Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. The Challenges of Today's Telecommunications Network

2. Resolving the Capacity Crisis

3. Capacity Expansion and Flexibility: DWDM

4. Capacity Expansion Potential

5. DWDM Incremental Growth

6. The Optical Layer as the Unifying Layer

7. Key DWDM System Characteristics

8. Conclusion

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

Optical networking provides the backbone to support existing and emerging technologies with almost limitless amounts of bandwidth capacity. All-optical networking (not just point-to-point transport) enabled by optical cross-connects, optical programmable add/drop multiplexers, and optical switches provides a unified infrastructure capable of meeting the telecommunications demands of today and tomorrow. Transparently moving trillions of bits of information efficiently and cost-effectively will enable service providers to maximize their embedded infrastructure and position themselves for the capacity demand of the next millennium.