Elastic Optical Path Network Architecture: Framework for Spectrally-Efficient and Scalable Future Optical Networks

This paper presents an elastic optical path network architecture as a novel networking framework to address the looming capacity crunch problem in internet protocol (IP) and optical networks. The basic idea is to introduce elasticity and adaptation into the optical domain to yield spectrally-efficient optical path accommodation, heightened network scalability through IP traffic offloading to the elastic optical layer, and enhanced survivability for serious disasters. key words: optical network, WDM, IP network, elastic optical path, spectrum efficiency