MONET consortium testbeds paint vision of networking future

MONET consortium testbeds paint vision of networking future

The Multiwavelength Optical Networking (MONET) consortium (Holmdel, NJ) has demonstrated two networking testbeds. In the first, Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories and AT&T Laboratories (both Holmdel, NJ) researchers have developed a 2000-km testbed with a data rate 2.5 billion bit/s on each of eight channels. The optical layer is format- and bit-rate independent, and the investigators plan to test multiple formats. The second testbed--developed at Bellcore (Red Bank, NJ)--is a multiwavelength self-healing ring that allows delivery across the network even when part of it is physically damaged. The ring is the first part of a local-exchange testbed to establish the optimum mix of equipment for local public networks. A third testbed just coming on line at Bell Laboratories features a cross-connect system for reconfiguring networks with switching wavelengths. All three systems will be interconnected later this year.

Next year a test multiwavelength network will be established in the Washington, DC, area linking facilities at group-member Bell Atlantic and consortium-cooperating government agencies (the National Security Agency and the Naval Research Laboratory).