A control plane for wavelength routing networks

Just a few years ago, the phrase "optical Internet" meant little more than a few WDM fibers whose wavelengths were serving as a link layer to interconnect routers via add/drop multiplexors. By comparison today, multiwavelength reconfigurable optical switches are becoming readily available, enabling for the first time, the development of large-scale high speed optical networks operating at rates in excess of 10 Gbit/s. At the core of this lightpath management problem for these switched optical networks is the challenge of developing effective mechanisms to coordinate the control planes of different optical switches. In this paper, we describe how the Multi-wavelength Optical Networking (MONET) Program is meeting this challenge today. Specifically, we describe the NRL MONET control plane and, though its implementation is not yet fully completed, provide some preliminary measurements and assessment of its effectiveness as a system for lightpath management.