ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the evolution of high-capacity wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks or multiwavelength optical networks from point-to-point configurations to more advanced flexible and survivable network architectures. It discusses architectures that enable a flexible and survivable WDM optical layer for a data-centric network. In particular, it proposes three architectures: WDM optical cross-connect mesh (W-Mesh), WDM unidirectional path switched ring (W-UPSR) and WDM bidirectional line switched ring (W-BLSR). These architectures provide a cost-effective evolution to a high capacity data-centric environment.
