A comparison of network bandwidth efficiencies among various multi-layer network architectures

Abstract

We evaluate various multi-layer packet optical network architectures and study their efficiencies from a bandwidth utilization perspective — referred to as the bandwidth engineering capabilities of these architectures. We study the use-case of carrying fine-grained Ethernet traffic across core networks in each of these architectures and compare network efficiency and other qualitative metrics while highlighting some of the trade-offs in employing these architectures.