ONDE: A Generic XML-Based Development Environment for Optimization of WDM Optical Networks

Developing optical network optimization algorithms involves representing many different instances related to the network itself: topology, physical layer equipment found in nodes, links, etc. It also requires description of traffic demand. We propose onML; an XML-based structure to fulfill such requirements. The onML structure is used by ONDE, a development environment targeted at optimization algorithms for optical networks. A sought feature of ONDE is a modular design allowing a clear separation of onML files parsing functions, graphical user interfaces and network optimization programs. With such a modular approach, multiple research teams can cooperate to develop and easily share new tools and algorithms. As a result, an XML parser is tailored to parse data in onML-compliant files and is easily interfaced with the main C++ optimization algorithm under development. For graphical user interface aspects, the ONDE environment uses a Java program which is interfaced with the XML parser through the Java native interface (JNI)