Sub-Tree-Based Approach for Reconfiguration of Light-Tree Pair without Flow Interruption in Sparse Wavelength Converter Network

Abstract

Network reconfiguration is an important mechanism for network operators to optimize network performance and optical flow transfer. It concerns unicast and multicast connections. Multicast connections are required to meet the bandwidth requirements of multicast applications, such as Internet Protocol-based TeleVision (IPTV), distance learning, and telemedicine. In optical networks, a multicast connection is made possible by the creation of an optical tree-shaped path called a light-tree. The problem of light-tree pair reconfiguration is addressed in this study. Given an initial light-tree used to transfer an optical flow and a final light-tree that is computed by the network operator to optimize network performance, the goal is to migrate the optical flow from the initial light-tree to the final light-tree without flow interruption. Flow interruption is not desirable for network operators because it forces them to pay financial penalties to their customers. To solve this problem, existing methods use a branch approach that is inefficient if some network nodes do not have wavelength conversion capability. Therefore, we proposed in this study a sub-tree-based method. This approach selects and configures sub-tree pairs from the light-tree pair (initial light-tree, final light-tree) to be reconfigured. Then, we produce a sequence of configurations. The performance study confirms that our method is efficient in solving the problem of light-tree pair reconfiguration because our method does not cause flow interruption.