AbstractWe propose and demonstrate a new survivable dense wavelength‐division multiplexing/subcarrier multiplexing (DWDM/SCM) network based on the star–bus–ring architecture (SBRA). This architecture ensures an OBI‐free optical network, and can serve tremendous subscribers. In addition, remote nodes and bidirectional wavelength add/drop multiplexers (B–WADMs) are designed by using simple optical switches to reconfigure the network under link failure. We further set up an experimental network to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 32: 51–56, 2002.