| Abstract: | The hottest word in telecommunications technology is dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). In this paper, a review of the DWDM component market is presented together with a worldwide forecast over the next 5 years. The most dramatic changes in telecommunications have taken place in the last several years with the advent of DWDM to exploit the potential of unlimited bandwidth on a fiber pair. Originally installed to solve the problem of fiber exhaust in long-distance networks, DWDM is becoming the leading driver to an all-topical network. DWDM is insensitive to bit rate and format and permits a telecommunications network to increase capacity without installing new fiber, and at a decreased cost with much greater flexibility. DWDM places narrowly spaced channels onto the same fiber and increases capacity on existing fiber routes by factors of 16, 32, 40, or more. DWDM has also made it possible for new carriers to enter the market using IP-based rather than circuit-switched networks at considerably lower costs. |
