Parameterized First Fit (PFF): Eliminating Symmetry in Spectrum Allocation

Abstract

Spectrum allocation (SA) is a fundamental problem in optical network design, yet existing solutions cannot cope effectively with the challenges posed by spectrum symmetry. In this work, we develop parameterized first-fit (PFF), a new heuristic for the SA problem that is not affected by spectrum symmetry and has several desirable properties: it explores a pre-defined subset of the solution space whose size is tailored to the available computational budget; it constructs this subset by sampling from diverse areas of the solution space rather than from the neighborhood of an initial solution; it finds solutions by applying the well-known FF heuristic and thus it can be deployed readily; and it is efficient in finding good quality solutions.