ABSTRACT
Extraordinary demand for high-speed, high-performance networks with vast transmission capacities and potentially unlimited bandwidth contributes to the popularity of SONET/SDH (Synchronous Optical Network and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) solutions. SONET/SDH are network transport technologies that use synchronous operations for facilitating real-time voice, video, and data transmission via fiber optic cabling at rates ranging from 51.84 Mbps (OC-1 or Optical Carrier-Level 1) to 13.21 Gbps (OC-255). The need for potentially unlimited bandwidth also fosters development and deployment of next-generation WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and DWDM (Dense WDM) optical network implementations in order to support bandwidth-intensive voice, video, and data transmissions at multigigabit and multiterabit rates.
