All-Optical Networks 2001
Conference Agenda for Wednesday February 7, 2001

Mark Lutkowitz
Vice President, Optical Networking Research
Communications Industry Researchers

This session will introduce the areas to be covered during the conference and examine their importance as the market develops

Mike Jones
Senior Vice President, Engineering
Broadwing Communications

Michael Duran
Partner
Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc.

Jay Patel
Senior Analyst
The Yankee Group

Analysts' predictions have the global market for optical networking reaching $41B by the year 2004. The size of the market opportunity is reflected in the number of optical networking startups in the past 18 months. But who will the winners be? Which segments will develop first? Which approaches / technologies will be left behind?

John Peters
Founder & CEO
SigmaNetworks

David Andersen
Director, Research & Development
Agilent Technologies

Dr. Janusz Bryzek
President & CEO
Transparent Optical

This session will look at the latest developments in switching matrices and the recently-introduced OXCs on the market. Which technology will win the lambda-switching war: bubbles or mirrors? Can a single approach bridge the migration gaps between the opto-electronic, the hybrid, and the all-optical switch?

3:30 p.m.

Dr. Paul Langner
Vice President of Architecture
BrightLink Networks

As network traffic demands grow as a result of Internet traffic, carriers will have to provide both traditional and circuit-switched services over T1 and T3 lines, and packet-based services such as Ethernet and IP. Network hardware will need to handle both circuit and packet switching, and transport equipment that can manage the switching of very large bandwidth down to STS-1 circuits.

Equipment that is compatible with both types of traffic is a significant engineering problem because mixed traffic equipment will require separate interconnects for packet and circuit traffic. Additionally, current technology can't keep up with the demands being placed on it by the needs for very large, fine-grained circuit switches. This session will examine these issues and propose a methodology for addressing carrier needs in a cost-effective manner.

John Drake
Chief Network Architect
Calient Networks

Photonic switching is the next logical step in a long history of switching technology that started with manual "plug board" operators, evolved to mechanical crossbar and finally digital switching. Photonic switching will enable transparent photonic networks, which will greatly simplify the architecture of both the network and the network nodes by establishing end- to-end optical paths across the network.

The new, intelligent photonic network will make it possible for service providers to provision high bandwidth in seconds. Envision a horizontal network where all network elements work as peers to dynamically establish optical paths through the network, and where all elements exchange and share information about the health of the network and the optical paths established across the network. The routers and/or ATM switches at the edges of the photonic network will use this information to dynamically manage the millions of wavelengths available in the photonic layer.

This intelligence, combined with per-flow wavelength assignment, will give the Internet the same capabilities as the PSTN (Public Switched Telephony Network), but using wavelengths rather than TDM time slots as the unit of transport. It will be possible to provision high bandwidth in seconds, turning the new optical technology into a revenue spinner for the service provider, rather than just a way of saving money. This session will look at these issues and will examine the development and impact of the next generation of intelligent optical networks.

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