Vision and Mission
During the last decade, the Internet Protocol (IP) traffic has exploded, due to the ever-increasing fixed (e.g., VDSL or FTTH) and mobile (e.g., UMTS or LTE) access networks, as well as to the predominant role of new services such as video over IP, voice over IP or Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing applications. Consequently, the IP network layer acts as the convergence layer for all data services transported over optical networks, whose main requirement is twofold: on the one side, they must offer a huge bandwidth to cope with the accelerating growth of IP traffic and, to this end, advances in optical technologies are enabling high-capacity networks in the most cost-effective and energy-efficient fashion. On the other side, they must support emerging service needs such as flexible and granular bandwidth provisioning, dynamic bandwidth-on-demand (BoD), multiple levels of service quality (QoS) and service awareness, as well as the required network survivability. The gap between the services/applications requirements and the transport infrastructure is being narrowed through the next-generation network control and services architecture.
The goal of the Optical Networking Area (ONA) is the evolution of data transport systems towards intelligent (dynamic, self-star), high-capacity, low-cost, and energy-efficient optical transport networks. This research goal is approached in two generic research lines, namely:
* Network control and service management focuses on control and service architectures (both distributed and centralized), protocols, traffic engineering algorithms (for provisioning, protection and restoration strategies), system design, and hardware & software developments for dynamic end-to-end QoS-enabled services in next generation multi-domain and multi-layer converged optical transport networks. Currently, research work aims at enhancing the intelligence, dynamicity, efficiency, robustness, capacity and cost-effectiveness of different transport network infrastructures such as Wavelength Switched Optical Networks (WSON), elastic/flex-grid optical networks and connection-oriented packet-optical transport networks (e.g., MPLS-TP/PWE3, PBB-TE) through the control and management provided by Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS), Path Computation Element (PCE) and OpenFlow technologies.This research line encompasses the design, implementation and performance evaluation of dynamic provisioning, protection and restoration strategies applying traffic engineering objectives and employing complementary mechanisms such as the automated topology and resource discovery, the automated resource reservation, on-line (impairment-aware) routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) routing, modulation and spectrum assignment (RMSA) as well as traffic grooming algorithms, dynamic virtual optical network provisioning, and software defined networks.
*Optical transmission and subsystems is focused on specific physical layer and transmission aspects of optical communications, aiming at investigating, designing and implementing novel adaptive and power/spectral efficient optical transmission systems for high-capacity transport networks. The purpose of this activity is to study advanced modulation formats and flexible technologies, as well as suitable techniques for the mitigation of transmission impairments and the enhancement of system performance enabling network elasticity in the data plane. Specifically, multicarrier modulation techniques, and in particular OFDM, are investigated for software-defined optical transmission based on direct detection and coherent schemes. The objective is to furnish cost-effective solutions for flexible, high-capacity optical networks, optimizing the use of the existing infrastructure and the available resources.
Validation and demonstration are performed by means of the ADRENALINE testbed®, an experimental platform for research in optical networks and systems designed and developed by the CTTC ONA. Both research lines receive feedback from the experimental performance evaluation and assessment activities carried out in the ADRENALINE testbed®, from new developments to exhaustive testing of conceived prototypes.
