Wavelength Division Multiple Access Optical Networks

Citation

Galletly, J.E. (2000), "Wavelength Division Multiple Access Optical Networks", Kybernetes, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 523-529. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2000.29.4.523.1

The authors have succeeding in putting many topical buzzwords into the title of their book, combining wavelength division multiplexing with multiple‐access optical networks. The book itself is a useful overview of a blossoming and important field, and is suitable for researchers and students alike, albeit the cognescenti. It is one title in the Artech House Optoelectronics Library.

The book’s contents follow a logical progression. Chapter 1 gives a short, sharp review of the optical networking field. Chapters 2 and 3 have more meat, getting down to the real issues and dealing with single‐hop optical networks and multi‐hop optical networks, respectively. Chapter 4 draws the results of the previous two chapters together to look at hybrids. The second and third chapters, which are the real heart of the book, each comprise a number of sections. The second chapter compares and contrasts specialized transmission protocols such as random access protocols, with and without pre‐transmission coordination, and then it examines several experimental broadcast‐and‐select single‐hop optical networks. For example, LAMBDANET, RAINBOW and HYPASS are reviewed. The third chapter goes further. After some preliminary comments, this chapter investigates yet more experimental networks in the multi‐hop area. For example, some of those considered include Manhattan Street networks, Shuffle networks – both the basic variety and variants – and de Bruijn networks. Finally, the fourth chapter examines multilevel optical networks, introducing the notion of networks of networks with a description of star‐of‐stars networks and hierarchical linear lightwave networks. It then moves on to introduce and examine multilevel hybrid networks, comprising combinations of both the single‐hop and multi‐hop techniques.

In summary, the book serves as an interesting review of the most important aspects of wavelength division multiple access optical networks for students and workers in this field. That said, the information is presented in a readable fashion and is not so theoretical or obtuse with the result that it is quite accessible to someone who does not know the field but would like to find out more.