Lucent Technologies has unleashed a new era of communications networking by introducing the industry`s first all-optical router - capable of directing 10 times the traffic of today`s Internet in one second.
Based on Bell Labs` patent-pending technology, Lucent`s WaveStar (OpticRouter) uses a series of microscopic mirrors to instantly direct and route optical signals from fibre to fibre in the network, without first converting them to electrical form as done today. This will save service providers up to 25 percent in operational costs and enable them to direct network traffic 16 times faster than electrical switches.
"Optical wavelengths are the true building blocks of next-generation networks, and Lucent will be the first to make all-optical networks a reality," said Gerard Glanville, regional manager at Lucent Technologies Global Commercial Networks southern Africa. "In the 21st century, all-optical networks will deliver vast amounts of information literally at the speed of light, unimpeded by the bottlenecks of conventional transport systems. Lucent is the first to offer a completely optical router with virtually limitless capacity, enabling its customers to economically and incrementally expand their networks as traffic increases."
Maintaining all-optical traffic through Lucent`s OpticRouter paves the way for communications network providers to offer customers instant Internet and other high-speed data and video services. It also will help them boost revenue by selling and managing bandwidth as individual optical wavelengths.
For example, a local service provider could tap into Lucent`s WaveStar system to enable its corporate customer to initiate a HDTV-quality video conference between Silicon Valley and London at a moment`s notice. The OpticRouter would make it possible for the company to establish an instant, virtual fibre link between the two locations with a direct connection from point to point. The same task without Lucent`s all-optical link would typically require the carrier to patch together a series of digital switches, which would take several hours and considerably more network and staff resources.
From lab to market in 15 months
Lucent`s OpticRouter is based on Bell Labs` breakthrough MicroStar technology, which will help carriers reduce cost while performing transmission functions with less space and increased efficiency. Within the WaveStar router, tiny micro-mechanical mirrors are positioned so that each is illuminated by a single wavelength. The mirrors are tilted so that an individual wavelength can be passed to any of 256 input and output fibres. All 256 mirrors are fabricated on less than one square inch of silicon. This compact switching fabric provides more than 32 times greater switching density than electronic fabrics today.
The MicroStar technology was first demonstrated at last month`s Telecom `99 show in Geneva and is being brought from lab to market in 15 months.
The WaveStar OpticRouter features a modular, large-scale optical switching fabric that provides the highest speed and most efficient bandwidth management. The system will take in any voice, data or video signal, and each of the initial 256 channels will support wavelengths at SONET/SDH or OC/STM speeds up to 40 gigabits per second - 16 times faster than today`s electrical switches. By adding circuit packs, the OpticRouter will support in-service upgrades to higher capacities.
Optimised for network protection, Lucent`s system also will provide carriers with efficient restoration of service in the event of a fibre cut. Additionally, the OpticRouter will offer mesh-based optical networking for multiservice core ATM switches such as Lucent`s industry-leading GX 550 product, and packet routers such as Lucent`s NX64000 - the industry`s highest-capacity Terabit switch/router.
The first release of the WaveStar OpticRouter will be available to select customers in July 2000, and will offer more than 10 Terabits (trillion bits) per second of total switching capacity. The system will be commercially available in December 2000.
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