Optimal design of reconfigurable ring multiwavelength networks

The introduction of fibre-optic technology has shifted the emphasis in telecommunications research from the traditional analysis of traffic models based on results from queueing theory towards a wide range of research on `survivability´. This work involves problems in the design of network architectures able to reconfigure the trunk network in the event of failures; possibly restoring much or all of lost call-carrying capacity. It can be observed that a simple ring architecture allows the combination of basic transmission capacity with the capability to broadcast information on the current states of nodes or links. Such an architecture can also be used for the multiwavelength photonic networks projected for the future. For such ring networks, survivability could be made inherent in the architecture with the addition of some form of alternative routing capability to reconfigure the ring in the event of failures. With hundreds of wavelengths potentially available due to optical frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) it is possible to design a ring-based metropolitan network