<s>
In	O
telecommunications	O
,	O
an	O
optical	B-Protocol
buffer	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
device	O
that	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
temporarily	O
storing	O
light	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Just	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
a	O
regular	O
buffer	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
storage	B-General_Concept
medium	I-General_Concept
that	O
enables	O
compensation	O
for	O
a	O
difference	O
in	O
time	O
of	O
occurrence	O
of	O
events	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
specifically	O
,	O
an	O
optical	B-Protocol
buffer	I-Protocol
serves	O
to	O
store	O
data	O
that	O
was	O
transmitted	O
optically	O
(	O
i.e.	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
light	O
)	O
,	O
without	O
converting	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
electrical	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
computer	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
consist	O
of	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
links	O
,	O
interconnected	O
by	O
electrical	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
light	O
cannot	O
be	O
frozen	O
,	O
an	O
optical	B-Protocol
buffer	I-Protocol
is	O
made	O
of	O
optical	B-Architecture
fibers	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
is	O
generally	O
much	O
larger	O
than	O
a	O
RAM	B-Architecture
chip	I-Architecture
of	O
comparable	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
research	O
on	O
optical	B-Protocol
buffers	I-Protocol
is	O
performed	O
in	O
two	O
separate	O
fields	O
.	O
</s>
