Technology of Intelligent Optical Network and Its Development

The concept and main characteristics of the intelligent optical network are investigated.As WDM technology continues to mature,there exists a large gap between the capacity of a WDM channel and the bandwidth requirement of a typical connection request.If the entire bandwidth of a wavelength channel is allocated to a low-speed connection,a large portion of the transmission capacity could be wasted.An intelligent network is a service-independent telecommunications network.That is,intelligence is placed in computer nodes that are distributed throughout the network.This provides the network operator with the means to develop and control services more efficiently.New capabilities can be rapidly introduced into the network.Once they are introduced,services are easily customized to meet individual needs.Progress made by leading standardization groups and organizations for developing optical networks in are analyzed.It is concluded that the intelligentization will be one of the development trends of optical networks and therefore represents the future of optical networks.