Optical Switching and Networking Handbook
By Regis J. "Bud" Bates

Glossary

  • Add/drop multiplexer

  • Broadband digital cross-connect

  • Wideband digital cross-connect

  • Digital loop carrier

  • Switch interface

A-B

Add/drop
The process where a part of the information carried in a transmission system is demultiplexed (dropped) at an intermediate point and different information is multiplexed (added) for subsequent transmission. The remaining traffic passes straight through the multiplexer without additional processing.
Add/Drop Multiplexer (ADM)
A multiplexer capable of extracting and inserting lower-rate signals from a higher-rate multiplexed signal without completely demultiplexing the signal.
Alarm Indicating Signal (AIS)
A code sent downstream indicating an upstream failure has occurred. SONET defines four categories of AIS: Line AIS, STS Path AIS, VT Path AIS, and DSN AIS.
All-optical network (AON)
A term first used to describe the world s first WDM network test bed that was architected and implemented at MIT s Lincoln Laboratory. Today the term is used to describe optical network environments that exploit multiple channel wavelengths for switching, routing, or distribution, using light to the almost total exclusion of electronics.
Alternate Mark Inversion (AMI)
The line-coding format in transmission systems where successive ones (marks) are alternatively inverted (sent with polarity opposite that of the preceding mark).
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
A membership organization that develops U.S. standards and coordinates U.S. participation in the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Asynchronous
A network where transmission system payloads are not synchronized and each network terminal runs on its own clock.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
A multiplexing/switching technique in...
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2001 under license agreement with Books24x7
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