All-optical crossconnect debuts this month
Lucent Technologies (Warren, NJ) will introduce the industry`s first all-optical crossconnect at SuperComm `97 in New Orleans, June 3-5. The crossconnect delivers quicker recovery from service interruptions and allows service providers to efficiently change wavelengths from point to point in their network without unnecessary and costly conversion. The optical crossconnect also provides service-restoration capabilities found in today`s Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) layer. "The idea of an all-optical network and its promise of cost-effective unlimited bandwidth has been a concept found only in research papers and labs--until now," says Richard Moscioni of Lucent. "Deploying an all-optical network takes more than just technology or more wavelengths. Dense wavelength-division multiplexing is just the ticket to entry for optical networking."