IP over Optics: Performance Modelling of Optical Shared Protection Rings

During the last decade, we have witnessed an enormous growth in Internet traffic. Different technologies have been developed since, in order to cope with the capacity and QoS demands this imposes. A clear example would be ATM, capable of achieving several Mbits/s and providing quality of service assurances. However, the deployment of ATM has been slow and some would say, will never be complete, mainly due to expensive equipment and the lack of ATM native applications.