Energy minimization design of fixed- and flex-grid optical networks

Core networks offer high capacities by harvesting the high bandwidth-distance product of optical technologies. However they consume a non-negligible amount of power, while their traffic volume is forecasted to grow at very high rates for the 10 or 15 coming years. Thus, energy-efficiency in core and metro networks is mandatory for the sustainability of the future Internet. In this context, in this work we used Mantis, our network planning and operation tool, to design and carry out a comparative study of energy efficiency of current and next generation optical networks. In particular, we examined the cases of fixed-grid single-line-rate (SLR) Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical networks, which are now deployed in the core, and next-generation mixed-line-rates (MLR) WDM and flex-grid networks. Under realistic network scenarios we profiled the total energy consumption of the optical layer and showed that through energy-aware algorithms we can achieve significant power savings.