**3. Optical switching paradigms**

To appreciate the benefits and challenges of all optical networking, it is instructive to review switching in the optical layer. In this section, we first discuss the carrier perspective on the design, functionality and application of switching technology.

Ongoing years have exhibited the constrained versatility of electronic switching changing to acknowledge transport systems. In reaction, all-optical switching/processing has been recognized as a candidate arrangement to empower high-capacity communication within the future. One of the elemental challenges is to proficiently bolster a wide range of traffic configuration, driving the requirement for hardware that is affordable to construct and deploy [28]. The purpose is to identify the key switch technology which can be used in the gridless elastic network scenario.
