Meshed wavelength-division multiplexed networks partially equipped with wavelength converters

Summary form only given. A lot of work has been reported on the use of wavelength converters (WCs) in wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) networks. Recent research indicates that for a wide variety of applications the use of WCs in WDM networks results only in modest improvements in throughput, compared to networks without WCs. It has been observed that a limited set of nodes equipped with WCs can give almost equal performance as a virtual wavelength path network, where all nodes are fully equipped with WCs. Furthermore, it has been shown that already a limited form of wavelength conversion can enhance the performance of WDM ring networks. Former work indicates that a limited number of converters should be sufficient to provide decent performance. This paper reports the impact of two different architectures for the optical cross-connect (OXC), containing a limited number of WCs, on the performance of meshed WDM networks. The two OXC architectures considered are: (1) an OXC containing a pool of WCs, where a free WC can be used by any incoming channel, and (2) an OXC where the WCs are dedicated to a particular channel, conversion occurs before the signal is multiplexed on the outgoing fiber.