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).