On the Performance of Protected and Online Routing Enabled Translucent Space Division Multiplexing-Based Elastic Optical Networks

In this article, we focus on the optimization of lightpath routing in an online Space Division Multiplexing-based Elastic Optical Network (SDM-b-EON) which is protected by the dedicated route protection (DRP) strategy. In view of the aforementioned, the Online Protection and Routing Algorithm with Regeneration (OPaRAwR) method is proposed which (i) protects the lightpaths through DRP, (ii) accounts for the presence of transceivers in the network, and (iii) ensures the routing of translucent lightpaths through the spectral super-channels over the spatial modes links. In regard to regeneration, we investigate two scenarios which differ in their regeneration variability level in addition to the adjustment of modulation formats (MFs) as per the transmission route characteristics. Extensive simulation experiments are conducted considering realistic transmission reach values and two realistic network topologies. The obtained simulation results demonstrate that the proposed OPaRAwR method significantly outperforms various reference techniques in terms of bandwidth blocking probability (BwBP). In addition, the results also show that significant benefits can be obtained in regard to the utilization of resources (spectrum and transceivers) with much lesser BwBP when the regeneration is conducted with complete flexibility and MF conversion is also permitted at every node of the SDM-b-EON. © 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.