In
optical networking
Optical networking is a means of communication that uses signals encoded in light to transmit information in various types of telecommunications networks. These include limited range Local area network, local-area networks (LAN) or Wide area networ ...
, a lightpath is a path between two nodes in an optical network between which light passes through unmodified.
Description
When a lightpath can be established between source and destination node endpoints the connection is totally optical and avoids
throttling
A throttle is any mechanism by which the power or speed of an engine is controlled.
Throttle or throttling may also refer to:
Fiction
* ''Throttle'' (film), a 2005 thriller
* ''Throttle'' (novella), a 2009 novella by Stephen King and his son Jo ...
by intermediate electronic conversions and processing.
Where a lightpath passes through an
Optical add-drop multiplexer
An optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) is a device used in wavelength-division multiplexing systems for multiplexing and routing different channels of light into or out of a single mode fiber (SMF). This is a type of optical node, which is gen ...
(OADM) is known as a ''cut-through lightpath''. Where a lightpath is added or dropped at an OADM, it is known as an ''added/dropped lightpath''.
Semi-lightpath
Where endpoints are connected by a series of lightpaths with the intermediate nodes only changing the light
wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, t ...
at the junctions this may be referred to as a semi-lightpath.
See also
*
Wavelength switched optical network
Wavelength switched optical network (WSON) is a type of telecommunications network.
A WSON consist of two planes: the data and the control planes. The data plane comprises wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) fiber links connecting optical cro ...
*
Multicast lightpaths
*
Network Description Language Network Description Language (NDL) is a tool to reduce the complexity as networks evolve into the future. NDL enables both humans and machines to have a better grasp on today’s highly evolved networks to ease time consuming and tedious tasks bein ...
References
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Fiber-optic communications