Minimum cost dimensioning of ring optical networks

We consider the problem of traffic grooming of low-rate traffic circuits in WDM rings where circuits are associated with a set of heterogeneous granularities. While networks are no longer limited by transmission bandwidth, the key issue in WDM network design has evolved towards the processing capabilities of electronic switches, routers and multiplexers. Therefore, we focus here on traffic grooming with minimum interconnecting equipment cost. We first formulate the problem as an integer linear programming (ILP) or a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem depending on the design specifications: UPSR vs BLSR, fixed vs variable wavelength capacities, non-bifurcated vs bifurcated flows, wavelength continuity vs possible signal regeneration on a different wavelength. Considering the case study of the second SONET ring generation with MSPP like interconnection equipment, we define the cost by a function of the number of transport blades, taking into account that the number of MSPP transport blades makes up a significant portion of the overall network design cost. Using the CPLEX linear programming package, we next compare the optimal solutions of the ILP or MILP programs for different design assumptions, including the classical ring network design scheme with a single hub where the lightpaths directly connect the hub to all other nodes.