Logical topology design for IP rerouting: ASONs versus static OTNs

IP-based backbone networks are gradually moving to a network model consisting of high-speed routers that are flexibly interconnected by a mesh of light paths set up by an optical transport network that consists of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) links and optical cross-connects. In such a model, the generalized MPLS protocol suite could provide the IP centric control plane component that will be used to deliver rapid and dynamic circuit provisioning of end-to-end optical light paths between the routers. This is called an automatic switched optical (transport) network (ASON). An ASON enables reconfiguration of the logical IP topology by setting up and tearing down light paths. This allows to up- or downgrade link capacities during a router failure to the capacities needed by the new routing of the affected traffic. Such survivability against (single) IP router failures is cost-effective, as capacity to the IP layer can be provided flexibly when necessary. We present and investigate a logical topology optimization problem that minimizes the total amount or cost of the needed resources (interfaces, wavelengths, WDM line-systems, amplifiers, etc.) in both the IP and the optical layer. A novel optimization aspect in this problem is the possibility, as a result of the ASON, to reuse the physical resources (like interface cards and WDM line-systems) over the different network states (the failure-free and all the router failure scenarios). We devised a simple optimization strategy to investigate the cost of the ASON approach and compare it with other schemes that survive single router failures

Power consumption evaluation of circuit-switched versus packet-switched optical backbone networks

While telecommunication networks have historically been dominated by a circuit-switched paradigm, the last decades have seen a clear trend towards packet-switched networks. In this paper we evaluate how both paradigms perform in optical backbone networks from a power consumption point of view, and whether the general agreement of circuit switching being more power-efficient holds. We consider artificially generated topologies of various sizes, mesh degrees and not yet previously explored in this context transport linerates. We cross-validate our findings with a number of realistic topologies. Our results show that, as a generalization, packet switching can become preferable when the traffic demands are lower than half the transport linerate. We find that an increase in the network node count does not consistently increase the energy savings of circuit switching over packet switching, but is heavily influenced by the mesh degree and (to a minor extent) by the average link length

Optimized Design of Survivable MPLS over Optical Transport Networks. Optical Switching and Networking

In this paper we study different options for the survivability implementation in MPLS over Optical Transport Networks in terms of network resource usage and configuration cost. We investigate two approaches to the survivability deployment: single layer and multilayer survivability and present various methods for spare capacity allocation (SCA) to reroute disrupted traffic. The comparative analysis shows the influence of the traffic granularity on the survivability cost: for high bandwidth LSPs, close to the optical channel capacity, the multilayer survivability outperforms the single layer one, whereas for low bandwidth LSPs the single layer survivability is more cost-efficient. For the multilayer survivability we demonstrate that by mapping efficiently the spare capacity of the MPLS layer onto the resources of the optical layer one can achieve up to 22% savings in the total configuration cost and up to 37% in the optical layer cost. Further savings (up to 9 %) in the wavelength use can be obtained with the integrated approach to network configuration over the sequential one, however, at the increase in the optimization problem complexity. These results are based on a cost model with actual technology pricing and were obtained for networks targeted to a nationwide coverage

Energy-efficient traffic engineering

The energy consumption in telecommunication networks is expected to grow considerably, especially in core networks. In this chapter, optimization of energy consumption is approached from two directions. In a first study, multilayer traffic engineering (MLTE) is used to assign energy-efficient paths and logical topology to IP traffic. The relation with traditional capacity optimization is explained, and the MLTE strategy is applied for daily traffic variations. A second study considers the core network below the IP layer, giving a detailed power consumption model. Optical bypass is evaluated as a technique to achieve considerable power savings over per-hop opticalelectronicoptical regeneration. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

Analysis of resource sharing in transparent networks

Transparent optical networking promises a cost-efficient solution for future core and metro networks because of the efficacy of switching high-granularity trunk traffic without opto-electronic conversion. Network availability is an important performance parameter for network operators, who are incorporating protection and restoration mechanisms in the network to achieve competitive advantages. This paper focuses on the reduction in Capital Expenditures (CapEx) expected from implementing sharing of backup resources in path-protected transparent networks. We dimension a nationwide network topology for different protection mechanisms using transparent and opaque architectures. We investigate the CapEx reductions obtained through protection sharing on a population of 1000 randomly generated biconnected planar topologies with 14 nodes. We show that the gain for transparent networks is heavily dependent on the offered load, with almost no relative gain for low load (no required parallel line systems). We also show that for opaque networks the CapEx reduction through protection sharing is independent of the traffic load and shows only a small dependency on the number of links in the network. The node CapEx reduction for high load (relative to the number of channels in a line system) is comparable to the CapEx reduction in opaque OTN systems. This is rather surprising as in OTN systems the number of transceivers and linecards and the size of the OTN switching matrix all decrease, while in transparent networks only the degree of the ROADM (number and size of WSSs in the node) decreases while the number of transponders remains the same

Power consumption evaluation of circuit-switched versus packet-switched optical backbone networks

While telecommunication networks have historically been dominated by a circuit-switched paradigm, the last decades have seen a clear trend towards packet-switched networks. In this paper we evaluate how both paradigms perform in optical backbone networks from a power consumption point of view, and whether the general agreement of circuit switching being more power-efficient holds. We consider artificially generated topologies of various sizes, mesh degrees and not yet previously explored in this context transport linerates. We cross-validate our findings with a number of realistic topologies. Our results show that, as a generalization, packet switching can become preferable when the traffic demands are lower than half the transport linerate. We find that an increase in the network node count does not consistently increase the energy savings of circuit switching over packet switching, but is heavily influenced by the mesh degree and (to a minor extent) by the average link length

Survivable MPLS Over Optical Transport Networks: Cost and Resource Usage Analysis

In this paper we study different options for the survivability implementation in MPLS over Optical Transport Networks (OTN) in terms of network resource usage and configuration cost. We investigate two approaches to the survivability deployment: single layer and multilayer survivability and present various methods for spare capacity allocation (SCA) to reroute disrupted traffic. The comparative analysis shows the influence of the offered traffic granularity and the physical network structure on the survivability cost: for high bandwidth LSPs, close to the optical channel capacity, the multilayer survivability outperforms the single layer one, whereas for low bandwidth LSPs the single layer survivability is more cost-efficient. On the other hand, sparse networks of low connectivity parameter use more wavelengths for optical path routing and increase the configuration cost, as compared with dense networks. We demonstrate that by mapping efficiently the spare capacity of the MPLS layer onto the resources of the optical layer one can achieve up to 22% savings in the total configuration cost and up to 37% in the optical layer cost. Further savings (up to 9 %) in the wavelength use can be obtained with the integrated approach to network configuration over the sequential one, however, at the increase in the optimization problem complexity. These results are based on a cost model with different cost variations, and were obtained for networks targeted to a nationwide coverage

Optimised Design and Analysis of All-Optical Networks

This PhD thesis presents a suite of methods for optimising design and for analysing blocking probabilities of all-optical networks. It thus contributes methodical knowledge to the field of computer assisted planning of optical networks. A two-stage greenfield optical network design optimiser is developed, based on shortest-path algorithms and a comparatively new metaheuristic called simulated allocation. It is able to handle design of all-optical mesh networks with optical cross-connects, considers duct as well as fibre and node costs, and can also design protected networks. The method is assessed through various experiments and is shown to produce good results and to be able to scale up to networks of realistic sizes. A novel method, subpath wavelength grouping, for routing connections in a multigranular all-optical network where several wavelengths can be grouped and switched at band and fibre level is presented. The method uses an unorthodox routing strategy focusing on common subpaths rather than individual connections, and strives to minimise switch port count as well as fibre usage. It is shown to produce cheaper network designs than previous methods when fibre costs are comparatively high. A new optical network concept, the synchronous optical hierarchy, is proposed, in which wavelengths are subdivided into timeslots to match the traffic granularity. Various theoretical properties of this concept are investigated and compared in simulation studies. An integer linear programming model for optical ring network design is presented. Manually designed real world ring networks are studied and it is found that the model can lead to cheaper network design. Moreover, ring and mesh network architectures are compared using real world costs, and it is found that optical cros..