Evaluation of the dimensioning and economical benefits of intelligent optical networks

In order to cope with the increasing capacity requirements in the optical backbone network, the introduction of optical cross connects (OXC) and intelligent optical networking (ION) capable components such as ASON (automatically switched optical networking) or GMPLS (generalized multi-protocol label switching) might become a necessity. In this paper we study the benefits of the introduction of such ION-capable components in the network, using a multi-purpose dimensioning tool (DT) developed within the scope of the ITEA TBONES (transparent optical backbone network simulator) project. The introduction of ION-capable components in the network allows to use the capacity in the network more efficiently, especially when considering a highly dynamic traffic. The enhanced flexibility of the ION-capable components also allows to optimize the capacity-usage in case of network-failures. Optimization of the logical topology could further reduce the capacity-requirements for incorporating a specific resilience scheme in the network. In the light of the ongoing traffic growth in the backbone network, these capacity savings could also result in network cost savings, depending on the moment and price for the introduction of a new OXC in each specific node. By optimizing this estimated cost of the network, an optimal schedule for the introduction of the OXCs can be proposed