Routing algorithm using the flooding mechanism in a hybrid optical-CDMA and WDM all-optical network

This study describes specific characteristics of optical technology and the requirements they place on routing and path selection. Moreover, a concept for an all-optical circuit-switched network is presented that utilizes near future WDM and optical-CDMA technologies. Mainly this study emphasizes on devising a routing algorithm for all-optical networks that use these technologies and taking into consideration the optical technology attributes. The assumption that parallel channels traversing the same path have the same metric (cost) is no longer valid. The algorithm adopts a flooding mechanism to compute metrics corresponding to every possible path between source and destination nodes based on link impairments and switch characteristics. From amongst computed costs, a selection is taken minimizing the cost by using Viterbi algorithm. This way, codes and wavelengths are assigned based on the characteristics of each link for each possible route, thus optimizing the network's performance.