Open Questions: Advanced Networking Technology
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See also: Optical and optoelectronic
technology --
Advanced networking applications
Introduction
Site indexes
Sites with general resources
-
National Lambda Rail
- NLR "is a major initiative of U.S. research universities
and private sector technology companies to provide a national
scale infrastructure for research and experimentation in
networking technologies and applications."
The site includes a description of the network architecture and
news releases.
-
PlanetLab
- PlanetLab is a testbed for experimenting with "disruptive"
new networking technologies on the Internet. The site
includes news releases and information on the projects and
technologies being researched.
Surveys, overviews, tutorials
-
Optical fiber
- Article from
Wikipedia.
- Breaking the Metro Bottleneck
Jeff Hecht
Technology Review, June 2001, pp. 48-53
- Logistical problems add to the difficulties of improving network
bandwidth in a "metropolitan" area as compared to the long-haul
backbone. Possible solutions include passive optical networking
and gigabit ethernet.
- Building a Better Backbone
Neil Savage
Technology Review, June 2001, pp. 40-46
- A number of techniques are being employed to allow higher rates
of information transmission in existing glass fibers. These include
means for adding more data channels and using higher transmission
frequencies. But when it will be economically practical to install
such new technology is another question.
- The Next Generation of Optical Fibers
Philip Ball
Technology Review, May 2001, pp. 55-61
- Although technologies such as DWDM have provided adequate
communications bandwidth for the present in fiber optic networks,
we will eventually encounter the limits of existing fiber optics.
But a new generation of fiber technology is on the
horizon to take over when needed, based on hollow fibers and
"photonic band gap" materials.
-
The Triumph of the Light
Gary Stix
Scientific American, January 2001, pp. 80-87
- The capacity of fiber optic transmission for a fixed price
is doubling every nine months. This will tend to keep supply of
communication bandwidth ahead of demand for some time to come,
although new applications which can use all available bandwidth
will eventually arrive.
- The Microphotonics Revolution
Peter Fairley
Technology Review, July/August 2000, pp. 38-44
- Optical switches that do not require conversion of signals to
electronic form are the next step to an all-optical Internet. Some
of the technology being used in such switches may ultimately be
used in optical integrated circuits.
- Fiber Optics to the Home
Jeff Hecht
Technology Review, March-April 2000, pp. 48-54
- The "last mile" problem, which is more economic than
technological, is the most serious obstacle to the deployment of
advanced network services. There are different approaches to
providing fiber optics directly to homes, as well as competing
technologies for the shorter term.
-
The Light at the End of the Pipe
P. William Bane; Stephen P. Bradley
Scientific American, October 1999, pp. 110-113
- The emergence of broadband Internet that will be of use to
a significant percentage of the population depends on the
development of new applications -- such as video conferencing and
smart agents -- which offer clearly superior utility.
- All-Optical Networks
Vincent W. S. Chan
Scientific American, September 1995, pp. 72-76
- Present use of fiber optics in communication networks is
constrained by the need to use electronic devices to perform
switching operations. New technologies are needed to allow
control of optical signals without using electronics.
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Copyright © 2002 by Charles Daney, All Rights Reserved