Network Architecture Study Group (NASG)

In order for an optical network to fully benefit from potentials of optical devices, clean slate discussions on the network architecture, vertically integrating from applications to device layers, are indispensable. NASG has been established in order to provide a place to facilitate such discussions ensuring the process of vertical integration. Namely, all of the researchers from different layers who participate in VICTORIES get together at this regularly held NASG meetings, to exchange updated information and share the image of the target network.

So far, NASG has been successful in the sense that all the members could equally deepen the understanding of important pertinent topics through lectures by experts and the associated discussions and that possible network architecture that provides 'end-to-end' and 'end-to-server' ultra-high definition video services has been explored. Then, it has been shown that more than three orders of magnitude better energy efficiency, as compared with the present technologies, could be achievable in an ideally designed Dynamic Optical Path Network.

New NASG, or NASG re-born as 'NASG2', will in principle continue its original activities but expand its activities as follows: The lectures in NASG2 will be open for non-VICTORIES-member experts in the related fields, e.g. the past lecturers, as well as Advisory Committee members of VICTORIES, in order to further activate creative discussions on the detailed practical issues how to realize the Dynamic Optical Path Networks, to which the present networks could migrate. For example, considered in NASG2 will be the comprehensive network architecture that includes: the user-to-server networks for cloud computing and beyond; data center backend networks for next generation contents delivery networks (CDN); high-capacity optical backhaul networks for the 4th generation mobile networks; and the ultimate Dynamic Optical Path Network that can provide bidirectional real-time ultra-high definition video streaming up to 100 Gbps for more than 30 million subscribers. In so doing, clarifying the technology development roadmap with a scenario of the so-called 'migration path' toward the ultimate target, detailed specifications shall be broken down to each technology layer. This process and methodology will also be reflected on rollouts of collaborating companies and open demonstrations and/or exhibitions of the technologies developed in VICTORIES.