COBNET: Corporate optical backbone network

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 95.0523-2

Key words (English)

Photonic technologies; Optical communication

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: AC069

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 4. Frame Research Programme - 1.2 Communications technologies

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

IBM Consulting Group, IBM Research Division, Siemens AG, GEC-Marconi Materials Technology, BT Labs, ATEA, Itatel, BNR Europe Ltd, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale, Universität Dortmund

Abstract (English)

The COBNET project has achieved its objective. It has established and demonstrated the architectural and technological concepts for a next generation of high- performance corporate networks taking advantage of both, photonic and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technologies. Corporate Networks are networks formed by the interconnection of customer premises networks such at different sites via public wide area networks (WANs) or alternatively, leased lines of private network providers, covering wide geographical areas - including Pan European and intercontinental dimensions.
The project developed high performance CPNs that use novel photonic technologies with multichannel transmission, space- and wavelength division multiplexing (SDM and WDM) techniques. Interconnections of these high speed CPNs to the public network (the future IBCN) use ATM techniques. Photonic multichannel transmission allows a 'Clear Channel' approach which is a bitrate, frame, format and largely distance independent transmission technique.
The ETH-Zurich group was responsible for the design and the realization of all the highly specialized silicon integrated circuits needed in the optoelectronic transmitters and receivers of the demonstrators that served to prove the practicality of the COBNET concept.
These silicon circuit integrates include: Twelve channel transmitter driver arrays with signaling capabilities conforming to STM, operational up to bit-rates at 2 Gbit/s. Twelve-channel receiver arrays with signaling capability for both SDM and WDM, operating over a range from 622 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s. Clock and data recovery circuits for clear channel applications operating with low jitter (<10 ps) and programmable for 622, 737 and 1060 Mbit/s.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 95.0523-2