The Agile All-Photonic Network: Architectures, algorithms, and protocols

The agile all-photonic network (AAPN) is a network that uses time division multiplexing (TDM) to better utilize the bandwidth of WDM systems. AAPN uses agile all-photonic switches as advances in the photonic switching technology made the design of all-photonic devices with switching latency in the sub-microseconds feasible. It proposes a simplified overlaid star network architecture that is deployable as a MAN or WAN network. This overlaid architecture, as opposed to general mesh architecture, scales network capacity to multiples of Peta bits per second, simplifies routing, increases reliability, eliminates wavelength conversion and the need for accurate traffic engineering. In this overview, we introduce the network structure, control plane protocols and algorithms that are designed to support the operation of the Agile All-Photonic Network.