IP over WDM: Building the Next Generation Optical Internet : 9780471212485

The primary objective of this book is to provide, in an understandable style, comprehensive and practical information on the transport of the Internet protocol (IP) over the optical/wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) layer. This is accomplished by providing sufficient background information on the enabling technologies, followed by an in-depth discussion on the various aspects of IP over WDM. The vision for IP over WDM is that when it becomes a reality it will revolutionize networking as we know it today. It is already presenting new major business opportunities and could potentially affect the future of Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and other technologies. The motivation for writing this book came from the realization that there was a shortage of technical material in a single place on IP-over-WDM technology.

Although this book could have been written by a single author, I felt that different perspectives from different experts, who have confirmed their work in their respective specialties with their peers, would bring tremendous value and make the contents more interesting. It has been our intention to encourage authors to be concerned about the adjoining layers and technologies even though their primary interest has been to focus deeply on only one aspect of the technology spectrum. To meet this objective of interoperability I felt all along that it is good to have some overlaps in the subject material since the context often differs from one focus area to another, and how a certain issue or problem is perceived can vary widely.

Publication of this book is very timely because information on the topic is scattered. Although there are many books in the area of optical networking focusing on the optical layer and the enabling devices and technologies, they do scant justice to the field of intelligent optical Internet, where IP is mapped directly over the optical layer. This book is intended to be a single authoritative source of information to both industry and academia. The primary audience for the book are practicing engineers and designers and engineering managers. In addition, the book is written in a format and style that makes it suitable as an undergraduate (senior year) or graduate-level textbook in a one-semester (or with omission of some topics) one-quarter format. It is our belief that this book will provide readers with sufficient exposure to the knowledge, with a good mix of theory and practice, to lay a solid foundation in IP-over-WDM and related technologies.