Results from the COST 239 project. Ultra-High Capacity Optical Transmission Networks

The objective of COST 239 (Ultra-High Capacity Optical Transmission Networks) is to evaluate the feasibility of an optical overlay network interconnecting major cities within Europe. This European Optical Network employs wavelength routing to provide the required interconnection between network nodes. The study has a number of key activities and achievements relating to traffic modelling, transmission, network topologies and dimensioning, and protection strategies. In this paper the emphasis is on network rather than transmission aspects.