Abstract:

Often when O-UNI and GMPLS protocols are discussed they are compared on the basis of the different models they make possible. Specifically, O-UNI 1.0 is used to construct an overlay model and GMPLS is used to construct a peer-to-peer model between IP and Optical domains. Further additions to the GMPLS specification extended GMPLS to allow configuration of GMPLS protocols to represent anywhere from an overlay to peer-to-peer model. While it would seem that GMPLS provides a superset of the functionalities of O-UNI, both protocols are still needed. Given the applications for the use of both protocols, one important subject that is not well understood or discussed is the interoperability of O-UNI and GMPLS protocols. In this presentation, mechanisms that enable the interoperability of O-UNI and GMPLS protocols are outlined.

Zafar Ali is a Senior Software Engineer at Cisco Systems, Inc. In this position since 1999, Zafar lead software protocol development for Cisco Systems high speed, carrier-class routing business unit. Most recently Zafar has been focused on designing and developing GMPLS and OIF UNI protocols to integrate routing and optical switching networks. Prior to joining Cisco, Zafar worked at Nortel Networks and Hughes Network Systems.

Zafar Ali is author of several Journal papers, conference publications, and book chapters. In addition, Zafar has authored patents that are currently pending approval. Zafar has a broad range of interests include optical networking, MPLS Protocols, QOS based routing, and Traffic Engineering. Zafar is a member of IEEE Communication Society and Eta Kappa Nu. Zafar Ali is quite active as a member of the MPLS working group. More recently, Zafar has been involved in standardization and interoperability efforts on GMPLS protocols in the OIF, IETF, and ITU-T organizations.

Zafar Ali received his Ph. D. and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from NED University, Pakistan, where he was awarded the University Gold Medal.

Karen M. Sage is a Senior Engineering Manager at Cisco Systems and is responsible for Cisco's Optical Control Plane software strategy and its overall market development. Currently Karen and her team are defining a common, unified control plane technology that will revolutionize networking between IP router, data switch, and optical networking platforms. Karen is Cisco's primary representative to the Optical Internetworking Forum, an organization dedicated to driving interoperability among equipment providers.

Prior to her current role, Karen was the senior group manager of the operations management solutions and technical marketing at Cisco Systems. In this role, she directed several teams responsible for defining OSS strategy, for marketing these solutions, and for supporting early deployment of these solutions. Prior to these management roles, Karen was the chief architect of OSS solutions for the Service Provider Network Service Management Business Unit at Cisco. Karen moved into this leadership position after company-wide recognition of her successful creation and delivery to market of the IP VPN solution center, one of the first products to address the automated provisioning of complex IP services. Operations management and control technologies for data services have always been of keen interest to Karen. Indeed, Karen came to work for Cisco through Cisco's acquisition of NETSYS Technologies, Inc where Karen was the inventor of the NETSYS Enterprise Performance tools, which address capacity planning for large scale distributed data networks.

Karen's pioneering work in communication's field began several years prior to working in the commercial industry. Her masters and doctoral research in the performance analysis and design of large-scale communication networks at the University of Virginia continues to be the foundation of analysis and design tools on the market today. Karen is the author of several articles and technical papers, most recently in the April 2000 volume of the IEEE Communications Magazine. She is also a reviewer for several publishers and an invited speaker worldwide.