Components of an End-to-End Optical Network

At this point in the optical networking revolution, we're striving for what will be an end-to-end optical architecture. End-to-end optical architecture means that nowhere in the network is the optical signal being converted into an electronic signal. This reduction in the processing of signals would reduce costs and ultimately provide better performance.

No other transmission medium can unlock the same level of available bandwidth as can the visible light spectrum. But today, the electronic equipment acts as the bottleneck. Fibers now can carry terabits per second (Tbps), but they terminate on equipment that, at best, can handle gigabits per second (Gbps). So, before we can unleash the possibilities (and realize the savings) of end-to-end optical networking, we need to replace all the existing electronic equipment with optical equipment, which, of course, will be costly. It will involve not only new hardware but also new skill sets and network management solutions.