Liaison statement
Communication to ITU-T Q6/15 from IETF's CCAMP Working Group on Lambda Switch Capable Equipment

The CCAMP Working Group of IETF would like to inform you of our work on
enhancing GMPLS's support for Lambda Switching to support the new
generation of Lambda Switch Capable equipment (e.g. ROADMs and PXCs).
GMPLS provides a standard control plane in support of setting up (or
restoring) a connection for multiple technologies (e.g. photonic, TDM
(SONET/SDH), Ethernet).

When GMPLS currently sets up an end-to-end wavelength connection (i.e. a
Lambda LSP), the label that identifies the Lambda to use only has local
context (between the neighboring nodes at the ends of the Lambda link).
With the recent progress on optical network technology and the
capability to activate/reroute an optical path over a larger domain
comprised of DWDM, ROADMs, and PXCs (e.g. G.680 Appendix III
application), CCAMP participants are interested to investigate these new
applications to ensure the applicability of GMPLS protocols for
connection setup and path computation and whether additional extensions
are needed. The following document "Framework for GMPLS and PCE Control
of Wavelength Switched Optical Networks (WSON)" provides a framework for
our work effort:

http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ccamp-wavelength-switched-framework-00.txt

Note that CCAMP is concerned with the GMPLS protocol aspects for control
of Lambda Switch Capable equipment. Work on characterization of optical
signals, devices, and fibers is not within our scope.

The first aspect being considered is a standardized wavelength
representation. The proposal for the wavelength label representation is
based on the grids used by G.694.1 and G.694.2. The following document
"Generalized Labels for G.694 Lambda-Switching Capable Label Switching
Routers" describes our proposal:

http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ccamp-gmpls-g-694-lambda-
labels-01.txt

Both of these documents are in a very early phase of development. As we
progress our work, we will be including aspects of G.680. We welcome any
comments you may have at this time on our work and we would appreciate
if you would keep us informed of your progress in this area.

Best regards,
Adrian Farrel and Deborah Brungard
IETF CCAMP Working Group Co-Chairs