Can Metro Networks Be the Next Playground for (True) Elastic Optical Networks

Metro networks, being at the meeting point between telecom operators and over-the-top service providers, are particularly well-suited to the introduction of some level of dynamics in the optical networks, leveraging elastic building blocks such as transponders and optical nodes. We review some metro networks challenges appealing for innovative solutions in the short-medium term. Today elastic optical networks are first overviewed with the most deployed application examples. We then highlight a few features of next generation of optical networks and outline the main road towards this next generation with network experiments and associated use cases.