Design of grooming architectures for optical WDM mesh networks: limited grooming with electronic wavelength conversion

In this article, we consider the problem of traffic grooming in optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) mesh networks under static traffic conditions. The objective of this work is to minimize the network cost and in particular, the electronic port costs incurred for meeting a given performance objective. In earlier work, we have shown the benefits of limited grooming switch architectures, where only a subset of wavelengths in a network are equipped with expensive SONET Add Drop Multiplexers (SADM) that provide the grooming functionality. In this work, we also consider the wavelength conversion capability of such groomers. This can be achieved using a digital cross-connect (DCS) in the grooming switch to switch low-speed connections between the SADMs (and hence, between wavelengths). The grooming switch thus avoids the need for expensive optical wavelength converters. Based on these observations, we propose a limited conversion-based grooming architecture for optical WDM mesh networks. The local ports at every node in this architecture can be one of three types: an add-drop port, a grooming port that allows wavelength conversion or a grooming port that does not allow wavelength conversion. The problem studied is: given a static traffic model, where should the different ports be placed in a network? We formulate this as an optimization problem using an Integer Linear Programing (ILP) and present numerical results for the same. We also present a heuristic-based approach to solve the problem for larger networks.