Design of grooming architectures for optical WDM mesh networks: limited grooming with electronic wavelength conversion

In this article, we consider the problem of traffic grooming in optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) mesh networks under static traffic conditions. The objective of this work is to minimize the network cost and in particular, the electronic port costs incurred for meeting a given performance objective. In earlier work, we have shown the benefits of limited grooming switch architectures, where only a subset of wavelengths in a network are equipped with expensive SONET Add Drop Multiplexers (SADM) that provide the grooming functionality. In this work, we also consider the wavelength conversion capability of such groomers. This can be achieved using a digital cross-connect (DCS) in the grooming switch to switch low-speed connections between the SADMs (and hence, between wavelengths). The grooming switch thus avoids the need for expensive optical wavelength converters. Based on these observations, we propose a limited conversion-based grooming architecture for optical WDM mesh networks. The local ports at every node in this architecture can be one of three types: an add-drop port, a grooming port that allows wavelength conversion or a grooming port that does not allow wavelength conversion. The problem studied is: given a static traffic model, where should the different ports be placed in a network? We formulate this as an optimization problem using an Integer Linear Programing (ILP) and present numerical results for the same. We also present a heuristic-based approach to solve the problem for larger networks.     

A Lagrangian-Relaxation Based Network Profit Optimization For Mesh SONET-Over-WDM Networks

In Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks, the huge capacity of wavelength channels is generally much larger than the bandwidth requirement of individual traffic streams from network users. Traffic grooming techniques aggregate low-bandwidth traffic streams onto high-bandwidth wavelength channels. In this paper, we study the optimization problem of grooming the static traffic in mesh Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) over WDM networks. The problem is formulated as a constrained integer linear programming problem and an innovative optimization objective is developed as network profit optimization. The routing cost in the SONET and WDM layers as well as the revenue generated by accepting SONET traffic demands are modelled. Through the optimization process, SONET traffic demands will be selectively accepted based on the profit (i.e., the excess of revenue over network cost) they generate. Consiering the complexity of the network optimization problem, a decomposition approach using Lagrangian relaxation is proposed. The overall relaxed dual problem is decomposed into routing and wavelength assignment and SONET traffic routing sub-problems. The subgradient approach is used to optimize the derived dual function by updating the Lagrange multipliers. To generate a feasible network routing scheme, a heuristic algorithm is proposed based on the dual solution. A systematic approach to obtain theoretical performance bounds is presented for an arbitrary topology mesh network. This is the first time that such theoretical performance bounds are obtained for SONET traffic grooming in mesh topology networks. The optimization results of sample networks indicate that the roposed algorithm achieves good sub-optimal solutions. Finally, the influence of various network parameters is studied.     

An efficient dynamic multicast traffic-grooming algorithm for WDM networks

With the growth of multi-granularity multicast applications, there comes into being a huge gap between the bandwidth of a wavelength provided and a multicast traffic required in the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. The dynamic multicast traffic-grooming is an effective way for WDM networks to improve the wavelength utilization and decrease the traffic blocking probability. A novel switching node architecture with the multicast switching matrix and traffic-grooming fabric is studied in the paper. Then, an efficient dynamic multicast traffic-grooming algorithm is proposed for the architecture. According to the ratio of network available grooming port number to network transceiver number, the proposed algorithm estimates whether the traffic-grooming port is a scarce resource for input traffic and chooses the appropriate grooming strategy. If the traffic-grooming port is scarce, the minimized use grooming port strategy is designed for the coming traffic. On the contrary, the minimized use node transceiver strategy is applied for the coming traffic. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can groom traffic efficiently with low blocking probability and high network throughput constraint by limiting number of node transceivers and grooming ports.     

Multicast multi-granular grooming based on integrated auxiliary grooming graph in optical networks

In order to improve the bandwidth utilization efficiency and reduce the blocking probability for multicast requests in optical networks, the multicast traffic grooming approach was proposed to groom a lot of low-speed traffic to a few of high-speed light-trees. At the same time, in order to save the ports and the cost of optical cross-connect, the multicast waveband grooming approach was proposed to groom multiple light-trees to a few of waveband tunnels. However, the existing approaches all did not consider the joint performances of improving bandwidth utilization efficiency, reducing blocking probability and saving ports for multicast requests. Therefore, in this article, we propose a new multicast multi-granular grooming approach to perform the hierarchical sequential grooming to improve the joint performances based on a newly developed integrated auxiliary grooming graph (IAGG) that includes multiple wavelength integrated grooming graphs (WIGGs) and one waveband virtual topology layered graph (BVLG) to support both the multicast traffic grooming and multicast waveband grooming. In order to achieve the map of light-tree to the virtual topology layer in WIGG or BVLG, we present a light-segment map method, where a light-tree will be divided to several light-segments each of which will be independently mapped to the virtual topology layer. Since different definitions of blocking probability may lead to different objectives, we define two kinds of blocking probability, mean blocking probability of requests (MBPR) and mean blocking probability of users (MBPU). According to the two definitions of blocking probability, we propose two multicast multi-granular grooming heuristic algorithms, Heuristic Algorithm with minimizing MBPR and Heuristic Algorithm with minimizing MBPU based on IAGG. Simulation results show that the two proposed algorithms are both efficient and have better performances than traditional multicast grooming algorithm.     

Performance analysis of multicast routing and wavelength assignment protocol with dynamic traffic grooming in WDM networks

The need for on‐demand provisioning of wavelength‐routed channels with service‐differentiated offerings within the transport layer has become more essential because of the recent emergence of high bit rate Internet protocol (IP) network applications. Diverse optical transport network architectures have been proposed to achieve the above requirements. This approach is determined by fundamental advances in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technologies. Because of the availability of ultra long‐reach transport and all‐optical switching, the deployment of all‐optical networks has been made possible. The concurrent transmission of multiple streams of data with the assistance of special properties of fiber optics is called WDM. The WDM network provides the capability of transferring huge amounts of data at high speeds by the users over large distances. There are several network applications that require the support of QoS multicast, such as multimedia conferencing systems, video‐on‐demand systems, real‐time control systems, etc. In a WDM network, the route decision and wavelength assignment of lightpath connections are based mainly on the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA). The multicast RWA's task is to maximize the number of multicast groups admitted or minimize the call‐blocking probability. The dynamic traffic‐grooming problem in wavelength‐routed networks is generally a two‐layered routing problem in which traffic connections are routed over lightpaths in the virtual topology layer and lightpaths are routed over physical links in the physical topology layer. In this paper, a multicast RWA protocol for capacity improvement in WDM networks is designed. In the wavelength assignment technique, paths from the source node to each of the destination nodes and the potential paths are divided into fragments by the junction nodes and these junction nodes have the wavelength conversion capability. By using the concept of fragmentation and grouping, the proposed scheme can be generally applied for the wavelength assignment of multicast in WDM networks. An optimized dynamic traffic grooming algorithm is also developed to address the traffic grooming problem in mesh networks in the multicast scenario for maximizing the resource utilization and minimizing the blocking probability. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distributed dynamic grooming routing and wavelength assignment in WDM optical mesh networks

The bandwidth of a wavelength channel in WDM optical networks is very high compared to the user’s requirements for various applications. Therefore, there is a scope for better utilization of channel bandwidth by traffic grooming, in which several user’s channels are multiplexed for transmission over a single channel. Several research works have been reported on traffic grooming routing and wavelength assignment (GRWA) for static and dynamic traffic pattern under centralized environment. Distributed dynamic grooming routing and wavelength assignment (DDGRWA) is a new and quite unexplored area in WDM optical mesh networks. This article introduces the concept of distributed traffic grooming in WDM mesh networks which also includes virtual topology construction, reconfiguration, routing and wavelength assignment in the distributed environment assuming incoming traffic to be dynamic in nature. We have also presented simulation results of our algorithm on dynamically generated traffic under various network topologies.     

Design and Performance Evaluation of Traffic Grooming Algorithms in WDM Multi-Ring Networks

In this paper, we propose novel traffic grooming algorithms to reduce the cost of the entire system in WDM multi-ring networks. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to construct a virtual topology and groom the traffic in these networks. We consider four kinds of virtual topologies of WDM multi-ring networks according to the way in which traffic is transmitted among rings. Accordingly, we design four kinds of traffic grooming (TG) algorithms depending on the considered virtual topologies: mixed (MTG), partially mixed (PMTG), separate (STG), and independent (ITG) traffic grooming algorithms. Each algorithm consists of a separation, a connection-ring construction, and a grooming procedure. In the separation procedure, all traffic connections are classified into intra and inter-connections. The connection-ring construction procedure makes full connection-rings from traffic connections. The grooming procedure groups connection-rings onto a wavelength in order to reduce the number of SONET add/drop multiplexers (SADMs) and wavelengths and to improve the utilization of network resources. To analyze the performance of each algorithm, a circular multi-ring architecture with uniform traffic is considered. The simulation results show that ITG and PMTG are more efficient in terms of wavelengths. STG and PMTG require a smaller number of SADMs.     

Multi-domain grooming algorithm based on hierarchical integrated multi-granularity auxiliary graph in optical mesh networks

With the size of traffic demands ranges from sub-wavelength-level to wavelength-level, traffic demands need to be aggregated and carried over the network in a cost-effective manner to make sure that the resources are utilized effectively. Therefore, the technique called multi-granularity grooming is proposed to save the cost by reducing the number of switching ports in optical cross-connects. However, the existing multi-granularity grooming algorithms are mostly limited in single-domain optical networks. Since the current optical backbone keeps enlarging and is actually divided to multiple independent domains for achieving the scalability and the confidentiality, it is necessary to study the multi-granularity grooming in multi-domain optical networks. In this paper, we propose a new heuristic algorithm called hierarchical multi-domain multi-granularity grooming (HMMG) based on hierarchical integrated multi-granularity auxiliary graph (H-IMAG) to reduce the total number of optical switching ports. The H-IMAG is composed of the inter-domain virtual topology graph (VTG) and the intra-domain integrated layered auxiliary graph (ILAG), where VTG includes a wavelength virtual topology graph (WVTG) and a waveband virtual topology graph (BVTG), and ILAG includes a wavelength layered auxiliary graph (WLAG) and a waveBand layered auxiliary graph (BLAG). Then, we can groom the sub-wavelength-level demands into lightpaths based on WVTG and WLAG and groom the wavelength-level demands into high-capacity wavebands based on BVTG and BLAG. Simulation results show that performances of H-IMAG can be significantly improved compared with previous algorithm.     

Combining GA with Splitting Methods for Rearrangeably Nonblocking Grooming of Dynamic Traffic in SONET Ring Networks

SONET/WDM rings are widely deployed in today’s networks. To reduce the total cost of such a network, an efficient way is using the traffic grooming technique to minimize the number of add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) on the ring. Since traffic often changes frequently, the problem of supporting dynamic traffic patterns with minimum number of ADMs and wavelengths becomes incresingly important, which is referred to as grooming of dynamic traffic. In this paper, we will deal with rearrangeably nonblocking grooming of arbitrary dynamic traffic in such ring networks. We will discuss in detail the benefit of splitting methods to such a grooming way and apply them to this kind of grooming. A novel genetic algorithm (GA) approach with a hierarchical chromosome structure for each individual is proposed in combination with splitting methods to address such grooming problems. Computer simulation results under different conditions show that our algorithm is efficient in reducing both the numbers of ADMs and wavelengths.     

A next-generation optical regional access network

We describe an optical regional access network which combines electronic IP routing with intelligent networking functionality of the optical WDM layer. The optical WDM layer provides such networking functions as network logical topology reconfiguration, optical flow switching to offload traffic and bypass IP routers, wavelength routing of signals, protection switching and restoration in the optical domain, and flexible network service provisioning by reconfigurable wavelength connectivity. We discuss key enabling technologies for the WDM layer and describe their limitations. The symbiosis of electronic and optical WDM networking functions also allows support for heterogeneous format traffic and will enable efficient gigabit-per-second user access in next-generation Internet networks     

Traffic grooming in static wavelength division multiplexing networks

Advances in wavelength-division multiplexing technology have made it possible to design point-to-point transmission systems with unprecedented per-wavelength high capacity. This capacity may be exploited to design optical networks, in which end nodes are interconnected by circuits consisting of wavelengths. Contrary to early expectations, however, most of today's end-to-end applications require only sub-wavelength bandwidth. This bandwidth mismatch makes wavelength circuits inefficient in many cases, unless multiple traffic flows are time multiplexed together on the same wavelength. This practice is often referred to as traffic grooming. In this survey the authors address the issue of achieving efficient traffic grooming in static WDM networks. A great deal of discussion is devoted to the problem of determining which network solution is the most cost effective, taking into account the network topology, volume of traffic, possible optical impairments at high transmission rates, and cost ratio between electronic and optical components.     

A novel robust routing algorithm for multi-granularity connection requests in wavelength division multiplexing mesh networks

In this paper, we propose a novel robust routing algorithm based on Valiant load-balancing under the model of polyhedral uncertainty (i.e., hose uncertainty model) for WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) mesh networks. Valiant load-balanced robust routing algorithm constructs the stable virtual topology on which any traffic patterns under the hose uncertainty model can be efficiently routed. Considering there are multi-granularity connection requests in WDM mesh networks, we propose the method called hose-model separation to solve the problem for the proposed algorithm. Our goal is to minimize total network cost when constructing the stable virtual topology that assures robust routing for the hose model in WDM mesh networks. A mathematical formulation (integer linear programming, ILP) about Valiant load-balanced robust routing algorithm is presented. Two fast heuristic approaches are also proposed and evaluated. We compare the network throughput of the virtual topology constructed by the proposed algorithm with that of the traditional traffic grooming algorithm under the same total network cost by computer simulation.     

Reconfiguration of Logical Topologies with Minimum Traffic Disruptions in Reliable WDM-Based Mesh Networks

A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network offers a flexible networking infrastructure by assigning the route and wavelength of lightpaths. We can construct an optimal logical topology, by properly setting up the lightpaths. Furthermore, setting up a backup lightpath for each lightpath improves network reliability. When traffic demand changes, a new optimal (or sub-optimal) topology should be obtained by again applying the formulation. Then, we can reconfigure the running topology to the logical topology obtained. However, during this reconfiguration, traffic loss may occur due to the deletion of older lightpaths. In this paper, we consider reconfiguring the logical topology in reliable WDM-based mesh networks, and we propose five procedures that can be used to reconfigure a running lightpath to a new one. Applying the procedures one by one produces a new logical topology. The procedures mainly focus on utilizing free wavelength resources and the resources of backup lightpaths, which are not used usually for transporting traffic. The results of computer simulations indicate that the traffic loss is remarkably reduced in the 14-node network we used as an example.     

Traffic grooming in mesh WDM optical networks - performance analysis

Traffic grooming is an important task in interworking between the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical network that supplies "pipes" at the wavelength granularity, and the attached client networks that usually require connections of subwavelength granularity. The focus of this paper is to conduct performance analysis of grooming dynamic client traffic in WDM optical networks with a mesh topology. This paper first briefly introduces the traffic grooming problem in WDM optical networks and the issues related to performance analysis. It then develops two link blocking models, an exact model based on the stochastic knapsack problem and an approximation model based on an approximate continuous time Markov chain (CTMC). The end-to-end performance analysis is conducted using the reduced load approximation. The result obtained from analysis is shown to be accurate compared with the numerical result obtained from simulation.     

Strategies for optimal logical topology design and traffic grooming

Traffic grooming techniques are used to combine low-speed data streams onto high-speed lightpaths with the objective of minimizing the network cost, or maximizing the network throughput. In this article, we present a complete suite of efficient Integer Linear Program (ILP) formulations for logical topology design and traffic grooming on mesh WDM networks. Our formulations can be easily modified to implement different objective functions and, contrary to previous formulations, our ILP formulation can be used to generate optimal solutions for practical sized networks with hundreds of requests. Our first set of formulations addresses the complete logical topology design traffic grooming problem, including RWA and traffic routing. The second set uses the simplifying assumption that RWA is not an issue. The last two sets address optimal traffic grooming alone, where the logical topology is already specified. We have studied these formulations, using simulation with networks having up to 30 nodes, and with hundreds and, in some cases, over a thousand low-speed data streams and have shown that the formulations are able to generate optimal solutions within a reasonable amount of time.     

WDM-based packet networks

We discuss design considerations for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based packet networks. In the near term, such networks are likely to consist of WDM links connected using some form of electronic multiplexing. The focus of this article is on the joint design of the electronic and optical layer with the objective of simplifying the network and reducing the protocol stack. To that end, we discuss the benefits of optical flow switching, network reconfiguration, traffic grooming, and optical layer protection. We also discuss the state of all-optical packet networking with particular focus on local area network technology     

Cost efficient traffic grooming and regenerator placement in impairment-aware optical WDM networks

In this paper, we address the problem of traffic grooming and regenerator placement in a WDM optical network in which lightpaths are hop-constrained by physical impairments. The efficient placement of regenerators and electronic grooming equipment at ROADM nodes for a given network topology is required such that all traffic demands can be supported with minimum cost. We present a detailed ROADM node architecture together with an associated cost model. We model the problem by Integer Linear Programming (ILPs) and propose an auxiliary-graph-based heuristic for jointly placing regenerators and electronic grooming equipment in the network. To evaluate the performance of the proposed heuristic, we also derive a lower bound on the network cost. The numerical results show that combining the grooming problem with the placement of regenerators reduces the network cost significantly compared to the cases in which traffic grooming and regenerator placement are handled separately. The performance of the proposed polynomial-time heuristic is very close to the lower bound and approaches the bound as the network load increases.     

Traffic grooming in an optical WDM mesh network

In wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks, the bandwidth request of a traffic stream can be much lower than the capacity of a lightpath. Efficiently grooming low-speed connections onto high-capacity lightpaths will improve the network throughput and reduce the network cost. In WDM/SONET ring networks, it has been shown in the optical network literature that by carefully grooming the low-speed connection and using wavelength-division multiplexer (OADM) to perform the optical bypass at intermediate nodes, electronic ADMs can be saved and network cost will be reduced. In this study, we investigate the traffic-grooming problem in a WDM-based optical mesh topology network. Our objective is to improve the network throughput. We study the node architecture for a WDM mesh network with traffic-grooming capability. A mathematical formulation of the traffic-grooming problem is presented in this study and several fast heuristics are also proposed and evaluated     

Algorithms for the global design of WDM networks including the traffic grooming

In this paper, we propose a model and algorithms for the global design problem of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks including the traffic grooming. This problem consists in finding the number of fibres between each pair of nodes (i.e. the physical topology), finding the number of transponders at each node, choosing the set of lightpaths (i.e. the virtual topology), routing these lightpaths over the physical topology and, finally, grooming and routing the traffic over the lightpaths. Since this problem is NP-hard, we propose two heuristic algorithms and a tabu search metaheuristic algorithm to find solutions for real-size instances within a reasonable amount of computational time.     

业务疏导技术在WDM网络及OPS网络中的应用

在波分复用(WDM)光网络中,可使用业务疏导(Traffic Grooming)技术来提高网络性能,降低网络成本.详细阐述了WDM光网络中业务疏导的基本概念及主要目标,并对国内外研究现状进行了总结.最后介绍了OPS光交换网络中使用的业务疏导技术.