e-Photon/ONe: Optical Networks: Towards Bandwidth Manageability and Cost Efficiency

Description
The proposed Network of Excellence (NoE) aims at integrating and focusing the rich know-how available in Europe on optical communication and networks, both in universities and in research centres of major telecom manufacturers and operators. The set of available expertises ranges from optical technologies, to networking devices, to network architectures and protocols, to the new services fostered by photonic technologies. The NoE will contribute to the Strategic Objective Broadband for All, with a particular focus (quoting from the EC IST 2003-2004 Workprogramme at page 15) on low cost access equipment, on new concepts for network management, control and protocols, and on increasing bandwidth capacity in the access network as well in the underlying optical core/metro network (including in particular optical burst and packet switching). The main technical focus of the NoE is to show which are the potential advantages of optical technologies in telecommunication networks with respect to electronic technologies. A strong integration among the participants to the NoE will favour a consensus on the engineering choices towards the deployment of costeffective optical technologies in networking that will support the future Internet, hopefully providing inputs to the standardization bodies and guidelines to the operators, as well as competitive advantages to European telecom equipment manufacturers. Integration will be pursued primarily by establishing long-term collaborations among partners in terms of research, of infrastructures sharing, and of education and training. The main instruments to achieve these long- lasting collaborations are the regular exchange of researchers between partners, and the development of joint teaching programs and events. Dissemination will be pursued by means of coordinated publication activities, offerings of training programs, organization of technical events, and interactions with other consortia in the same technical area. Research activities will mainly be carried out in research programs external to the NoE, both at the national and at the European levels. Well focused technical research programs will be activated internally to the NoE.

Duration
24 months

Participants
e-Photon/ONe involves 37 partners, coming from 12 member states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, United Kingdom), 3 candidate countries (Hungary, Poland, Turkey) and 2 third countries (Croatia, applicant country and target INCO West Balkan country, and Norway, associated country). The consortium is composed by 29 universities and other higher education institutes, 4 telecom operators, 1 manufacturer, 3 non-profit research centres.

Contract number
FP6-001933

More Info
Project Website: http://www.e-photon-one.org/ephotonone/servlet/photon.Generar