Routing and Wavelength Assignment in Optical Networks Using Logical Link Representation and Efficient Bitwise Computation

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a new approach for implementing efficient routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. In our method, the state of a fiber is given by the set of free wavelengths in this fiber and is efficiently represented as a compact bitmap. The state of a multiple-fiber link is also represented by a compact bitmap computed as the logical union of the individual bitmaps of the fibers in this link. Likewise, the state of a lightpath is represented by a similar bitmap computed as the logical intersection of the individual bitmaps of the links in this path. The count of the number of 1-valued bits in the bitmap of the route from source to destination is used as the primary reward function in route selection. A modified Dijkstra algorithm is developed for dynamic routing based on the bitmap representation. The algorithm uses bitwise logical operations and is quite efficient. A first-fit channel assignment algorithm is developed using a simple computation on the bitmap of the selected route. The resulting bitwise routing algorithm combines the benefits of least loaded routing algorithms and shortest path routing algorithms. Our extensive simulation tests have shown that the bitwise RWA approach has small storage overhead, is computationally fast, and reduces the network-wide blocking probability. The blocking performance of our RWA method compares very favorably with three routing methods: fixed alternate routing, shortest path using flooding, and Dijkstra’s algorithm using mathematical operations. Our simulation experiments have also evaluated the performance gain obtained when the network access stations are equipped with finite buffers to temporarily hold blocked connection requests.