Abstract

Ethernet has become the ubiquitous corporate communications medium, representing nearly 80% of the traffic on corporate intranets today. Furthermore, the commercialization of 1 Gbps (GbE) and 10 Gbps (10GbE) optical interfaces has made Ethernet an increasingly common choice for high-speed and cost-effective transport networks spanning the LAN, MAN and WAN segments. This change has benefited from the volume and standardization of Ethernet LAN components, however traditional transport applications have requirements beyond typical LAN applications, specifically in the reach (distance), performance monitoring, and protection requirements. In the next few years Ethernet networks are likely to be expanded significantly to support the roll-out of triple play services (Voice-High Definition Video-Data), an application with the potential to require terabits (Tb/s) of network capacity in each of dozens of metropolitan areas in North America alone.

© 2005 Optical Society of America