Optimal number of wavelength converters for WDM network design

Wavelength conversion has been proposed to be used in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks to improve the network performance. Given the number of wavelength converters, i.e., nodes with wavelength conversion capability, the wavelength converter placement problem has been studied to determine the optimal locations of these nodes. In WDM network design, however the number of converter nodes may not be known or may be practically hard to be estimated in advance. Thus, designing a network with the number of converters as a design variable is more appropriate. In this paper, the wavelength converter placement problem is formulated and solved by a genetic algorithm to determine the optimal number of wavelength converters that satisfies the call blocking requirement of the network.