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To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1959)	8/24/1998 11:10:00 AM
From: Hiram Walker	Respond to of 12823

Frank, another article on DWDM internettelephony.com The ride of the centuryThe ride of the century Sonet stays firmly ensconced even as it prepares for a next generation optical networking adventure SUSAN BIAGI Is the Sonet cycle ending? Has it made the slow climb to the apex of the Ferris wheel of optical networking? Vendors and service providers are seeking alternatives to the technology that has defined reliability for optical networking. It appears that Sonet might be on a slow decline, but it won't relinquish its seat without a replacement. Carriers still need its functionality, and Sonet's ubiquity secures its position in the network for several years. Change is assured, however. The all-optical buzz is gaining momentum. Carriers want their networks to be bigger, faster, better--demands that have brought about wavelength division multiplexing. Many carriers are banking on dense WDM and asynchronous transfer mode for the future, and these technologies are sure to change networks. As vendors develop products designed for DWDM and ATM, Sonet's role within the network will change, too. CLECs and vendors are discussing the merits and pitfalls of all-optical networking. But is it feasible? Some analysts predict that all-optical networks are at least a decade away. Yet the tradeoffs could be too great. One key reason is Sonet--and carriers' reliance upon it. Why do public networks depend so heavily on Sonet? Sonet grooms and routes traffic, provides performance monitoring and, perhaps most important, handles restoration. That function alone is the network equivalent of job security. First metro DWDM access rings will be deployed, says Solomon Wong, assistant vice president of marketing at Cambrian Systems. Next, WDM will come into the interoffice ring, and finally WDM will reach the interexchange carrier. "Then it's becoming networking instead of point-to-point connections," he says. When that occurs, Sonet will be out of everything beyond the access ring. One place where Sonet still has value with DWDM is in electrical/optical conversion. "WDM will never eliminate Sonet," Wong says. "You will never take electrical signals and carry that on a wavelength. WDM is the lowest level common denominator. It still needs Sonet for DS-1 and DS-3, for electrical signals." The challenge is that DWDM has to have the same survivability characteristics as Sonet on each wavelength, not on all wavelengths at once. Sonet is cumbersome in a DWDM environment, says Dan Taylor, managing director of telecommunications at The Aberdeen Group. DWDM creates multiple virtual rings, increasing the amount of overhead. "Even on WDM, you need some way to format the traffic. WDM is using Sonet as an overlay," he says. "The last bastion of TDM in the wired network has been Sonet," says Mike Champa, president and CEO of Omnia Communications, Marlboro, Mass. "That is going away, and it's being replaced with virtual path technology. If TDM is not appropriate for T-1, it's certainly not appropriate for OC-3, OC-12 or OC-48 links." The solution appears to be ATM. "With ATM, you get a finer granularity of bandwidth," says Alex Dobrushin, marketing vice president at Atmosphere Networks, Cupertino, Calif. Wavelength division multiplexing can be added on top of the ATM network to boost bandwidth. Instead of the traditional circuit-based Sonet virtual tributary, ATM cells will be transmitted using Sonet virtual paths. The net result is a more adaptable network with more bandwidth capacity on the existing fiber. With that flexibility, carriers can add and vary services. I couldn't copy the URL, so I edited the text,the whole article is there. Well HLIT is doing the Metro first step for T,and MRVC might be in the area of interoffice ring. Hiram