Design of hierarchical WDM networks

Hierarchical (multi-core) Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks present a challenging design problem to the network designer who wishes to establish all-optical circuits end-to-end and across multiple network cores. Due to the nature of the hierarchical structure and its traffi distribution, it is likely that the inner core requires more capacity when compared to the capacity required by the metro cores, which are individually connected to the inner core. This capacity mismatch cannot be addressed by assigning distinct transmission rates to each core, as this solution would result in using electronic time division add-drop multiplexer to interconnect the traffi across cores with distinct rates. An alternative solution to addressing the capacity mismatch between WDM metro and inner core is explored in this paper, which is based on a limited number of wavelengths (a subset of the full set) being used in the metro core, when compared to the full set of wavelengths being used in the inner core. Two available architectures are presented in the paper, discussing their respective advantages and disadvantages.