A New Approach to Optical Networks Security: Attack-Aware Routing and Wavelength Assignment

Abstract-- Security issues and attack management in transparent WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) optical networks has become of prime importance to network operators due to the high data rates involved and the vulnerabilities associated with transparency. Deliberate physical layer attacks, such as highpowered jamming, can seriously degrade network performance and must be dealt with efficiently. While most approaches are focused on the developing fast detection and reaction mechanisms triggered in case of an attack, we propose a novel approach to help deal with these issues in the network planning and provisioning process as a prevention mechanism. Namely, we propose to route lightpaths in such a way as to minimize the potential damage caused by various physical-layer attacks. We present a new objective criterion for the Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem, which we call the Maximum Lightpath Attack Radius (maxLAR), and formulate the routing sub-problem as an integer l...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: TON
• Authors: Nina Skorin-Kapov, J. Chen, Lena Wosinska
• Keywords: Lightpath Attack Radius, Maximum Lightpath Attack, TON 2010, Wavelength Assignment