Dynamic optical packet/burst-switched metropolitan area network

The development of key technologies for high-capacity optical transmission has made possible transmission experiments with very high data rates and a large number of wavelength channels. Based on the recent development of enabling technology, optical network functionality has made progress from simple point-to-point wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) links to automatically switched optical networks. In the future, dynamic burst-switched and packet-switched photonic networks may be expected. This paper summarizes recent research progress in the area of optical metro networks and proposes an architecture for a transparent WDM metropolitan area network that enables switching on both packet-by-packet and burst-by-burst basis, thereby having the potential to achieve high throughput efficiency. The optically transparent MAN also includes a large part of the access network infrastructure. It is scalable, flexible, easy upgradeable and able to support heterogeneous network traffic.