Abstract | We consider the problem of planning a mixed line
rates (MLR) wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transport
optical network. In such networks, different modulation formats
are usually employed to support the transmission at different line
rates. Previously proposed planning algorithms, have used a
transmission reach limit for each modulation format/line rate,
mainly driven by single line rate systems. However, transmission
experiments in MLR networks have shown that physical layer
interference phenomena are more significant between
transmissions that utilize different modulation formats. Thus, the
transmission reach of a connection with a specific modulation
format/line rate depends also on the other connections that copropagate
with it in the network. To plan a MLR WDM network,
we present routing and wavelength assignment (RWA)
algorithms that take into account the adaptation of the
transmission reach of each connection according to the use of the
modulation formats/line rates in the network. The proposed
algorithms are able to plan the network so as to alleviate
interference effects, enabling the establishment of connections of
acceptable quality over paths that would otherwise be prohibited |