Over
the years, advancement in technologies has improved transmission limitations,
the number of wavelengths we can send down a piece of fiber, performance, amplification
techniques, and protection and redundancy of the network. When people have described
and spoken at length about optical networks, they have typically limited the discussion
of optical network technology to providing physical-layer connectivity. When
actual network services are discussed, optical transport is augmented through
the addition of several protocol layers, each with its own sets of unique requirements,
to make up a service-enabling network. Until recently, transport was provided
through specific companies that concentrated on the core of the network and provided
only point-to- point transport services. A
strong shift in revenue opportunities from a service provider and vendor perspective,
changing traffic patterns from the enterprise customer, and capabilities to drive
optical fiber into metropolitan (metro) areas has opened up the next emerging
frontier of networking.
Providers are now considering emerging lucrative opportunities
in the metro space. Whereas traditional or incumbent vendors have been installing
optical equipment in the space for some time, little attention has been paid to
the opportunity available through the introduction of new technology advancements
and the economic implications these technologies will have.Specifically,
the new technologies in the metro space provide better and more profitable economics,
scale, and new services and business models. The current metro infrastructure
comprises this equipment, which emphasizes voice traffic; is limited in scalability;
and was not designed to take advantage of new technologies, topologies, and changing
traffic conditions. Next-generation
equipment such as next-generation Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), metro core
dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), metro-edge DWDM, and advancements
in the optical core have taken advantage of these limitations, and they are scalable
and data optimized; they include integrated DWDM functionality and new amplification
techniques; and they have made improvements in the operational and provisioning
cycles.
