Impact of Elastic Optical Paths That Adopt Distance Adaptive Modulation to Create Efficient Networks

We propose optical path routing and frequency slot assignment algorithms that can make the best use of elastic optical paths and the capabilities of distance adaptive modulation. Due to the computational difficulty of the assignment problem, we develop algorithms for 1+1 dedicated/1:1 shared protected ring networks and unprotected mesh networks to that fully utilize the characteristics of the topologies. Numerical experiments elucidate that the introduction of path elasticity and distance adaptive modulation significantly reduce the occupied bandwidth. key words: elastic optical path network, distance adaptive modulation, routing and spectrum assignment, network design