Experimental demonstration of a novel media access protocol for HORNET: a packet-over-WDM multiple-access MAN ring

As packet-based traffic in the metropolitan area network continues to exponentially increase, and as content and applications become more distributed, conventional metropolitan area networks fail to function efficiently. Sprint Advanced Technology Laboratories and Stanford University's Optical Communications Research Laboratory are developing a new network called HORNET (hybrid opto-electronic ring network), which is optimized for bursty, unpredictable, packet-based traffic patterns with distributed sources and destinations. HORNET uses fast tunable transmitters and a novel media access control scheme to realize a packet-over-WDM multiple-access ring architecture. The experimental demonstration of the novel media access control scheme is presented in this work.