Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. The Challenges of Today's Telecommunications Network

2. Resolving the Capacity Crisis

3. Capacity Expansion and Flexibility: DWDM

4. Capacity Expansion Potential

5. DWDM Incremental Growth

6. The Optical Layer as the Unifying Layer

7. Key DWDM System Characteristics

8. Conclusion

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

ATM
asynchronous transfer mode

DWDM
dense wavelength division multiplexing

IEC
interexchange carrier

IP
Internet protocol

LEC
local exchange carrier

OAM&P
operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning

OWAD
optical wavelength add/drop

OXC
optical cross-connect

SDH
synchronous digital hierarchy

SONET
synchronous optical network

TDM
time division multiplexing