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Broadband
communications over the Internet will soon deliver, virtually
instantly and transparently, 'anytime, anywhere' multimedia
communications. This will require the development of highly
flexible, intelligent networks that offer large amounts of
bandwidth-on-demand.
Today's fibre optic communications
networks feature frequent optical/electronic conversions. Not
only are these conversions expensive, they also limit
scalability - in essence, they are 'bottlenecks'. Recently,
all-optical switching technologies suitable for core network
operations are becoming feasible, making it possible to
develop an all-photonic network core that could potentially
stretch very close to the end-user by dramatically reducing
optical/electrical conversions.
To address this
challenge, a Research Network entitled "Agile All-Photonic
Networks" (AAPN) was launched in 2003. AAPN's ambitious
five-year agenda, described in this Web site, is backed by a
$7 million award by NSERC- the Government of Canada's Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council - as well as
contributions from seven Canadian companies and two government
laboratories. |
