Multiperiod planning for optical networks

Planning optical networks in advance is a necessity in order to provide cost efficient solutions. In multiperiod planning the operation time horizon of a network is taken into account. Especially for long term operated networks, like core networks, during the operation time several planning parameters can change: Equipment costs decrease, technology develops further, and demand requests are uncertain. This paper gives an overview on multiperiod planning approaches and modeling and it illustrates benefits and challenges arising from taking time dependency and uncertainty of planning parameters into account.