Effects of routing and wavelength assignment algorithms on limited-range wavelength conversion in WDM optical networks

The blocking performance gain of limited-range wavelength conversion under different RWA (routing and wavelength assignment) algorithms is studied. XGM (cross-gain modulation) and FWM (four wave mixing) limited-range wavelength converters are investigated. By simulation in two networks, their performance gains are compared; the results show that the alternate RWA algorithm greatly impacts on the performance gain, and the number of alternate paths influences the FWM wavelength conversion range for which its performance is close to the ideal wavelength conversion.