A design methodology for an optical mesh network

A design methodology for an optical mesh network has recently been developed. For a given backbone packet network, we assume that a traffic matrix and an underlying optical fiber network are given. It is necessary to establish logical links between backbone nodes using optical wavelengths over the fiber network. The methodology chooses and sizes logical backbone links, chooses the physical paths for these logical links, and determines traffic routings over logical links under both normal and failure conditions. The methodology utilizes a linear programming engine embedded within a heuristic framework. This work presumes an optical networking environment utilizing dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and intelligent optical switch (IOS) equipment. It can be used to study potential future networks with high levels of traffic, e.g., in which demand entering the network at any given instant may be measured in terabits per second. In this paper, we describe the optical mesh network design problem that is addressed, outline the solution methodology and discuss some computational experience.