Mechanisms for achieving steerability at an optical switching node: architectures and cost models

Abstract

We present what we consider to be three novel switching mechanisms for achieving steerability at optical cross-connect (OXC) sites. By achieving steerability, the traffic that needs to be added or dropped at a node can be routed to any of the available transponders, thus improving the utilization of deployed transponders. We present nodal architectures that maximize system performance and deployment flexibility while minimizing cost of subsystems and components (such as wavelength selective switches (WSSs), amplifiers, etc.), which make up these nodes. A comparative analysis of the cost of these architectures as a function of individual component costs and varying wavelength fill is also provided. We also analyze the port dimensioning of such steerable architectures and calculate the optimal port allocation based on the cost and loss compensation.