entry points to the optical layer in many more aspects, including add/drop multiplexers and optical cross-connects.
The ability to switch individual wavelengths is crucial to maximizing the capacity and efficiency of optical networks. A wavelength switch provides functionality similar to an electrical switch by routing an incoming wavelength to a variety of physical output ports.
The final element in optical networks is the wavelength converter, which converts an incoming signal's wavelength to a different outgoing wavelength, entirely in the optical domain. This will allow the network traffic to be groomed to optimize for traffic patterns or network architecture.
Future
Continued advancements in optical technology promise continued change as the optical network evolves to the ultimate goal of end-to-end wavelength services.
The impact of the new optical layer in the telecommunications network is astounding. It can be measured in two ways?economic impact and carriers' ability to offer new services. Optical-layer technology will increase network capacity, allowing network providers to transport more than 40 times the traffic on the same fiber infrastructure. That will ultimately lead to lower prices, and competition in the local exchange (as a result of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996) will ensure that bandwidth becomes more affordable.
Consumers will have access to new high-bandwidth services made possible by the increased capacity afforded by the optical layer. Services such as videoconferencing to the desktop (or home), and high-speed video imaging, will become commonplace because they will be technologically and economically feasible.
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