Optical WDM Networks with Limited Wavelength Conversion

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An important optical network architecture is the wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) network that supports lightpaths. WDM is basically frequency division multiplexing in the optical frequency range, where carrier frequencies are referred to as wavelengths. Lightpaths are end-to end connections made up of connected WDM channels. A network node is said to have wavelength conversion capability if it can shift the wavelengths of optical signals. The advantage of wavelength conversion is that it allows networks to support more ligthpaths, but its disadvantage is that it can be expensive and/or difficult to implement. This research will investigate limited wavelength conversion that allows network nodes to perform some but not all wavelength shifts. Limited conversion means less complex and costly hardware than full conversion, yet better channel utilization than no conversion. Network architectures and algorithms will be studied by initially focusing on special and important network topologies such as the star and ring, and then eventually covering general network topologies. These will be analytically evaluated by worst case analysis that leads to guaranteed performance results, and also by probabilistic methods. More information on the project can be found at http://spectra.eng.hawaii.edu/~sasaki/NSF/limited.html