All-Optical Networks Provide Flexibility for Platforms on the Global Information Grid

by Ketan Patel, Peter Guilfoyle, & Julian Cheng SPIE Newsroom, accessed 8 Sep 2006 The advent of network-centric operations and the Global Information Grid (GIG) -- which provides information storage, management, processing and transport for U.S. defense and security functions -- have highlighted the need for ultra-wide bandwidth networks to efficiently and securely route multigigabit data streams among air, space, and ground platforms. Fiber optics (FO) plays an important role in the GIG: beyond the inherently higher bandwidth as compared to copper cables, the electromagnetic interference immunity and reduced weight of FO will be crucial. Conventional FO-based networks use a star topology in which all transmissions go through a central node and electronic switches dynamically route information based on header information embedded in the data streams. A decentralized network, however, enhances the GIG by enabling asymmetric links as well as broadcast and point-to-point high rate data communication links. These are particularly useful when latency must be managed for mission critical links. Read more