Distributed computing with high-speed optical networks

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Abstract
An environment that uses wavelength division multiplexing techniques and optical switching and processing to provide large bandwidths, short delays, and multiple data streams for distributed processing is described. The focus is on the interrelationship between application needs and network services. The system level, a conceptual layer designed to bridge the gap between application requirements and underlying high-speed network services, is proposed. The system level is a logical view of the physical network represented by a virtual topology projected onto the physical network. Embedding this virtual topology introduces many new problems and performance tradeoffs into the design of the network. A few of these problems are outlined, and some initial research efforts in this area are discussed. The physical network level, the collection of optical fiber links interconnecting the nodes in the network, and the application level, a logical view of an application's computational topology and representation of the application's communication and computing requirements, are also described.