Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Network: A techno-economic evaluation

This paper examines the Cognitive Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Optical Network architecture from a techno-economic perspective. In order to monetize the benefits stemming from the proposed architecture, a techno-economic analysis is presented along with a cost model that considers both capital and operational expenditures. The study shows that the relative benefits of flexible networking increase for higher traffic demands - when comparing with single-line-rate (SLR) and multi-line-rate (MLR) solutions. The use of cognitive techniques can also lead to economic advantages. We focus on the impact of cognitive QoT estimation, and demonstrate that the revenues obtained by the network operator are increased if the cognitive QoT estimator is combined with adaptive routing and wavelength assignment mechanisms. Moreover, the results obtained when the cognitive QoT estimator is used are very close to the ideal case.