the optical network. Add-drop multiplexer Add-drop multiplexers (ADMs) are the most common type of network elements. Traditional ADMs were designed to support one of the network architectures, though new generation systems can often support several architectures, sometimes simultaneously. ADMs traditionally have a high-speed side (where the full line rate signal is supported), and a low-speed side, which can consist of electrical as well as optical interfaces. The low-speed side takes in low-speed signals, which are multiplexed by the network element and sent out from the high-speed side, or vice versa. Digital cross connect system Recent digital cross connect systems (DCSs or DXCs) support numerous high-speed signals, and allow for cross-connection of DS1s, DS3s and even STS-3s/12c and so on, from any input to any output. Advanced DCSs can support numerous subtending rings simultaneously. Network architectures SONET and SDH have a limited number of architectures defined. These architectures allow for efficient bandwidth usage as well as protection (i.e. the ability to transmit traffic even when part of the network has failed), and are fundamental to the worldwide deployment of SONET and SDH for moving digital traffic. Every SDH/SONET connection on the optical physical layer uses two optical fibers, regardless of the transmission speed. Linear Automatic Protection Switching Linear Automatic Protection Switching (APS), also known as 1+1, involves four fibers: two working fibers (one in each direction), and two protection fibers. Switching is based on the line state, and may be unidirectional (with each direction switching independently), or bidirectional (where the network elements at each end negotiate so that both directions are generally carried on the same pair of fibers). Unidirectional path-switched ring In unidirectional path-switched rings (UPSRs), two redundant (path-level) copies of protected traffic are sent in either direction around a ring. A selector at the egress node determines which copy has the highest quality, and uses that copy, thus coping if one copy deteriorates due to a broken fiber or other failure. UPSRs tend to sit nearer to the edge of a network, and as such are sometimes called collector rings. Because the same data is sent around the ring in both directions, the total capacity of a UPSR is equal to the line rate N of the OC-N ring. For example, in an OC-3 ring with 3 STS-1s used to transport 3 DS-3s from ingress node A to the egress node D, 100 percent of the ring bandwidth (N=3)