IP-Subnet Aware Routing in WDM Mesh Networks

Abstract— We explore the problem of routing bandwidth guaranteed paths in wavelength-routed, WDM optical mesh networks. A WDM mesh network offers great flexibility in dynamically re-configuring the optical core to match the IP layer demands. In this paper, we argue that IP subnets can limit the reconfigurability potential of the WDM mesh network. We show that finding the shortest IP-hop path, normally admitting a straightforward polynomial solution on the WDM mesh, is NPhard in the presence of subnets. We propose a new algorithm called M¨obiTwist that finds the optimal shortest path when accounting for subnets. We also observe that subnets impose a routing penalty by forcing longer paths for bandwidth demands. Consequently, they create a trade-off between lower network efficiency if subnets are honored (due to longer paths) or, an upfront overhead of dynamically changing subnets to derive shorter paths. We propose the M¨obiFlex algorithm that attempts to achieve a balance by ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: INFOCOM
• Authors: Swarup Acharya, Bhawna Gupta, Pankaj Risbood, Anurag Srivastava
• Keywords: Communications, INFOCOM 2003, Subnets, WDM Mesh, WDM Mesh Network