Availability of Translucent Networks Based on WSS Nodes, Comparison with Opaque Networks

In this paper, we compare port unavailability relating to translucent and opaque optical networks. Translucent networks are based on unprotected and protected WSS (wavelength-selective switch) nodes architectures. For opaque networks, standard nodes architectures are used. For the translucent networks, three representative conditions in terms of traveled kilometers and number of traversed nodes are described. This study reveals that, translucent networks are more interesting than opaque ones when the WSS nodes are protected; for the nodes architectures, the traffic matrix, and the failure rates considered in this study, translucent networks are on average 16% more available than opaque networks. When the WSS nodes are not protected, opaque networks are more advantageous for all ULH conditions. The difference is emphasized with the increase of the WSS failure rate which was increased from 2000 to 10000 FIT