High speed optical networks projects in the EC RACE programme: From the customer access connection to the transit network

RACE is a European community program aimed at the introduction of broadband telecommunications systems and services. Work done in RACE related to the customer access connection (CAC) and customer premises network (CPN) is presented. The very high bit rates resulting from the CAC and CPN imply the introduction of higher bit rates for the transit network. Time division multiplexing (TDM) direct detection systems, wavelength-division-multiplexing direct detection and coherent detection systems are exploited for this purpose. To cope with the fast switching needs, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) photonic switching is introduced.<
>