Summary: Performance of WDM Transport Networks 1
Ezhan Karasan
AT&T Labs­Research
100 Schulz Drive
Red Bank, NJ 07701­7033
Ender Ayanoglu
Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies
101 Crawfords Corner Road
Holmdel, NJ 07733­3030
Abstract
Wavelength division multiplexed point­to­point transport is becoming commonplace in wide area networks. With
the expectation that the next step is end­to­end networking of wavelengths (in the optical domain, without conversion
to electronics), there is a need for new design techniques, a new understanding of the performance issues, and a new
performance evaluation methodology in such networks. This paper describes approaches to that end, summarizes
research results, and points to open problems.
1 Introduction
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), also known as Optical Frequency Division Multiplexing, is the use of
multiple wavelengths to transmit different data streams. It is similar to Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM),
except in WDM, channel spacings are vastly larger than the information bandwidth of the signal. WDM is attractive
since the same fiber can be employed for multiple data streams, saving costs on fiber and installation. Since an

Source: Ayanoglu, Ender - Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Irvine

Collections: Engineering