WDM for transmission and routing in wide-scale networks: the Optical Pan-European Network approach (ACTS Project OPEN)

摘要

This paper presents the ACTS project OPEN. This project addresses the concept of a pan-European network featuring high-throughput transparent transport service across a mesh of a few thousand kilometers in diameter of existing fiber infrastructure. The implementation of this network is based on the extensive use of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) techniques, providing the possibility of all-optical transport without any electrical regeneration. The goal of the project is the assessment of this concept by means of network analysis, laboratory demonstrations, and field trials. This paper discusses the use of WDM in such a network, following the actual framework of the project, which is subdivided into four inter-related workpackages. This partioning addresses the network aspects of the OPEN concept, the fabrication and packaging of functional modules for WDM transmission and routing, the system validation and the study of the network upgrade to a higher capacity through laboratory experiments, and the implementation of two cross-border field trials demonstrating transparent transport with real traffic.