Performance evaluation of multicast routing methods in optical switching networks with multiple wavebands

Abstract

The linear lightwave network (LLN) is proposed as an optical switching communication system that can realize high-speed broadband communication. The authors have previously proposed a multicast routing method in LLN, in which a dynamically expanding/contract tree is introduced in the network, and call connection is realized within that tree. The effectiveness of the method was shown by simulation. This article extends the result and discusses the case of multiple wavebands in an LLN. When there exist multiple wavebands, the selection of the waveband and of the wavelength are the keys to realizing an effective multicast communication system. This article presents and evaluates several selection methods that seem suited to LLN. The following result is obtained. By using the wavelength selection method, in which the calls are connected successively from high-use wavelengths or wavebands, a newly generated call can be accepted by concentrating the calls at a particular wavelength, which improves the performance. It is also shown that the number of unintended signals generated due to linear processing in the LLN is reduced with an increasing number of wavebands, which further improves performance. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 83(2): 84–96, 2000