Plug and play optical (PPO) nodes: network functionalities and built-in fiber characterization techniques

Plug and play optical (PPO) nodes may be used to facilitate the deployment of optical networks. PPO nodes must be able to learn about the signal propagation properties of the surrounding optical fibers and make their wavelength routing decisions based on the collected data. This paper discusses what are the open challenges that must be overcome to provide cost effective and performing ad hoc networking solutions based on PPO nodes. Three possible PPO node hardware architectures trading off complexity, cost and functionalities are presented along with their built-in fiber characterization techniques.