Transparent Optical Fiber Communications for Real-Time, Packet, and Wireless Traffic

Abstract

A novel approach to the future hybrid communication network capable to support the traffic of different kind, e.g. real time and packet traffic and wireless signal in a single transparent network is proposed. The proposed model combines different technologies as connection and connectionless networking, optical cable and wireless (microwave/millimeter wave or optical wireless) and it is suitable for a variety of purposes and services in order to achieve global broadband networking. The model assumes specific DWDM channels are dedicated to real time and non-real time service traffic. The network intelligence has to be located at IP routers and it has to provide the real-time subnetwork including microwave radio-over-fiber with a sufficient number of wavelengths according to the instantaneous demand. All remaining available wavelengths are dedicated to packet traffic. We also discuss transparency fundamental limitations due to physical constraints as dispersion, polarization mode dispersion, and fiber nonlinearities, and we evaluate the achievable network performance, and security issues.