Survivable and impairment-aware virtual topologies for reconfigurable optical networks: A cognitive approach

In this paper, we present a new version of a multiobjective genetic algorithm to design virtual topologies with the aim of reducing both the energy consumption and the network congestion. Moreover, we also propose an improved version of that algorithm, by including two cognitive techniques. Unlike the original version, the new proposals design survivable virtual topologies, as they provide shared path protection thus offering fault-tolerance capability with efficient resource utilization. Moreover, the proposed methods also take into account physical impairments in order to ensure that the survivable virtual topologies fulfill Quality of Transmission requirements in any scenario without failures or with a single cable failure. Finally, a simulation study demonstrates the advantages of the use of cognition.