A taxonomical consideration of optical add/drop multiplexers

The use of optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs) is considered as a possibl e way to save the number of transponders required at a network node by opti cally bypassing wavelengths that do not need to be dropped. There are many different flavors of OADMs offered by vendors. In this paper, we give a tax onomy of OADMs from the perspectives of both technology considerations and possible implications on network performance. The purpose of the taxonomy i s to serve as a frame work for cost and performance studies on dense wavele ngth division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transmission systems.