Simplified design approach of reliable transparent optical networks

Transparent optical networks will play an important role in the near future. The aim of this work is to provide a simplified design approach how to utilize the new feature "optical transparency" in WDM based optical networks. Therefore optical nodes and transmission links are characterized and a set of simplified parameters and rules describing the transparent sub-networks is presented. In this way the complexity originating from physical constraints is reduced substantially, simplifying the management of these optical networks and the physical parameters which will be implemented in the routing protocols. This contribution is a compendium of results of the BMBF KomNet project in the field of optical networks optimisation.