In our last blog, we discussed the options that carriers are considering to enhance the flexibility and reliability of their optical infrastructures. These architectural improvements are based on the foundation laid by ROADMs, and are designed to extend existing ROADM benefits of maximizing network resources while reducing operating and capital costs, to new levels.
Again, the definitions of the three options for optical architectures are:
- Colorless - any color wavelength on a single fiber can connect to any add/drop transponder associated with that fiber.
- Partial Colorless/Directionless - a compromise architecture with some level of blocking such that not all waves on all fibers can connect to all transponders.
- Colorless/Directionless/Non-Blocking - extends the concept to any color wavelength on any fiber from any direction - all can be connected to any add/drop transponder.
A quick comparison of the features of these architectures is illustrated in the table below.
By choosing a Colorless/Directionless/Non-Blocking architecture, carriers will increase network flexibility and agility - allowing them to offer new services while increasing network reliability, efficiency, and utilization. Additionally, this architecture will significantly reduce operational costs - adding the ability to perform "low touch" maintenance (see our blogs of February 15 and 16 for more information) and layer one automatic protection switching as well.
However, this architecture is only realizable using an optical switch component (like those from Polatis) that includes key capabilities - such as low loss and low power consumption - that allow it to integrate easily and without impact to the existing infrastructure. In our next blog, we'll detail how Polatis can help make Colorless/Directionless/Non-Blocking architures a reality - today.
