Wavelength switched optical network

The data plane comprises wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) fiber links connecting optical cross-connect (OXCs) through a comb of several tens of wavelength channels, with typical data rates of 10 or 40 Gbit/s.

Optical end-to-end connections (i.e., lightpaths) are established in the optical domain and switched by OXCs at the wavelength granularity.

[1] The dynamic provisioning and maintenance of lightpaths is managed by the control plane.

The control plane is implemented on a separate network and typically employs one network controller for each node in the data plane, as shown in the figure.

The Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) protocol suite, the de facto standard control plane for WSONs proposed by the IETF, is composed of three protocols.