From ROADM technology to TOADM technology: on the path towards optical restoration and fully flexible networks
21 September 2008
The maturity and market availability of key switching technologies (Planar Lightwave Circuits, Wavelength Blockers, Wavelength Selective Switches) has allowed the emergence of reconfigurable and tuneable optical nodes architectures. This paper reviews these technological building blocks, and investigates how they are driving the evolution of photonic networks towards optical restoration and full flexibility implementation.