Will ?’s Replace MPLS?
Only when the bandwidth required for any router-router pair approaches the bandwidth available from a single ? on the DWDM plant AND the cost of a port on an OXC is significantly cheaper than an equivalent bandwidth port on an MPLS switch.
When that occurs, the ?’s will be provisioned just as the MPLS LSP’s are – statically with resilience.
GMPLS may be the technology used to signal the path over the OXC, just as MPLS is used for the LSP’s today.