Scaling Terabit Networks: Breaking Through Capacity Barriers and Lowering Cost with New Architectures and Technologies

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This project is for a workshop on "Scaling Terabit Networks: Breaking Through Capacity Barriers and Lowering Cost with New Architectures and Technologies," to be held at the Optical Society of America (OSA) headquarters in Washington, DC, on September 19-20, 2013. The goal of the workshop is to develop a set of "grand challenges" for the optical networking community. This will be accomplished by: exploring how new network architectures driven by changing traffic patterns, virtualization and programmability drive new requirements for the optics, and how emerging photonic components can help scale these architectures to terabit capacities; rethinking the operating system interface and application interface to the network; exploring what physical layer phenomena and characteristics need to be communicated to the higher layers and what higher-layer functions can benefit from physical layer intelligence; and understanding how optics and electronics will be used together in the future and what their respective metrics will be when used together in an optical networking context. In addressing these technical areas, the workshop will be organized to achieve the following objectives: identify the technological challenges facing terabit networks and continued network scaling; establish key metrics, targets, and capabilities for efficient and scalable terabit networking; set research priorities and requirements within optical networking to enable efficient and scalable terabit networking; and identify application drivers and early adopters of this new technology. Ultra-high capacity optical networks are the key enabler of the ongoing revolution in data-driven science. They are also part of critical infrastructure technologies that the United States needs to maintain national competitiveness and national security. By informing both the U.S. research community as well as NSF and other Federal agencies about key research problems and opportunities, this workshop will support U.S. national interests. The final workshop report will be made publicly available.