Page 270 - Optical Switching And Networking Handbook

11_200023_CH10/Bates 1/17/01 9:06 AM Page 255

The Future of Optical Networking (Where Is It All Heading?) 255

Mbps outward communications. Very few corporate clients have
moved to OC-12 at 622 Mbps or above. A dozen or so clients have
actually installed high-speed communications networks connecting
their campus environment to another site across town. In this case,
they may have an OC-48 at 2.488 Gbps installed on campus. How-
ever, to link the two sites together, they still have to step down to OC-
3 or OC-12, as shown in Figure 10-15. The reason should be obvious:
cost!
When the bandwidth becomes readily available, as we saw in ear-
lier chapters in the metropolitan networks, then we can expect the
raw bandwidth and power. This unfortunately is going to take a few
years. Sure, some of the larger customers will become pilot pro-
grams, as the local carriers want to deploy this bandwidth. For the
masses, however, the wait will be much longer. The thought here is
that we have been talking about this capability for nearly a decade,
and it is only now becoming a reality. Therefore, one can expect that
although time is becoming shorter for these implementations, we are
still five to seven years away from having the services we really
want.

Figure 10-15
Linking two sites
together
100 Base T
MUX MUX
OC-3
CO
OC-3 or
OC-3 OC-3
ATM
Switch OC-12 OC-12 OC-12 OC-12

OC-48
OC-48

Telemedicine
MRI