This paper gives an overview of Software Defined Optical Networks or SDONs and how they can be implemented. It traces the evolution of Optical networks upto GMPLS and traces the idea of SDN and builds upto OpenFlow. The paper explores the need for SDONs and explains what a SDON solution could look like, including the hardware. It also seeks to explain how OpenFlow could be used as a part of this solution to overcome the limitations of GMPLS.

翻译：本文概述了软件定义光网络（SDONs）及其实现方式。文章追溯了从光网络到GMPLS的演进历程，梳理了SDN思想的发展脉络并延伸至OpenFlow。本文探讨了SDONs的必要性，阐释了包含硬件在内的SDON解决方案的潜在形态。同时，本文旨在说明如何将OpenFlow作为该解决方案的组成部分，以突破GMPLS的局限性。