Analytical modeling of WDM media access protocols

The authors introduce a mathematical model for the analysis of media access protocols for star-coupled wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) photonic networks. The analytic technique is introduced through the study of two preallocation protocols designed for WDM star-coupled photonic networks. The protocols considered have been proposed for networks with WDM channels preallocated to the nodes in the network. The preallocation approach reduces the resulting system complexity since tunable transmitters and receivers are not required, and also has the advantage of being applicable to systems where there are many more nodes than wavelength channels. Both protocols are designed to operate in a multiple-channel multiple-access environment and require each node to possess a tunable transmitter and a fixed receiver. The models were validated through discrete-event simulation. The performance of the two protocols is studied in terms of average packet delay and network throughput for variations in the system parameters.