Distributed lightpath establishment techniques using Multi-wavelength Reservation Protocols in WDM optical networks

Distributed lightpath establishment in WDM optical networks involves, apart from routing, two important steps, namely wavelength selection and wavelength reservation. In uni-wavelength reservation protocols, often multiple connection requests unknowingly compete for the same wavelength, even when other free wavelengths are available, resulting in a collision. Attempting multiple wavelengths for reservation in that case improves the probability of successful reservation as exhibited in Destination Initiated Multi-Wavelength Reservation Protocol (DIMRP). So we extend the concept of multi-wavelength reservation to Split Reservation Protocol (SRP) next and then to Markov-based Split Reservation Protocol (MSRP) and find that performance is improved considerably for them too. Initially, we discuss three multiwavelength schemes separately and compare performance of these protocols with related uniwavelength protocols in their own category. Then we undertake a comparative study among the three proposed multi-wavelength protocols to find that multi-wavelength MSRP performs the best. 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.