IP over Optical Standards

IP over Optical Standards

An important part of the optical networking discussion is standards regarding IP over optical. Three standards efforts are working on optical management specifications, addressing the linking of IP services directly to the optical networks that carry data, allowing these networks to take advantage of the routing intelligence now embedded in IP headers:

         MPlS The IETF's Multiprotocol Lambda Switching (MPlS) initiative, supported by Uunet and Cisco Systems, describes an approach to the design of control planes that take advantage of the existing techniques developed for MPLS traffic engineering. The goal is to provide a framework for real-time provisioning of optical channels in automatically switched optical networks, as well as to promote and speed the deployment of a new generation of optical cross-connects. Of course, network management and interoperability in an internetworked environment are also addressed. MPlS uses labels with packet-forwarding information that are attached to IP packets by a label-switching router that sits at the edge of the optical network. This approach also paves the way for the eventual incorporation of DWDM multiplexing capabilities in IP routers.

         OIF The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) represents more than 200 companies and was founded by AT&T, Bellcore (now Telcordia), Ciena, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, US West (now Qwest), Sprint, and Worldcom. The OIF's mission is to foster the development and deployment of interoperable products and services for data switching and routing using optical networking technologies. It is focused on addressing optical internetworking issues.

Of course, given these separate efforts, there is a concern that the existence of several standards could lead to the development of several technologies in this area.

 



Telecommunications Essentials
Telecommunications Essentials: The Complete Global Source for Communications Fundamentals, Data Networking and the Internet, and Next-Generation Networks
ISBN: 0201760320
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 84

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net