Hi Peter,
If I'm not mistaken, in its original incarnation the UCLP software was a human operator, and the network element was a patch field connected to intercity fibers. Bill St. A. called this, in its initial crude form, Optical Border Gateway Protocol. I called it a switch connected to fibers. UCLP is software that drives the matrix points of an optical switch, along with (possibly) wavelengths of the switch, as far as I can tell. Bill stated during early discussions that software would be developed to replace the manual mode of operation. I guess it's here now, complete with daughter optical VPNs.
I likened OBGP, now UCLP, to a "wasn't invented here" form of GMPLS, only it is not GMPLS. OBGP was not met with much favor, as I recall, when it was introduced to the IETF for review. Perhaps this was because other initiatives were already underway to achieve the same ends; it almost seems to me that changing the name to UCLP might be a maneuver to overcome the earlier reception that it received.
I'm glad they've dropped the original moniker, in any event. It was too ostentatious for my taste, and OBGP didn't really minimize or help to contain the number of autonomous systems (ASs) operating over the open Internet in any significant way.
These were dedicated fibers, at first, and presumably WDM'ed wavelengths later on (if they've reached that level yet), between a relatively few RENs when compared to the larger 'Net. It actually constituted a very large, high-bandwidth Layer1/2 walled garden of a sort, serving universities and research centers.
On a separate item, do you care to discuss what your interest is with the ESCON glass under Fifth Ave in NY City that once served NYU? I'd be interested in examining your source of information concerning this. Under NY City franchise terms, if you put it in the street for use, then you must take it out when you're done with it, freeing up conduits and/or other ROW pathways.
In recent years we've overseen the removal (a very careful form of radical surgery must be employed here) for large financial institutions. TIA.
FAC
frank@fttx.org
ps - nice to see SI up and running again ;) |
