PHOTONIC TRANSPORT NETWORK ARCHITECTURE AND OA-AND-M TECHNOLOGIES TO CREATE LARGE-SCALE ROBUST NETWORKS

In order to realize a large-scale and robust photonic transport networ k, a network protection strategy and operation, administration, and ma nagement (OA&M) realization scheme in wavelength division multiplexing optical path (WDM OF) transport networks has been developed. This pap er discusses the networking (restoration/protection) concepts in each optical layer and proposes the most suitable networking strategy. To d evelop the OA&M technique, the characteristic information format of ea ch optical layer must be discerned. A network node interface (NNI) str ucture for the WDM OP transport network is proposed. The proposed NNI is defined as the optical transport module (OTM). An OP signal format is defined as the optical transport unit (OTU). Overhead information a nd schemes to transmit it are also discussed.