CCDE Written Exam - Designing an Optical Network | Wavelength-Switched Resiliency

Leveraging a Wavelength-Switched Optical Network for Network Design

Question

You are designing an optical network.

Your goal is to ensure that your design contains the highest degree of resiliency.

In which two ways will you leverage a wavelength-switched optical network solution in your network design? (Choose two.)

Answers

Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

AB.

A wavelength-switched optical network (WSON) is a type of optical network that uses wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology to provide high-speed communication services. In a WSON, the network resources are switched based on the wavelengths of light, allowing for efficient use of the available bandwidth.

To leverage a WSON solution in a network design to ensure the highest degree of resiliency, the following two approaches can be considered:

  1. Assigning Routing and Wavelength Information: One of the key benefits of a WSON is that it allows the routing and wavelength information to be assigned dynamically, which enables network operators to efficiently utilize the available bandwidth. This is accomplished by assigning a wavelength to a connection and then routing the connection based on the wavelength.

By assigning routing and wavelength information dynamically, a WSON can provide resiliency against link or node failures. In case of a failure, the WSON can automatically reroute the affected connections over alternative paths, thereby ensuring uninterrupted communication services.

Therefore, by leveraging the wavelength-switched optical network solution, network designers can ensure that their design contains the highest degree of resiliency by dynamically assigning routing and wavelength information to the network resources.

  1. Taking Optical Impairments into Account: A WSON also takes linear and nonlinear optical impairment calculation into account while routing the connections over the network. This is done by considering the physical properties of the optical links, such as attenuation, dispersion, and nonlinearity.

By considering these factors, a WSON can optimize the routing of connections to ensure that the connections are transmitted with the highest quality and reliability. This means that a WSON can provide resiliency against signal degradation caused by the physical properties of the optical links.

Therefore, by leveraging the wavelength-switched optical network solution, network designers can ensure that their design contains the highest degree of resiliency by taking into account the linear and nonlinear optical impairment calculation while routing the connections over the network.

It's worth noting that the options C and D are not correct, as a WSON does not guarantee restoration based strictly on the shortest path available, and it does not eliminate the need for dispersion compensating units in a network.