Optimized design of ring-based survivable networks

We describe an original method for the automated synthesis of transport network designs based on multiple SONET self-healing rings. A heuristic procedure is based on insights about the trade-off between capacity efficiency and traffic capture efficiency of ring sets to find a minimum-cost composite design. Test cases show designs that range from nearly optimal capacity efficiency to nearly optimal traffic capture, depending on the relative costs of transmission capacity and costs for ring-to-ring transition interfaces. The proposed approach may be used directly to produce complete multi-ring designs, or in an automated “ring proposer” context to be integrated with existing ring-planning tools. Results from a real-world long-haul network design involving a total of 141 self-healing rings are presented.