REPORT ON 



ALL-OPTICAL NETWORKS WORKSHOP 

















Held January 11 and 12, 1993











INTRODUCTION















On January 11 and 12, 1993, a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation 
was held in Washington, D.C. and was attended by leading researchers in the field of all-optical 
networks. Backgrounds and skills of the workshop attendees included optical device technolo-
gies, telecommunication networks, and broadband applications. This report is the product of that 
workshop. Contained herein is a description of the many topics which were discussed and the 
major conclusions which were drawn.



Workshop attendees were unanimous in their opinion that the time is now at hand for a 
major new research thrust targeted specifically at all-optical networks. The early years of research 
in this field have begun to bear fruit and much fundamental knowledge and understanding has 
been generated. Also, a crisp vision has begun to emerge of the potential importance of an all-
optical approach as the basis for (1) the nationwide telecommunication infrastructure of the 21st 
century, (2) Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, and (3) ultra high-speed computer intercon-
nects for parallel processing. At the same time much additional work remains to be done in order 
that the potential of optical networks to enable multimedia communications, to provide immediate 
access to vast electronic information libraries, to improve economic competitiveness, and to 
enhance quality-of-life might be realized.



Chapter 1 of this report contains a working definition of all-optical networks. The impor-
tance of optical networks, along with the importance of a focused cross-disciplinary research pro-
gram, is discussed in Chapter 2. The synergistic and complementary relationships between a new 
initiative in this field and (1) the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) 
program and (2) the recently announced ARPA program in all-optical networks are described in 
Chapter 3. Finally, recommendations for the overall scope, size, and modes of a research agenda 
are presented in Chapter 4. Appendices A and B contain detailed descriptions of the device- and 
systems-level issues, respectively, which such a program should address. 

LIST OF ATTENDEES







Workshop Co-Chairmen





Anthony S. Acampora				Leonid G. Kazovsky

Columbia University				Stanford University





Participants





Vincent W.S. Chan				Aura Ganz

MIT Lincoln Laboratory				University of Massachusetts



Kwok-wai Cheung				Mario Gerla

The Chinese University				UCLA

	of Hong Kong



Imrich Chlamtac				Pierre A. Humblet

University of Massachusetts				MIT 



Emmanuel Desurvire				Mohammed N. Islam

Columbia University				The University of Chicago



Lester F. Eastman				Steve Kang

Cornell University				University of Illinois at

				     Urbana-Champaign

Julio Escobar

BBN Systems and 				Karen Liu

	Technologies Corp.			IBM Research





					-continued-

Biswanath Mukherjee

University of California, Davis



Paul R. Prucnal

Princeton University



Rajiv Ramaswami

IBM



Izhak Rubin

UCLA



Adel A. M. Saleh

AT&T Bell Laboratories



Jon Sauer

University of Colorado



Carl M. Verber

Georgia Institute of Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS





CHAPTER 1: Defining All-Optical Networks                                                                                1



CHAPTER 2: The Importance of Optical Networks                                                                       3  



CHAPTER 3: Relationship of an Enchanced Research Agenda in Optical Networking

to Other Major Programs                                                                                          6



CHAPTER 4: Research Focus and Research Modes                                                                       9



APPENDIX A: Device Issues			11



A.1	Devices for Wavelength Tuning					11

A.2	Star Couplers and Wavelength Changer					12

A.3	Optical Amplifiers					14

A.4	TDM Devices					17

A.5	Device Integration and Packaging					19

A.6	Limitations on WDM Systems Caused by 

		Fiber Nonlinearities, Dispersion and Jitter				19



APPENDIX B: Networking Issues			22



B.1	Reconfigurability					22

B.2	Integrated Packet and Circuit Switched Networks					23

B.3	Scalability and Modularity					24

B.4	Local, Metropolitan and Wide Area Optical Communication Networks					25

B.5	Multiplexing for Optical Networks					26

B.6	Time-Division Channelization and Medium Access					31

B.7	Single-Hop vs. Multihop Systems					33

B.8	Evolution					33

B.9	WDM for Multiple Virtual Networks					35

B.10	Traffic Control and Performance Management					36

B.11	Fault Management					38

B.12	Optical Power Budget					40

B.13	Physical Topology Optimization					42