JOCN Special Issue on Latency in Edge Optical Networks

Submissions Open: 1 August 2018

Submission Deadline: 31 October 2018

Increased capacity and lower capital/operational costs have typically been the drivers of evolution in the optical transport layer. However, latency requirements are exerting increased influence in optical-network design. While low latency has always been a desirable attribute, it is now becoming a must-have for networks moving forward. This is especially true for edge networks, where there are a growing number of applications that require low latency to be viable.

For example, the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) specification for mobile fronthaul has very strict requirements for both latency and jitter. Human-in-the-loop applications, such as augmented reality or haptic networking, are driven by the low response time that is tolerable to humans. Multi-access edge computing (MEC) and fog computing encompass distributed computing at the network edge; low latencies among the edge entities are needed for this to be efficient.

We are interested in two forms of latency: low transport delay and/or low connection set-up delay. Furthermore, it is desirable that any proposed architecture be suitable not only for low-latency applications, but for more general access networks. While the optical layer is the focus of this issue, it is recognized that edge transport networks may be hybrid optical/wireless, to take advantage of both the inherent ubiquity of wireless technology and the large capacity of optical networks.

The scope of the special issue includes but is not limited to the following topics:

• Low-latency optical or optical/wireless architectures for access/metro networks
• Drivers of low-latency edge networks; i.e., application requirements and how they relate to optical edge networks
• Dynamic edge optical networking with very low setup-time capability
• Techno-economic studies of low-latency edge networks
• Optical-resource allocation in low-latency edge networks

Submissions to the special issue should be prepared according to the usual standards for the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking and will undergo the normal peer review process. Manuscripts must be uploaded through OSA's online submission system specifying from the Feature Issue drop-down menu that the manuscript is for the issue on Latency in Edge Optical Networks.

Special Issue Guest Editors

Jörg-Peter Elbers, Adva Optical Networking, Germany (Lead Guest Editor)
Ramon Casellas, Centre Tecnològic Telecomunicacions Catalunya (CTTC)
David Larrabeiti, U. Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M)
Thomas Pfeiffer, Nokia Bell Labs