Five Hot Optical Technologies for 2006. (cover story)

The article features some optical technologies for year 2006. First, 10-Gigabit Ethernet is a packet standard that can handle enough data to be efficient as the basis for a metropolitan optical network. Second, new generation Ethernet-based passive optical networks has the ability to support a tree consisting of deep fiber remotes. Last, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers permit add/drop handling of not only wavelengths but also Gigabit Ethernet pipes within wavelengths.