An analytical model for predicting the locations and frequencies of 3R regenerations in all-optical wavelength-routed WDM networks

In all-optical wavelength-switched WDM networks, 3R regeneration does not need to be performed at every node in a path. Thus, a significant cost savings can be realized by efficiently provisioning a limited amount of 3R regeneration resources in each node in the network and utilizing these resources efficiently. In order to aid in these two tasks, we present an analytical model to predict the location and relative frequency of 3R regeneration requests in the network. Because the model is based solely on the topological information of the network, the predictions provided are very general and are independent of specific network operating parameters, such as the routing protocol employed. Simulation results are also presented to verify the accuracy of the model.