N-GEN Communications Web-based Seminars ©NGCS

Seminar - An Overview of Communications Technologies

Module 7 - LAN, WAN, VPN, WLAN, MAN, FDDI and Optical MANS                                                      Slide 31 of 45 _________________                                                                                  __________

                                                MAN Technologies

                                                DWDM

                                                SONET/SDH

                                                Intelligent Routers

                                                Optical Switches

_________________                                                                                  __________

MAN technologies are evolving. So far service providers have deployed SONET/SDH as the technology of choice in the metro area, using point-to-point or add-drop multiplexer ring topologies. These are not adequate to satisfy increased demand from a customer. The term MAN is changing to MON, a Metropolitan Optical Network. The technologies which have been successfully implemented in the long-distance networks are moving into metro-networks. DWDM, SONET/SDH, Intelligent Router and Optical Switches are such technologies used in MONs.

DWDM - Rapid advances in Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology and an explosion in customer bandwidth demand are ushering a new paradigm in the communications networks. DWDM technology is the answer for bandwidth hungry customer applications. The technology has proven itself in the long-distance networks and is now finding a niche in metro and access networks.

SONET/SDH - SONET/SDH has a very large installed base and is commonly used in current metro-area networks. The traditional TDM networks were designed to transport a limited set of traffic types, mainly multiplexed voice and private line services. Today's metro market needs to streamline network efficiencies under rapidly growing capacity demands and increasingly variable traffic patterns. In future, a new network architecture, dynamic, proactive and multi-service will be required to replace SONET/SDH architecture.

Intelligent Routers - These are wavelength switching routers, located at the edge of MAN, including point-to-point and ring add/drop functionalities.

Optical Switches - These are core switches with wavelength switching capabilities.