Design of hierarchical crossconnect WDM networks employing a two-stage multiplexing scheme of waveband and wavelength

The authors propose a design method for hierarchical crossconnect wavelength-division-multiplexed networks employing a two-stage multiplexing scheme of waveband and wavelength, in order to reduce the complexity and size of optical crossconnect at the nodes. The waveband is formed by grouping lightpaths with the same destination in a network. The authors present an integer linear programming formulation for the routing and grouping of lightpaths, and a heuristic design method is also proposed as a practical method to find a design solution for general large-scale networks. It is found that the proposed design method can largely reduce crossconnect requirements, although it slightly increases the wavelength requirements.