This paper describes the recently developed 816 delivery and coupling switch (DC-switch) boards for constructing a 320-Gb/s throughput (2. 5 Gb/s 8 multiplexed wavelengths 16 incoming/outgoing link pairs) optical path cross-connect (OPXC) system based on wavelength path (WP) and virtual wavelength path (VWP) schemes. The DC-switch-based OPXC system, compared with conventional space division switch (SD-switch)-based OPXC system architecture, is shown to be superior in terms of; i) high link modularity, ii) upgradability from WP network to VWP network, iii) better transmission characteristics, and iv) lower total switching power consumption. Therefore, the DC-switch-based OPXC system can realize cost-effective optical path networks. The developed DC-switches exploit the silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technologies, and DC-switch board size is 300330 mm2 (one switch). The worst values of the insertion loss of the board, ON/OFF ratio, and polarization dependent loss are 14. 5 dB, 34 dB and 0. 5 dB, respectively. Moreover, even though switching is realized by thermo-optic effects, the optical output level varies by only 0. 7 dB and 0. 8 dB for ON- and OFF-state signals, respectively, when the environmental temperature is varied from 5 to 65 .

A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical path-based Internet protocol (IP) backbone network is proposed as a cost-effective way of realizing robust IP-over-photonic systems. The WDM optical path is based on WDM transmission and wavelength routing. Between end-to-end IP backbone routers, the WDM optical path, a fat and robust optical pipe, is defined across photonic transport systems (PTS's). Tera-bit class PTS's will be required for the future IP backbone network and this level of performance is achievable. Optical layer routing is done at intermediate nodes, so the electrical packet-by-packet routing required by existing systems is eliminated. An optical signal format that permits cost-effective IP packet transmission is presented. WDM optical paths directly accommodate the IP packets via layer-2 frames. The cost-effectiveness of the proposed system, especially for heavy traffic, is demonstrated from the viewpoint of the overall network traffic transport capability and network node cost. The proposed system is as robust as existing systems; e. g. fault/degradation localization mechanism and optical layer network protection one are implemented. Thus the proposed IP-over-photonic system will create cost-effective and robust IP backbone networks.

Creating a bandwidth abundant B-ISDN requires the further development of path technologies. Optical path cross-connect nodes (OXCs) will be required that offer very high levels of expandability. The present limited traffic demands must be efficiently supported while permitting easy step-wise expansion in capacity. This paper proposes two OXC architectures that offer high modularity with regard to incoming/outgoing links or the number of multiplexed wavelengths in each link. This paper briefly reviews, for optical path realization, the wavelength path (WP) and the virtual wavelength path (VWP) techniques. The proposed OXC architectures provide flexibility and minimum investment to encourage introduction but support incremental network growth and investment to match traffic demand. The architectures make it easy to upgrade a WP network to a VWP network, simply by replacing some optical components. It is also shown that the proposed OXC architectures ensure effective optical signal detection after a long-haul optical fiber transmission because they minimizes signal power losses within the OXC. Therefore, the proposed OXC architecture can be applied to global area networks. The proposed OXC architectures will play a key role in realizing the optical path infrastructure for the future bandwidth abundant B-ISDN.

This paper addresses the issue of implementing a sequence for restoring fiber links and communication paths that have failed due to a catastrophe. We present a mathematical formulation to minimize the total number of steps needed to restore communication paths. We also propose two heuristic algorithms: Minimum spanning tree - based degree order restoration and Congestion link order restoration. Numerical evaluations show that integer linear programming based order restoration yields the fewest number of restoration steps, and that the proposed heuristic algorithms, when used properly with regard to the accommodation rate, are highly effective for real-world networks.

A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical path-based Internet protocol (IP) backbone network is proposed as a cost-effective way of realizing robust IP-over-photonic systems. The WDM optical path is based on WDM transmission and wavelength routing. Between end-to-end IP backbone routers, the WDM optical path, a fat and robust optical pipe, is defined across photonic transport systems (PTS's). Tera-bit class PTS's will be required for the future IP backbone network and this level of performance is achievable. Optical layer routing is done at intermediate nodes, so the electrical packet-by-packet routing required by existing systems is eliminated. An optical signal format that permits cost-effective IP packet transmission is presented. WDM optical paths directly accommodate the IP packets via layer-2 frames. The cost-effectiveness of the proposed system, especially for heavy traffic, is demonstrated from the viewpoint of the overall network traffic transport capability and network node cost. The proposed system is as robust as existing systems; e. g. fault/degradation localization mechanism and optical layer network protection one are implemented. Thus the proposed IP-over-photonic system will create cost-effective and robust IP backbone networks.

Recent technical advances in WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technologies suggest that their practical application is imminent. By adopting WDM technologies in the transport network, a bandwidth abundant B-ISDN could be realized cost-effectively. This requires the introduction of WDM technologies, especially into the path layer. This paper explores optical path cross-connect (OPXC) nodes that offer very high levels of expandability because existing traffic demands, which are rather limited, must be efficiently supported while permitting easy step-wise expansion in capacity. This paper highlights modularity with regard to incoming/outgoing links. The OPXC architecture that offers the highest modularity is elaborated, and its transmission characteristics, optical loss and switching power consumption are evaluated. This paper also examines OPXC architecture considering the interface needed to connect electrical path cross-connects. The proposed OPXC architectures provide flexibility and minimum investment to encourage the early introduction of B-ISDN and also supports incremental network growth to match traffic demand. The design of OPXC parameters in terms of transmission performance is shown to ensure the applicability of the proposed OPXC architecture to long-haul optical fiber transmission networks. This is made possible with the low optical component losses offered by the OPXC. The proposed OPXC architectures will, therefore, be applied not only to regional networks, but also to global area networks. Thus they will play a key role in realizing the optical path infrastructure for the future bandwidth abundant B-ISDN.

A new optical path cross-connect system architecture (OPXC) based on delivery and coupling matrix switches is described. This OPXC provides the maximum compatibility for a wavelength path (WP) network and a virtual wavelength path (VWP) network. In other words, the proposed architecture easily evolves from WP-OPXC to VWP-OPXC. This salient feature can not been achieved with conventional OPXCs. Another attractive feature of this OPXC is its high modularity for OPXC capacity expansion.

The popularity of cloud computing services is driving the boom in building mega-datacenters. This trend is forcing significant increases in the required scale of the intra-datacenter network. To meet this requirement, this paper proposes a photonic network architecture based on a multi-layer hypercube topology. The proposed architecture uses the Cyclic-Frequency Arrayed Waveguide Grating (CF-AWG) device to realize a multi-layer hypercube and properly combines several multiplexing systems that include Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), Wave-Band Division Multiplexing (WBDM) and Space Division Multiplexing (SDM). An estimation of the achievable network scale reveals that the proposed architecture can achieve a Peta-bit to Exa-bit class, large scale hypercube network with existing technologies.

We propose a new extension to reconfiguration algorithms used to address wavelength defragmentation to enhance the path accommodation efficiency in optical transparent wavelength division multiplexing networks. The proposed algorithm suppresses the number of fibers employed to search for a reconfigurable wavelength channel by combining routes between the target path and the existing path in a reconfigured wavelength channel. This paper targets three main phases in reconfiguration: i) the reconfiguration trigger; ii) redesign of the wavelength path; and iii) migrating the wavelength paths. The proposed and conventional algorithms are analyzed from the viewpoints of the number of fibers, accommodation rate and the number of migrating sequences. Numerical evaluations show that the number of fibers is suppressed by 9%, and that the accommodation efficiency is increased by approximately 5%-8% compared to when reconfiguration is not performed.

Multi-layer transport networks that utilize sub-lambda paths over a wavelength path have been shown to be effective in accommodating traffic with various levels of granularity. For different service requirements, a virtualized network was proposed where the infrastructure is virtually sliced to accommodate different levels of reliability. On the other hand, network reconfiguration is a promising candidate for quasi-dynamic and multi-granular traffic. Reconfiguration, however, incurs some risks such as service disruption and fluctuations in delay. There has not yet been any study on accommodating and reconfiguring paths according to different service classes in multi-layer transport networks. In this paper, we propose differentiated reconfiguration to address the trade-off relationship between accommodation efficiency and disruption risk in virtualized multi-layer transport networks that considers service classes defined as a combination of including or excluding a secondary path and allowing or not allowing reconfiguration. To implement the proposed network, we propose a multi-layer redundant path accommodation design and reconfiguration algorithm. A reliability evaluation algorithm is also introduced. Numerical evaluations show that when all classes are divided equally, equipment cost can be reduced approximately by 6%. The proposed reconfigurable networks are shown to be a cost effective solution that maintains reliability.