Circuit and packet switching in high capacity optical networks

We have described how optical techniques could be used to offer at the same time capacity of transport required and flexibility to envisage a progressive but rapid evolution of the node throughputs. The paper describes two kinds of optical nodes enabling circuit and packet switching connections. Two introduction scenarios have been proposed: one for the backbone and a second for the metro. A strong need for a new framing in the point-to-point transmission layer is highlighted. This paper clearly indicates that optical techniques have a great potential in the network, not only for the point-to-point transmission but also in the nodes to simplify the protocol and to converge progressively towards ATM&IP/optical packets/WDM while being compatible with QoS requirements.