The Edge ROADM Revolution

ROADMs are systems that allow the very flexible, remote selection of wavelengths transiting a given intermediate node on a fiber network for dropping and/or adding. They allow access to any of the wavelengths going through a node (or, in more limited ROADM implementations, access to a set of the transiting wavelengths) for use of the data on the chosen wavelength and the possibility of adding to, or modifying, the data on that wavelength for transmitting it on to the next node(s). They also allow the interconnection of multiple intersecting networks (multiple-degree nodes) at the optical level, avoiding the expense and complexity of OEO conversions to achieve the interconnection. The device offers the promise of substantial savings in operations costs and many operational benefits.

Our first report on this subject “ROADMs - the Lightwave under Control,” was issued in mid-2003 and opened with the following, “In many ways, this is a report about a device that doesn' t exist; whose technology is unselected; and whose market is very unclear. While a few of the smaller DWDM system vendors do have a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (R-OADM) offering, none of the major vendors (90%, or so, of the total market) have yet announced a product.” We have since written a number of ROADM reports documenting every step of that technology application' s progress. This report is part of a trilogy of reports we have prepared to completely address different users' needs for information in the ROADM area.

Now, not quite five years later, ROADMs are a standard on every major new network and are rapidly being back-fitted into existing carrier networks. This report enumerates the (very quick) steps we have taken to get to this point. The real driver for ROADMs has been the desire to convert from a SONET-based transport system to a wavelength-based one, while retaining the SONET control capabilities. ROADMs have supplied the answer.

Continuing the trend, carriers are now interested in extending that control capability to the ends of the network. The ever-increasing demand for bandwidth at the ends of the network, mostly exemplified by the overwhelming importance of video, make the extension of network control capabilities inevitable.

This report details where the industry is in beginning the new ROADM revolution, from the “Core to the Edge.” This revolution will bring ROADMs to virtually every central office and head-end in the US, and in many parts of the world. The forecasts included herein detail that expansion.

• Comprehensive coverage of the edge ROADM;
• One of the first reports to ever cover components for edge ROADMs - includes application descriptions; quantity, price, and market forecasts; vendors; and technologies;
• Full description of the forecasting methodology used in the report;
• Description of underlying technologies of edge ROADMs and how various components are used;
• Exhaustive listing of vendors of edge ROADM components and systems;
• Vendors' lists and discussions, separated into component vendors and system vendors, all highlighting most current products;
• Many vendors with comments by the author about market position;
• Extensive forecasts for edge ROADMs:
  • By region (USA and World)
  • By system quantities;
• Forecasts for ROADM components and subassemblies;
• Report has over 50 pages;
• Report has over 16 figures - drawings, tables, and graphs, all exclusive to this report;
• By an author with extensive consulting experience in the field and the author of many other major ROADM reports - Clifford R. Holliday;
• From the Lightwave Series of consistent, compatible reports on the new Lightwave network.