European grou¥plans optical switching network
A grou¥of European universities and telecommunications companies have teamed u¥on a research project to create a high-speed network with all-optical switching. The Switchless Optical Network for Advanced Transport Architecture is part of the Advanced Communications Technology and Service program of the European Union. The project, which officially began April 1, will examine the possibility of replacing the electronic switching and routing layers, which form a bottleneck and slow down transmission, with optical routers. Participants include Centro Studi E Laboratori Telecommunicazioni (Turin, Italy), BT Laboratories (London, England), and other European research organizations.