The RISQ (Réseau d'Informations Scientifiques du Québec) research and education network has been a trail-blazer in the development of privately owned fiber networks, by implementing an optical fiber owner model. This model allows RISQ to have a gracefully upgradable network that is at the forefront of the large bandwidth optical communications technology. It also allows RISQ to offer a parallel network that can be used as a test equipment for the R&D community, in universities, research institutions or the industry; a real in-the-field fiber optic network test bench. RISQ is in a privileged situation to influence optical communications R&D work. It is aware of the real needs of the telecommunications industry. It is also aware of the technological needs of the next-generation networks. RISQ suggests that telecommunications R&D should be focused on increasing network reliability and decrease network operations and capital expanses, rather than on increasing their capacity. A key to decreasing expanses would be to avoid SONET network management on long-haul trunks, without affecting the transmission quality of service. IP over optics should thus be reinstalled as a priority in the telecom R&D world. RISQ thinks optical 3R might be the solution that will allow IP over optics. As for the next-generation networks: flexibility, reconfigurability, in order to offer lightpaths of adjustable bandwidth to the user; while wasting a minimum of the valuable network bandwidth, is where we believe efforts should be concentrated on.

Date Published: 13 October 2005
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 5970, Photonic Applications in Devices and Communication Systems, 59701T (13 October 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.628973

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5970:
Photonic Applications in Devices and Communication Systems
Peter Mascher; John C. Cartledge; Andrew Peter Knights; David V. Plant, Editor(s)