Current means of providing loop-back recovery, which is widely used in SONET, rely on ring topologies, or on overlaying logical ring topologies upon physical meshes. Loop-back is desirable to provide rapid preplanned recovery of link or node failures in a bandwidth-efficient distributed manner. We introduce generalized loop-back, a novel scheme for performing loop-back in optical mesh networks. We present an algorithm to perform recovery for link failure and one to perform generalized loop-back recovery for node failure. We illustrate the operation of both algorithms, prove their validity, and present a network management protocol algorithm, which enables distributed operation for link or node failure. We present three different applications of generalized loop-back. First, we present heuristic algorithms for selecting recovery graphs, which maintain short maximum and average lengths of recovery paths. Second, we present WDM-based loop-back recovery for optical networks where wavelengths are used to back up other wavelengths. We compare, for WDM-based loop-back, the operation of generalized loop-back operation with known ring-based ways of providing loop-back recovery over mesh networks. Finally, we introduce the use of generalized loop-back to provide recovery in a way that allows dynamic choice of routes over preplanned directions.

Wireless multiuser networks are often required to provide continuous or near-continuous connectivity between mobile users and an installed network infrastructure. This implies a need for handover functionality. Handover provided by the OSI network layer permits users employing either circuits or packets to retain service quality while moving. We have developed algorithms for lossless handover in a mobile communication environment at arbitrary data rates at the network layer. In this paper, we give an overview of current methods and discuss how they are inadequate for future advanced services. We then propose and analyze new algorithms for lossless handover. Finally, we present a simulation-based investigation, whose results show that less than one second is needed for handover in a wide area network (WAN) situation, and demonstrate flexibility in bandwidth requirements for high-performance handover.

Current means of providing loop-back recovery, which is widely used in SONET, relies on fiber-based recovery, where a fiber is used to back up another fiber. We present WDM-based loop-back recovery for optical networks where wavelengths are used to back up other wavelengths. We present two new algorithms for performing WDM-based loop-back over optical mesh networks. The first algorithm performs recovery for link failures. We compare its operation with known ways of providing loop-back recovery and show that the known methods are not applicable to WDM-based recovery. The second algorithm performs WDM loop-back recovery for node failures. We illustrate the operation of both algorithms and prove their validity. We discuss the advantages of WDM-based loop-back for flexibility in WDM service provisioning.

We present a new algorithm which creates redundant trees on arbitrary node-redundant or link-redundant networks. These trees are such that any node is connected to the common root of the trees by at least one of the trees in case of node or link failure. Our scheme provides rapid preplanned recovery of communications with great flexibility in the topology design. Unlike previous algorithms, our algorithm can establish two redundant trees in the case of a node failing in the network. In the case of failure of a communications link, our algorithm provides a superset of the previously known trees.

We present a new algorithm for automatic protection switching (APS) which creates node (edge) redundant trees on any node (edge)-redundant network. These trees are desirable for performing multicasting with APS. Our algorithm is based on constructing trees with appropriate associated directions. The algorithm gives great flexibility in the choice of trees.

We propose a new algorithm for constructing redundant trees over any edge or node-redundant network in order to perform automatic protection switching in the presence of edge or node failures. Existing redundancy schemes and their topological requirements are reviewed. We describe our algorithm and give an overview of its essential properties. The algorithm is polynomial in the number of nodes. We present an example of the construction of a lowest cost redundant topology for a given configuration and of the operation of our algorithm on that topology. The algorithm is particularly well suited to multicast networks and optical networks, where trees may be created by signal splitting.

We describe recent results of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) sponsored Consortium on Wideband All-Optical Networks which is developing architectures, technology components, and applications for ultrafast 100 Gb/s time-division multiplexing (TDM) optical networks. The shared-media ultrafast networks we envision are appropriate for providing low-access-delay bandwidth on demand to both future high-burst rate (100 Gb/s) users as well aggregates of lower-rate users (i.e., a heterogeneous user population). To realize these goals we are developing ultrafast network architectures such as HLAN, described here, that operate well in high-latency environments and require only limited processing capability at the ultrafast bit rates. We also describe results on 80-Gb/s, 90-km soliton transmission, 100-Gb/s soliton compression laser source technology, picosecond short-pulse fiber ring lasers, picosecond-accuracy optical bit-phase sensing and clock recovery, all-optical injection-locked fiber figure-eight laser clock recovery, short-pulse fiber loop storage, and all-optical pulse width and wavelength conversion.

We describe some of the results of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) sponsored Consortium on Wideband All-Optical Networks in developing architectures, technology components, and applications for the realization of scaleable, wideband, and transparent optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks. Our architecture addresses all-optical transport over the wide, metropolitan, and local areas. It utilizes wavelength partitioning, routing, and active multiwavelength cross-connect switches to achieve a network that is scaleable in the number of users, data rates, and geographic span. The network supports two services which can be point-to-multipoint or multipoint-to-multipoint simplex or duplex connections. The A service is a transparent physically circuit-switched service and the B-service is a scheduled time-slotted circuit which is transparent within its time slots. We have developed a 20-channel local and metropolitan area WDM testbed deployed in the Boston area, now undergoing characterization and experimental applications.

In this paper a new class of network synchronization procedures, called Resynch Procedures, is described. A resynch procedure is a mechanism for effectively bringing all nodes of a distributed network to a known state simultaneously, despite arbitrary finite delays between nodes. The procedures presented have the interesting property that no time-outs are required. One use of a resynch procedure is to implement a network protocol that can guarantee that no packets will be lost and no duplicate packets will be inadvertently received, despite arbitrary node and link failures. This appears to be the first demonstration that such fail-safe protocols exist.