Analytical vs. simulation approach to availability calculation of circuit switched optical transmission network

The article analyses and compares analytical and simulation approach to telecommunication network availability calculation. Calculations are focused on optical transmission network with circuit switching. Network planning procedure, including capacity dimensioning and node structuring, has been described. Routing and wavelength assignment have been used to optimally route demands and maximize the wavelength usage. Static and dynamic node structuring has been employed. Availability analysis is based on transport entities making the logical hierarchy. The hierarchy fully describes the way the transmission elements have been assigned to traffic demands and employed protection/restoration scheme. Schemes include no protection, 1+1 protection and path restoration. Analytical and simulation procedure have been described and applied to networks based on topologies proposed within COST 266 project.