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In this article, it is argued that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (I4.0) is the result of a technology fusion between the following factors that define an economic epoch: (a) The production systems and the type of tools these systems are employing; (b) The communication technologies as well as the means used for information storage, processing, sensing and knowledge creation: the information and communication technologies (ICT); (c) The energy generation and distribution systems used, and (d) The biotechnology. The thesis of this article is that ICT is the predominant factor in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To justify this claim, the progress of the scientific fields of which this factor consists is elaborated, and its impact on other factors is highlighted with emphasis on the societal impact. It is claimed that the eventual fusion of these factors leads to a single technological continuum. The eventual fusion of all factors is made possible because they all exploit a common material base while we are entering the era where we can regulate and superintend a vast number of heterogeneous technologies via open software. The eventual fusion of these factors will lead to a single technological continuum, and it will redefine the notions of "production" and "work," as it will allow overcoming the over-fragmentation in specialization, while it will reshape our cities, our personal lives and our relationship with science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many telecom operators are deploying their own cloud infrastructure with the two-fold objective of providing cloud services to their customers and enabling network function virtualization. In this article we present an architecture we call SHINE, which focuses on orchestrating cloud with heterogeneous access and core networks. In this architecture intra and inter DC connectivity is dynamically controlled, maximizing the overall performance in terms of throughput and latency while minimizing total costs. The main building blocks are: a future-proof network architecture that can scale to offer potentially unlimited bandwidth based on an active remote node (ARN) to interface end-users and the core network; an innovative distributed DC architecture consisting of micro-DCs placed in selected core locations to accelerate content delivery, reducing core network traffic, and ensuring very low latency; and dynamic orchestration of the distributed DC and access and core network segments. SHINE will provide unprecedented quality of experience, greatly reducing costs by coordinating network and cloud and facilitating service chaining by virtualizing network functions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The manner and exact timing of the evolution of the widely used DWDM infrastructure to a transparent optical network will be judged on economic circumstances and network performance. In this context this article elaborates on a methodology developed within the Project 1ST NOBEL,¹ for integrating cost functions and other design constraints into the planning of a DWDM network while considering this evolution perspective to a transparent optical network. This systematic approach builds upon the experience of static network design and is sub- stantiated by specific examples in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on several articles published in the November 1, 2005 issue of the "IEEE Communications Magazine." The first article by Nageswara S.V. Rao is titled "UltraScienceNet: Network Testbed for Large-Scale Science Applications." This article presents the key aspects of the U.S. Department of Energy's experimental testbed for developing networking technologies for next-generation large-scale scientific applications. The second article by Ilia Baldine is titled "JumpStart Deployments in Ultra High Performance Optical Networking Testbeds." This work details developments in the JumpStart concept for architectures and protocols for use in various ultra-high-performance optical testbeds. The third article, "In-Field Evaluation of a Managed IP/MPLS over WDM Provisioning Solution" by Fotis Karayannis, addresses various aspects of multilayer networking and associated challenges in achieving on-demand bandwidth provisioning and resource/restoration management. The fourth article is titled "Global Seamless Network Demonstrator: A Comprehensive ASON/GMPLS Testbed," by Hans-Martin Foisel. This work details Deutsche Telekom AG's activities in setting up various comprehensive ASON/GMPLS network demonstrators.