Application Lambda Switching

Currently all-optical Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) communication networks [1] are able to transport packet data end-to-end without the need to convert the transport wavelength(s) to an electrical signal. These networks today operate similar to their electrically-based network counterparts. That is, while all-optical DWDM networks have distinct advantages over electrically-based transport networks [2, 3], they have inherited much of their operational methodologies from previous electrically-based technologies. This paper discusses all-optical DWDM hardware technologies [4, 5] combined with newly developed algorithms [6] for network device addressing, and optical path construction; in a manner that creates an all-optical network topology called Application Lambda Switching. This new networking topology does not limit bandwidth, eliminates congestion, and Quality of Service (QoS) [7] issues. It can diagnose outages, faults, detect expansion, device failures, track inventory, and map itself all in real-time without the need for additional add-on technologies, or protocols typically used to perform these functions [8-10]. Application Lambda Switching (AλS) algorithms allow network access devices, not core-networking devices, to determine the bandwidth/speed of connections. AλS also utilizes an addressing algorithm that calculates device hardware addresses; therefore, the optical infrastructure itself can track its own topology and activity through the exchange and re-calculation of device addresses.