4 ms·
It’s not all about computing. It’s about avoiding conversion from electrical to optical signal (and back) at every network node, which is costly.
by rasguanabana 5y ago
It’s not all about computing. It’s about avoiding conversion from electrical to optical signal (and back) at every network node, which is costly.
- Goz3rr 5y agoDon't you need a certain amount of computing at each network node anyways to see what to do and where to send the optical signal next? In additional to error correction/amplifying the signal?
- rasguanabana 5y agoOften it might be as simple as routing right wavelength through right path, as in WDM systems. Optical amplifiers, such as EDFA [0] are interesting thing, too. [0]: http://www.fiber-optical-networking.com/the-application-of-edfa.html http://www.fiber-optical-networking.com/the-application-of-e...
- rocqua 5y agoGenerally you only need to read the 'header'. If that is little enough computation maybe that can be done optically, gaining the advantage of not needing to convert twice.