It will all be possible because of sophisticated networks, powerful computing, low cost bandwidth terrestrial integration, and seamless switching.

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Software-defined networks will provide some of this flexibility by separating the control function from data forwarding, but there are additional capabilities emerging, he says, such as intelligent switching of wavelengths, the ability to mix dedicated bandwidth with best-efforts networks, and application layer network traffic optimization, e.g.

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This provides a means of switching a signal between two wavelengths a neat trick for using bandwidth more effectively.

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