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 (WDM) 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 ...
(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 and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...
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 consists of two planes: the data and the control planes. The data plane comprises wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) fiber links connecting optical cro ...
*
Multicast lightpaths
A multicast session requires a "point-to-multipoint" connection from a source node to multiple destination nodes. The source node is known as the ''root''. The destination nodes are known as ''leaves''. In the modern era, it is important to prote ...
* Network Description Language
References
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Fiber-optic communications