Major changes are in store for next-generation optical networks.
This time out, I'll look at some enabling technologies that may get us there. This is where the barrier to liquid bandwidth is greatest, due to the disconnect between intelligent edge and dumb core devices, which speak different languages. What's needed is a common tongue that bridges both dialects to create and manage unified services. Instead, a packet's layer-3 header is only read as it enters and exits the MPLS switching domain. This allows for much less packet-reading and forwarding, while supporting path protection, grouping traffic by CoS, and traffic engineering.