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Optical
networking yet to see the light of day
By
Bhavish Sood
The
demand for bandwidth is driving the growth of the optical
networking industry. But carriers are not upgrading their
backbones fast enough and prefer to wait for 3G networks
to roll out. However technologies like DWDM, VSR and FSO
present great potential for the future of optical networking
Technologies
like DWDM, VSR and FSO which contain many channels, and
therefore, much more capacity, present great potential for
the future of optical networking
The
problems that compound the optical networking industry are
the same with any hot new technology: too many standards,
too many vendors
and too much innovation. In the field of optics too, companies
have brought out too many products and technologies that
are commercially not sellable or viable. Meanwhile the demand
for bandwidth increases due to the availability of rich
media content and the increase in users getting hooked to
the Internet everyday.
With the emergence of fibre optics as a way to meet today's
bandwidth demands, it is obvious that fibre lines are not
being installed fast enough to keep pace with demand. Innovative
technologies such as free-space optics are being adopted
as a reliable and affordable way to connect to fibre infrastructure,
avoiding costly and lengthy delays as bandwidth demand continues
to outstrip access. The principal reason that drives revenues
in the optical industry is the demand for bandwidth, which
will result in demand for optical equipment including fibre,
routers and consulting services among others.
Optical networking refers to communications between computers,
telephones and other electronic devices using light. An
optic fibre is a thin glass strand designed for light transmission.
A single hair-thin fibre is theoretically capable of supporting
100 trillion bits per second. Fibres can carry signals over
longer
distances without the use of repeaters to boost fading signals.
Fibres are more secure, because taps in the line can be
detected, and lastly, fibre installation is streamlined
due to the lower weight and smaller size of the material
compared to copper cables. Hence optical networking is a
far superior technology, but how is it being accepted in
the industry?
Trends
Carriers which invested enormously
in technologies like VoIP will take a wait and watch approach,
at least until 3G networks are rolled out. But in the enterprise
space, especially
in the financial services domain, this technology could
be implemented on a large scale. In the SOHO segment emergence
of Free Space Optics could change the economics
of investing in fibre.
Here are five key trends that will decide the fate of
the optical network industry:
Protocols and backbones: There's one standard when
it comes to the world's optical transmission backbones:
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH). Since these networks
also feel the bandwidth pinch newer multiplexing technologies
like TDM (Time Division Multiplexing), DWDM (Dense Wave
Division Multiplexing) etc will come to their rescue. Emergence
of techniques like DWDM systems, which contain many more
channels, and therefore, much more bandwidth capacity will
drive the adopting factors by telcos.
Routers and Equipment Manufacturers: A lot also depends
on the strategy adopted by the companies that enable these
networks. The world of optical space is dominated by the
likes of Cerent, Siara Systems, Nortel, Cisco, and Lucent,
among others. In this high growth sector the success factor
is determined by two types of companies those like Inara
Networks (which is building products for telecom carriers
to extend their existing investments in legacy synchronous
optical networks (SONET's) by extending their bandwidth),
and secondly companies which are betting on technologies
based on the multiplexing principle Dense Wave Division
Multiplexing (DWDM) or Time Division Multiplexing (TDM).
Metro optical space: Unlike the last mile issue with
access technologies like broadband in the optical space,
the issue is more of how the distribution takes place. In
the case of optical networks it's not the ownership of the
last mile that matters but how the signal will be delivered.
The MAN (metropolitan area network) typically is a collection
of fibre optic rings that surround a city. Once inside a
city or territory optical signals are converted into a stream
of electrons that are routed to customers through a series
of switches, cables, wires and boxes. In this arena carriers
deploying technologies like optical DWDM could have a bright
future. Industry research predicts that the growth of the
DWDM market will leap from $800 million in 2000 to $7.1
billion in four years. This is a potentially lucrative opportunity
since it calls for deployment of optical networks at the
edge of carrier backbones.
Emergence of VSR Technology: Very Short Range Technology
or better known as VSR promises to perform the same high-speed
deployment of 10 Gbps links to the Internet while lowering
overall connectivity costs. The only possible advantage
with this technology is that it's a total sell as long as
the cost reduction model works, otherwise it has no distinct
technological advantage.
Free space optics: Free Space Optics (FSO), an emerging
technology that transports data from point-to-point and
multipoint via laser technology, will grow from its current
nascent state to a strong niche player in the next five
years, says a new study by The Strategis Group. Unlike the
radio wave carriers, which require spectrum licenses, FSO
connects urban surroundings at a cheap cost over the air
without cable. The availability of free space optics to
provide a large data pipe is also attractive to LMDS, MMDS
and 3G system owners who need to connect their base stations
with one another or with the public telecommunications system.
The Road Ahead
Over the last few years or so, fibre optic lines have taken
over and transformed the telecom industry especially the
local telecom carrier (our local phone operator). Optical
fibres play an important role in making the Internet available
around the world. When fibre replaces copper for long-distance
calls and Internet traffic, it dramatically lowers costs.
But the crucial issue remains whether telcos have the requisite
money to make those expensive migrations. As always technology
developments and market forces have a played a big hand
in the growth and maturity of this segment, but the carrier
will not invest in the upgradation until the arrival of
3G Networks, largely due to increased competition and lower
demand. Since network operators and carriers spent billions
building 2.5 Gbps networks and then investing
further to upgrade those networks to 10 Gbps, it may be
assumed that they would rush out and buy 40 Gbps equipment
as well.
But today they have tightened their purse strings due to
less capital availability. Scalable technologies like
optical DWDM, and not variants of legacy equipment, might
be the
only ones that see the light of the day (or put the laser
light at the end of the glass).
The author is with Plexus Technologies.
Write to him at bhavishsood@netscape.net
