Performance Analysis of Crosstalk-Aware Sparse Core-Switching Optical Networks

Spatially multiplexed networks have become one of the prime technology candidates to accommodate the unstoppable network traffic increase. Currently, two core-switching approaches are under consideration in the research community: full and restricted. In full core-switching optical network, the switching flexibility is maximal with the full port capacity and comparably larger equipment cost. In restricted switching, on the other hand, the equipment is simpler and less costly, but the wavelength circuit needs to remain in the same core along the route. We propose the study a combination of the two, which we refer to as sparse core-switching as tradeoff between the core-switching capabilities and the cost of capacity applied to the network. We are especially interested in physical layer aspects in the context of crosstalk and the resulting spectrum fragmentation and in understanding how crosstalk impact the performance of sparse core switching. Numerical results show that with the proper application of a fraction of the equipment budget required for the full-switching scenario, sparse core switching reaches an average performance gain of 31.34% and a cost reduction of 71.2 % and thus can even outperform the full-switching scenario.