PROTON-a concept for highly reliable and low cost optical fiber networks

A novel concept called PROTON, (protection optical network) is introduced to cost-effectively increase the reliability of optical fiber networks. Instead of using backup lines to protect working transmission lines in traditional methods, the PROTON concept uses an additional network to protect the entire working network. With the switching capability and facilities sharing, the use of a protection network is the cost-effective choice to protect a network. The PROTON concept is also useful to protect fatal failures in optical networks such as fiber cuts, where all the fibers in the same trench may be broken at the same time and millions of phone conversations are interrupted. The author reviews existing protection methods, explains the PROTON concept, and provides analysis to quantitatively understand the improved reliability.<<ETX>>