Design and Simulation of Filterless Optical Networks: Problem Definition and Performance Evaluation

Filterless optical networks based on advanced transmission technologies and passive optical interconnections between nodes offer a lower-cost alternative to optical networks based on active photonic switching. A design and simulation platform is proposed for studying these novel network architectures and looking at their performance characteristics. Simulation results are presented for three reference network topologies, along with a comparative cost and performance study of active photonic and passive filterless optical network solutions.