Mesh/arc networking: an architecture for efficient survivable self-healing networks

This paper summarises the results of a study which compares two architectures for survivable self-healing transport networks. Mesh/ring and mesh/arc networks are compared in terms of equipment counts required to achieve fully survivability against single span failure. Heuristic design procedures are developed. The mesh/arc network architecture is shown to be superior in all cases studied. Two main contributions to survivable network design/planning have resulted from this study. The first is the use of the network nodal degree distribution to partition a network into core and access regions. The second is the use of span elimination techniques as a cost-reducing transformation for the access region of networks