Abstract: High speed transport in a dense wavelength division multiplexed system is achieved by transmitting information supplied by multiple sources in a parallel format using a subset of the total number of optical channels in a wavelength division multiplexed signal as a parallel bus transmission group. In one illustrative embodiment, a selected number of optical channels, i.e., wavelength channels, in the wavelength division multiplexed signal are allocated to form a parallel bus transmission group, i.e., a wavelength bus. Information from one or more sources is supplied in a parallel format and then transmitted at the same transmission rate in each of the optical channels in the wavelength bus. When information from more than one source is to be transported, the information from each source is multiplexed into a parallel format.

Abstract: Crosstalk and signal to noise degradation contributed by fiber nonlinearities in a WDM system are reduced by transporting data in a parallel format using a plurality of optical channels in a WDM signal as a parallel bus and by coding the parallel-formatted data so that bit patterns in the parallel-formatted information that would otherwise contribute to nonlinear impairments are changed. In one illustrative embodiment, an n-bit wide byte is transmitted using n optical channels (i.e., using n wavelengths) so that each of the n optical channels carries one of the n bits of the byte. In conjunction with the parallel transmission of information, a coding scheme is employed to reduce the occurrence of bit patterns, e.g., “all ones”, in the n-bit wide bytes that would give rise to four wave mixing or other nonlinear effects. The coding scheme may be used to transform bytes having “all ones” bit patterns to bytes having “non-all ones” bit patterns.

Abstract: Transmission-based data security is provided in dense wavelength division multiplexing systems using a transmission scheme that incorporates hierarchical scrambling techniques with a unique multiplexing arrangement. Information supplied by one or more sources is multiplexed according to a predetermined scrambling pattern and transmitted in a parallel format using one or more wavelength channels in a wavelength division multiplexed signal. By transmitting the multiplexed and scrambled information in parallel, the wavelength channels effectively function as a parallel bus (a “wavelength bus”). Multiple stages of scrambling can be applied to the multiplexed and scrambled information transported in the wavelength bus. For example, individual bit streams carried within each wavelength channel of the wavelength bus can be separately scrambled according to another predetermined scrambling pattern.

Abstract: Parallel-formatted information is selectively removed and inserted in a wavelength division multiplexed network by transporting the parallel-formatted information using selected wavelength channels in a wavelength division multiplexed signal as a parallel bus (a “wavelength bus”) and by selectively adding and dropping only information in the wavelength bus at an add/drop node. In one illustrative embodiment, one or more wavelength channels in a wavelength division multiplexed signal are allocated to form a wavelength bus for carrying multiplexed information supplied by one or more sources in a parallel format. At an add/drop node in the network, the wavelength channels in the wavelength bus are separated from the wavelength division multiplexed signal and information to be dropped is selectively removed by demultiplexing the parallel-formatted information.