Optical mesh network

Most optical mesh networks use fiber-optic communication and are operated by internet service providers in metropolitan and regional but also national and international scenarios.

Currently planned satellite constellations aim to establish optical mesh networks in space by using wireless laser communication.

Several planned satellite constellations such as SpaceX Starlink intended for global internet provisioning aim to establish optical mesh networks in space.

The constellations consisting of several hundred to thousand satellites will use laser communication for high-throughput optical inter-satellite links.

Multiple recovery mechanisms that provide different levels of protection [12] or restoration [13] against different failure modes are available in mesh networks.

Restoration is another recovery method that can work on its own or complement faster protection schemes in case of multiple failures.

Traditional transport networks are made of optical fiber-based links between telecommunications offices, where multiple wavelengths are multiplexed to increase the capacity of the fiber.

The wavelengths are terminated on electronic devices called transponders, undergoing an optical-to-electrical conversion for signal Reamplification, Reshaping, and Retiming (3R).

[18] In the early 2010s, operational long-distance networks still tend to remain opaque, as there are transmission limitations and impairments that prevent the extension of transparency beyond a certain point.