Network control and management of a reconfigurable WDM network

Abstract

This paper describes a set of software and experiments to demonstrate network control and management capabilities for a reconfigurable wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) all-optical network. This work is an early prototype implemented in the first year of the DARPA Multiwavelength Optical Networking (MONET) Project. The primary goal of the prototype experiment work was to demonstrate and assess the viability of implementing a WDM network's control and management (NC&M) system over a Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) compliant reliable distributed platform. Another goal was to demonstrate the viability of using an embedded optical wavelength to support the NC&M system's data communication channels. This early prototype allows us to gain experience and to lay the foundation for our on-going work to develop the full-featured NC&M system in the MONET project's testbed and field trial experiments. This is an important step towards realizing the overall vision of the MONET project in the development of a flexible, reliable, high-capacity, high-performance cost-effective national optical network based on multi-wavelength fiber-optic technology.