Multiwavelength Optical LANs

During the last thirty years or so it has been widely recognised in the research community that the key transmission medium seeming capable of serving both the ever-growing demand for bandwidth and the unceasing need for new services, is optical fibre. In this context, Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is the most popular technique for introducing concurrency among multiple user transmissions into the network and, thus, exploiting the huge amount of fibre bandwidth available under the severe limitations imposed by electronics speed on the maximum network access rate.

This book extensively covers an important research area in optical networking, enabling readers to fully understand the concepts of optical LANs and learn details of architecture issues and control protocols.
Through its careful focus on the local area, the book, covers the major architectural, topological and protocol issues regarding optical Local Area Networks (LANs) today. Considering that constant advances on optical component technology make all-optical WDM LANs all the more feasible for a wide commercial deployment, the book investigates thoroughly the crucial latter topic, i.e. the Media-Access Control (MAC) protocols that should be used. Besides introducing a noteworthy part of the vast literature on such protocols and providing some helpful distinguishing key protocol characteristics, the book is also innovative in focusing on a recent significant class of promising protocols whose operation is based on network feedback information. In this way, these adaptive protocols for optical LANs achieve an overall higher performance in comparison with many other non-adaptive schemes.

Multiwavelength Optical LANs:

• Enables readers to understand the concepts of optical LANs and learn details of architecture issues and control protocols
• Focuses on the major architectural, topological and protocol issues regarding optical local area networks
• Presents the important class of adaptive protocols for optical LANs

No Optical systems/network developers, or engineers and scientists working in optical networking should be without this book. The well considered approach also makes this recommended reading for undergraduate and graduate computer science, computer, electrical and telecommunications engineering students.

Mithilfe dieses Werkes lernen Sie, die Konzepte optischer LANs zu verstehen und die Details der zugehörigen Architektur zu durchschauen.

Ausführlich besprochen werden Topologie und Protokolle optischer LANs, wobei auch die zunehmend wichtigen adaptiven Protokolle Berücksichtigung finden. Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1. Introduction.

Advantages of Optical Fibre as a Transmission Medium.

Basic Multiplexing Techniques.

Evolution of Optical Networking?Major Technological Milestones.

First Generation Optical Networks.

Second Generation Optical Networks?Main Classes.

A Closer Look at WDM Broadcast-and-Select Local Area Networks.

2. Enabling Technologies.

Introduction.

Classes of Optical Networks.

Optical Network Components.

Summary.

3. Medium Access Control Protocols.

Fixed-Assignment Protocols.

Random Access Protocols.

Pretransmission Coordination-Based Protocols.

4. Adaptive Protocols.

Adaptive TDMA Protocols.

Adaptive Random Access Protocols.

Adaptive Pretransmission Coordination Protocols.

Centralized Packet Filtering Protocols.

Index.

Georgios I. Papadimitriou is the author of Multiwavelength Optical LANs, published by Wiley.

Paraskevas A. Tsimoulas is the author of Multiwavelength Optical LANs, published by Wiley. Optical fibre is the key transmission medium capable of serving both the ever-growing demand for bandwidth and the unceasing need for new services. In this context, Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is the most popular technique for introducing concurrency among multiple user transmissions into the network exploiting the huge amount of fibre bandwidth available. Optical WDM will develop into a viable alternative for implementing high-performance Local Areas Networks (LANs). Multiwavelength Optical LANs focuses on the application of multiwavelength optical networking within the local area.

• Investigates the major architectural issues in multiwavelength optical LANs
• Discusses the main distinctive characteristics of multiwavelength optical LANs including the physical topology, the logical topology and the structure of network nodes
• Considers the constant advances on optical component technology that make WDM optical LANs all the more feasible for wide commercial deployment
• Examines the key protocol characteristics of Media-Access Control (MAC) protocols and adaptive protocols whose operation is based on network feedback information and whose overall higher performance can be compared to many other non-adaptive schemes

This valuable, up-to-date and concise reference targets students, researchers, network designers and network operators, who are interested in multiwavelength optical LANs. In addition it provides a complete and comprehensive introduction to more general aspects of optical networking, including first generation optical networks, other classes of second generation optical networks and the underlying enabling device technology.