working on optical management specifications, address- ing the linking of IP services directly to the optical networks that carry data, allow- ing these IP+optical networks to take advantage of the routing intelligence now embedded in IP headers. As described in the following sections, the three main standards efforts are IETF (www.ietf.org) GMPLS, Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF; www.oiforum.com) UNI, and ITU (www.itu.int) ASON. GMPLS GMPLS extends MPLS to Layer 1, which allows a coupling of the IP and optical control planes. Routers, packet switches, and optical switches become aware of each other thanks to GMPLS. GMPLS supports fiber, lambda, and TDM switching. It enables dynamic optical networks, which means paths can be established through optical networks via signaling and routing protocols; this involves the use of an optical UNI that allows the edge to signal the core for more or different bandwidth. The GMPLS control plane is an IP-based controller that employs IP protocols to operate the underlying optical network. It is a family of protocols that includes the following: Link Management Protocol (LMP)-GMPLS introduces the concept of LMP, which accommodates neighbor identification and link verification, as well as shared-risk groups, fault isolation, and topology-aware networks. Signaling protocols-GMPLS adds signaling, which enables us to signal into the network with a request that specifies the type of connection desired, change the path to use capacity previously not used, set up direct paths where needed and appropriate, and build in restoration. It uses sig- naling protocols for establishing links and restoration paths. GMPLS is implemented as a signaling protocol. When the route is calculated, GMPLS uses RSVP-Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) or Constraint-Based Routed Chapter 11 Optical Networking Label Distribution Protocol (CR-LDP) to set up the label-switched paths as it would with MPLS. However, GMPLS extends MPLS to control not only routers but also DWDM systems, ADMs, optical cross-connects, 