Performance of a symmetric robust WDM network when the channel access pattern at nodes is known

Many WDM architectures are based onJixed wavelength channels which require the lasers to be tuned to their channels accurately. Achieving this task is difJicult and costly especially in the distributed environments. Robust WDM is an approach that tolerates large laser wavelength variations, due to temperature drifts and manufacturing tolerances. A reservation-based medium access protocol is used to dynamically select the laser for communication. A token-passing based control channel assigns a reservation interval to one ofthe waiting stations. The performance of a circuit-switched Robust WDM network is considered when each node has only a limited number of lasers. The model evaluates the performance of a network for a given access pattern, specibing the channels accessible to each station. Simulation results are used to veri& the analytic results.